Covid brings changes to Bantry firms

O’CONNOR’S Café and Seafood Restaurant in Bantry opened under new management in March, and closed eight days later when lockdown was imposed.

It was not an auspicious start for the new owner, Shane Spillane, but it’s a mark of the 30-year-old’s resolve that it reopened on July 4th.

‘It was difficult,’ he told The Southern Star. ‘We didn’t know if we were going to open the doors again but, after a long conversation, my partner Carly Lewis and I decided we’d go for it, we’d give it everything. ‘People returning to O’Connor’s will notice that we have changed the style of the restaurant. We are going to run it café style Monday to Saturday, and we will operate it restaurant style from 5.30pm to 10pm, Thursday to Monday.’

Shane is from Youghal and has been involved in every aspect of the industry for the last 12 years, but he has always dreamed of running his own show.‘Good quality seafood, done right – that’s our mantra,’ he said. ‘That will, once again, be the hallmark of O’Connor’s.’

Meanwhile, another popular local business, The Bake House, confirmed on Facebook that the lease on its New Street premises is not being renewed this year.

The owner of the restaurant business posted a comment saying: ‘We want to thank everyone who has supported us for the past eight years, we really appreciate and are grateful to each and every one of you. The last eight years were some of the best years we have had so it will be hard to say ‘bye to the place.’