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Gardai has told several pubs in Dublin that they informed customers that they could donate the price of a € 9 meal to a charity instead of eating it.
Oscars Café Bar in Smithfield said it would offer customers “the ability to purchase a meal that will effectively be discontinued” earlier this week and the proceeds will go to local homeless charities.
But the bar was visited by gardai on Saturday and they were told they should serve the food, the Irish Mirror reports.
After the visit, the bar said: “We will no longer offer our suspended meal facilities for the homeless and will require a substantial meal to consume (or not consume as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic beverage.
“We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Gardai who are simply enforcing current legislation. It was never our intention to circumvent the law.
“It was done with the best of intentions, with what we thought was a common sense approach to dealing with unnecessary food waste.”
The city center watering hole added that it would still be making a € 1,000 donation to the Capuchin Day Center.
Speaking on RTE Radio One this morning, Oscars owner Owen Flood said that very few people decided to suspend the meal on Friday night.
He said: “We weren’t trying to get around the law or find a way around it.
“It was something we thought about when we saw perfectly good food that was left untouched and thrown away.
Another pub in the capital also told customers on social media that they had the option of donating € 9 to charity instead of having a meal served.
Camden said he was “shocked” by the amount of good food that ended up in the bin and decided to start the initiative to combat food waste.
They said: “Since we opened last Friday, a lot of good food remains intact and ends up in our container on a daily basis.
“We are now facilitating the purchase of a € 9 meal that will effectively be discontinued and in turn donated to Temple Street Foundation | Children’s Charity Ireland.
“All funds raised will be donated on January 4, 2021. We hope that this small gesture makes a real difference in the lives of our little patients and their families.”
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