Prestigious Cork City Restaurant Announces Temporary Closure

The MICHELIN-listed restaurant, The Glass Curtain on MacCurtain Street, has temporarily closed.

The Glass Curtain is located in the Old Thompsons Bakery on MacCurtain Street, which was once a culinary institution and had been in Cork’s DNA since 1826.

The restaurant, which opened in December 2019, said it was forced to close due to staff issues caused by the disease.

Posting on Facebook, the restaurant’s management team said some of the staff had contracted Covid and were unable to work.

“We have decided to cancel all reservations up to and including Friday in the hope of reopening on January 6th. We will be in contact with anyone who has a reservation with us. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Across the country, companies have reported significant staff shortages as the Omicron variant causes an increase in infections, with at least 75,000 people self-isolating across the country after contracting the virus.

This number is potentially four times higher when close contact is included.

While St. Etienne would normally be the start of a spending boom after Christmas, some stores yesterday reported lower than expected sales as many struggled to keep operating due to understaffing.

Neil McDonnell, head of the ISME small business group, said it was becoming increasingly difficult for some businesses to keep their doors open.

“It’s getting very difficult to have replacement staff … there are very significant levels of reporting self-isolating people right now, and the current Omicron [variant] seems to be spreading extremely quickly, ”he told Newstalk radio.

“Obviously, service companies are the hardest hit, it’s also particularly acute in areas like child care where there are specified minimum ratios of staff per child or per client, places like nursing homes.

“So in these contexts, it’s very difficult to maintain a consistent level of service when the enrolled staff don’t show up because they’re self-isolating. “