CLOSURE ORDERS were served on two Dublin city bars and a prohibition order was served on the Gaiety Theatre bar by environmental health officers in November and December, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) reported yesterday.
Closure orders were served on Neary's, Chatham Street, and on O'Donoghue's, Suffolk Street. The end-of-year report showed a prohibition order was served on the Gaiety Theatre.
Closure orders were served on the Rangoli restaurant in Clonee, Co Meath; Akanchawa's Honey Pot restaurant (ground floor kitchen at rear), Blessington Street; Piece of Cake food stall, Farmers' Market, West Pier, Howth, and the Morning Star grocery, Flowerhill, Navan, Co Meath.
Closure orders are served where it is deemed there is or is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health and can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises, or all or some of its activities.
Prohibition orders are issued if activities involve or are likely to involve a serious risk to public health from a particular product, class, batch or item of food.
The closure order was served on Neary's on November 27th and was lifted the next day. It was served on ME Hardy and Sons. In the case of O'Donoghue's, Suffolk Street, the order was served on November 4th and lifted on November 7th. It was served on San Benedetto Ltd.
The Gaiety prohibition order was served and lifted on the same day, December 19th, and covered all food and drink. It was served on Gaiety Investments.
The report said the FSAI served 45 enforcement orders for food-safety breaches last year, compared to 59 in 2007.
Between January 1st and December 31st, 2008, enforcement officers served 34 closure orders, five improvement orders and six prohibition orders on food businesses compared to 37 closure orders, six improvement orders and 16 prohibition orders in 2007. Of the 34 closure orders in 2008, five remained in place.
"A downward trend in the level of Enforcement Orders served is welcome," said Dr John O'Brien, chief executive of the FSAI.