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PUB TALK

BOOZER'S A REAL HOME FROM HOME

WHEN IT comes to running a public house in a local community The Candy Store in St John's Park, Waterford, certainly hits the spot.

It's a long time since Pub Spy and his Commandos have come across a pub that is a veritable home from home for the local people. It is a people's park with a roof on it, if you get the drift.

In some respects, it is almost as much a club as it is a pub. The Commandos were half expecting to see a local arriving in with his bedroom slippers, knocking back a nightcap and heading for bed.

Whoever owns, runs or controls this pub can certainly take a bow. The good relations between customers and staff are admirable and the fact that the decent people of the St John's Park area continue to raise money for charities, at a time when cash is so scare, speaks volumes for their community.

Decent skins one and all has to be the verdict.

The Commandos tried their utmost to find out how a pub had come to be called The Candy Store. It could only happen in Waterford.

You go to a shop called The Candy Store and you find that it serves porter.

The boys wondered if they came across an establishment called The Porter Shop, would it be selling Peggy's Leg or toffees?

The St John's Park / Ballytruckle / Johnstown area is on the periphery of Waterford city.

Perhaps that is the key to the community aspect. All over rural Ireland pubs away from the heart of city life tend to have a special spirit about them.

Like a visiting postman, a friendly nurse or doctor in a local clinic, a warm and welcoming bartender is an important part of any local region.

A caring publican has to be a good listener. He or she will, from time to time, get an earful about the troubles of the day. The bar person will have to be able to give and accept advice.

But above all, the pub proprietor will be an ambassador, a good communicator and enjoy the respect of the local community.

There is a continuing debate about how the decline of the pub trade could be halted. Popular spots have perished because of the recession.

Our belief is that peripheral Waterford may have found the route to public house Utopia - a place where people are happy, an ideal spot for enjoying pints at reasonable prices.

The Candy Store may never have been intended as a shop for those who enjoy a bar of Cadburys, a Kit-Kat or a Toblerone. But it is a really sweet establishment!

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