Charlie Chawke’s Goatstown pub returns to profit after Covid impact

The pub at the centre of a planning row between Charlie Chawke and south Dublin planners returned to profit last year after dipping to a narrow loss in 2021 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accounts filed by Charjon Investments, the company behind the Goat pub on the Lower Kilmacud Road in Dublin 14, reveal that accumulated profits at Mr Chawke’s business jumped to almost €2.9 million in the year to end of March 2022, an increase of close to €748,000.

This compares with a loss of almost €127,000 in the previous financial year when the pub trade was severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company paid its directors – listed as Mr Chawke, his wife and co-owner of Charjon, Bernice Chawke; and their daughter Jenny Chawke, who runs the pub – close to €215,000 in “emoluments” over the period, the accounts note, down slightly from 2021.

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Charjon, which employed 30 people last year, was also involved in a number of transactions with other entities in Mr Chawke’s group of pub and restaurant companies, according to the filings.

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At the end of March last year, Charjon owed €493,000 to Pembridge SF, a property company controlled by Mr Chawke’s family, and almost €286,000 to Chawke Woodfired Pizza, the entity behind the takeaway pizza restaurant located on the Goat’s premises. Charjon was also owed €500,000 by the company behind The Orchard pub in Rathfarnham, for which Mr Chawke paid €22 million in 2005.

Charjon was in the headlines last summer when Mr Chawke was refused planning retention for the outdoor Box’d Coffee kiosk, which was located in a repurposed shipping container on the Goat’s premises.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council decided that the visual impact of the scheme – which also includes outdoor seating along with signage and a series of ancillary elements providing outdoor entertainment for pub customers, including a large outdoor TV screen – was not in keeping with the area.

Charjon has appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála.

Separately, another Chawke family company is seeking retention for a similar scheme in Milltown, Dublin 6.

Dublin City Council planning documents reveal that Milltown Inns, the company behind The Dropping Well in Milltown, The Orchard, and Aunty Lena’s in Adare, Co Limerick, has applied for retention permission lasting four years for a coffee kiosk located at The Dropping Well pub. The application also includes a number of marquee structures, a waste collection area and the temporary suspension of four car parking spaces.

Milltown Inns, in which Mr Chawke’s children hold ownership stakes, reported a €1.1 million profit after tax in 2021 after receiving more than €586,000 in Covid supports in 2020, accounts filed last summer indicated.

The observation period for the scheme draws to a close on Tuesday and a decision is due before April 12th.