Caveat: Recovery will bring pressure for some quirky businesses

One of the curious things about the last big recession was the renaissance it spawned in small, quirky, independent cafes and other retail and hospitality businesses in prime city locations, especially around central Dublin.

Off-beat venues, such as the Berlin D2 cafe in Dublin’s trendy (and somewhat exclusive) Coppinger Row area, brought a splash of creativity to parts of the city that were once the preserve of major chains, or investors with deep pockets but often shallow ideas.

Previously, such eccentric and random businesses would have struggled to afford to open in such locations. They only got the chance when they did because of the effects of the crash.

Now that the retail sector is back in vogue, commercial rents are rising and the big chains circling once again, is there another shake-out on the way for the new breed of independents? Portents are emerging.

Berlin D2, a hip cafe/live music venue/leftie meeting spot, which operates on a corner of the swish Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, shuts its doors for good next weekend. The closure comes after a dispute with its landlord, Clarendon Properties, over its lease, which has led to the cafe vacating the premises.

The rumour in the local area is that the space occupied by Berlin, along with some adjoining properties, is being lined up for a major international chain, such as Caffe Nero.

Another contender could be Starbucks, although with more than 40 outlets already in the city, it will surely hit a saturation point eventually.

Caffe Nero has previous experience of moving into sensitive locations in Dublin. There was a mini uprising in Dalkey in 2014 when it faced strong opposition from local residents and traders who felt it was too mainstream for the area.

The chain prevailed and got planning permission, but it appears not to have opened in the south Dublin village just yet.

The Irish public – and the media if we are all being honest here – are suckers for a clichéd underdog-versus-the-big-corporations row.

Remember the kerfuffle two years ago over the forced closure of the independent Paris Bakery on Moore Street? The business was only a few years old but from the outcry over its closure, you would think it had been there since 1916.

Or what about the announcement that Bewleys cafe on Grafton Street was to close, albeit it will reopen with a facelift? The outpouring of grief for the perceived demise of Bewleys was as if someone had publicly drowned a litter of Labrador puppies.

And when British chain JD Wetherspoon entered the pubs market, some hysterical opponents treated the news as if someone had called time on the traditional Irish pub. There was even a “Feck Off Wetherspoon” campaign.

The anger over the closure of Clerys on O'Connell Street, meanwhile, probably had more to do with the disgraceful treatment of the sacked workers than with the exit of the old department store. It remains the case, however, that if as many people had shopped in Clerys as lamented its closure, the store would probably never have shut and those workers might still be in their jobs.

A fondness for nostalgia and idiosyncrasy are part of the identity of many Irish people, but less so our buying habits.

Still, it is always a pity to lose interesting businesses. The recession is long since over, the recovery is well underway, and the walls may soon start closing in on many colourful cafes and shops that livened up the centres of our cities and towns in the drab years of the recent past.

Or are the drab years the more prosperous ones that now lie ahead?

Footnotes . . .

The Irish propensity for plucky underdog-versus-the-man confrontations isn't confined to home shores. Waterford impresario Vince Power recently lost the battle to save the Kensington Park Hotel, which has closed. It wasn't a hotel at all, but a pub and live music venue known for decades to the denizens of Notting Hill as the KPH. Power ran it on behalf of the elderly leaseholder. Property developers bought it and tried to force out the business run by Power, who fought a spirited public relations and legal battle to stay.

The pub has reopened for now, but not with Power at the helm. He recently posted a downbeat video on YouTube about losing the court battle over its lease, saying: “It was like ice cream melting, flowing away from me.”

Sentimental stuff, but surely it will not be long before the famously grumpy Power gets his snarl back.

The European Central Bank this week named four banks it is considering bringing under direct supervision, due to factors such as their significance to the countries in which they operate or their level of cross-border business.

Most attention here focused on the fact that the Irish operation of Citibank is on the list.

Also listed, however, is Rietumu bank in Latvia, whose major investors include the Swiss-resident, Irish-born billionaire Dermot Desmond.

The financier bought into the bank in 2005, reputedly paying up to €100 million for his stake, of about a third. A few years later, it looked like it was going to be a difficult investment for him, as the Latvian economy imploded.

Rietumu has bounced back, however, and not long ago reported profits of about €72 million, half of which will be paid out in dividends.

Rietumu will now be subject to an ECB “deep dive” analysis of its books in advance of a final decision by the Frankfurt regulator on taking a bigger role in its supervision.

Desmond sits on the council of the bank, along with the bank’s deputy chairman, Brendan Murphy, who previously chaired ExecuJet Aviation, until it was sold by Desmond a year ago.

It took an age to form a government. It is taking even longer to update the various websites of the government departments.

The Cabinet was announced a week ago, but as late as Tuesday afternoon Labour grandee Brendan Howlin was still grinning back at viewers of the “our minister” page on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform website. If only, say Labour supporters.

Paschal Donohoe, the new Minister, has since replaced Howlin. But until yesterday afternoon he was also still the minister on the home page of the Department of Transport, where Shane Ross has since replaced him.

At the time of writing, Simon Coveney was still listed as the minister on the Department of Agriculture’s website. Perhaps ex-rebel Michael Creed isn’t back in the Fine Gael bosom as snugly as he thought.

Get a move on.

It must have been gratifying for former Largo Foods boss Ray Coyle to see his daughter, Natalya Coyle, along with Arthur Lanigan O'Keeffe, win gold this week in the mixed relay at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Florida.

It bodes well for the Rio Olympics, where it appears Coyle and her partner are genuine medal hopes. Super-fit Coyle obviously eschews her dad’s old products, which include the waistline-expanding crisp brands Tayto, King and Hunky Dory.