Rising costs force closure of The Hibernian Inn in Nenagh leaving 25 staff out of work
Cllr Morris highlights local business struggles at county council budget 2026 vote
One of Nenagh’s longest-standing pubs, The Hibernian Inn, has closed its doors, leaving staff and the wider community grappling with the impact.
Employees at the Pearse Street establishment, known locally as the Hi-B, were informed last Sunday that the premises would cease trading immediately. Around 25 people are understood to have lost their jobs.
The Hi-B has been a prominent local venue for years, offering a restaurant, bed and breakfast accommodation, and private meeting spaces. Its closure underscores the growing financial pressures faced by pubs and hospitality businesses in the town and across the county.
Séamie Morris, a Nenagh councillor and brother of the pub’s proprietor, Martin Morris, said that the closure reflects the harsh realities of running a business in the current economic climate.
He highlighted rising energy bills, insurance, and television licence fees as key challenges, and said that commercial rates continue to put pressure on local businesses. Cllr Morris also criticised the political debates surrounding the rate increases proposed by Tipperary County Council.
During the Tipperary County Council budget vote on Friday, December 5th, at the Tipperary County Council offices in Nenagh, Cllr Morris reflected on the personal impact of the closure.
“This is a particularly sour week for me when my own brother’s business had to close the Hibernian Inn due to rising costs of doing business, a man 70 years of age with Parkinson's employing 25 people now all forced to go on the dole. He won’t be the last pub in Nenagh to close unfortunately,” he said.
Councillor Morris criticised national parties for what he described as inadequate support for local government.
“Fianna Fail and Fine Gael should hang their heads in shame with the lack of local government funding that is coming to councils up and down the country,” he said.
He called for a broader national discussion on local government funding in the new year.