A number of food businesses in Ireland were hit with closure orders in January, including the kitchen of a popular Dublin hotel which was ordered to shut after video footage showed a rat in the bar.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued four closure orders last month, shutting businesses for a number of reasons.

Food businesses are served closure orders “where it is deemed there is or is likely to be” a danger to public health at the premises.

The closure orders handed out to four food businesses last month were issued by environmental health officers in the HSE and by officers of the FSAI.

You can find the full list of establishments issued with closure orders in January 2026 below.

Rodent activity found in a kitchen ground floor; an accumulation of grease deposits that had formed on the ceiling tiles above a utensil wash sink and a bucket full of brown unidentifiable liquid were just some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in January

One Closure Order was served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

– The Shamrock Lodge pub (Closed area: The kitchen only), Seamus Ennis Road, Finglas, Dublin 11: The kitchen of the Shamrock Lodge pub was shut by food safety inspectors on January 15 and the closure order was lifted on February 3 under the FSAI Act 1998. The closure order stated that “the ceiling and roof in the kitchen were in poor repair, with a major leak resulting in 4/5 buckets provided to capture the water placed on the floor and surfaces where food was being repaired.”

“This issue has been ongoing for up to three weeks prior to inspection, according to staff,” the order added. “Furthermore, food activities have continued in the kitchen where the leak was occurring. The poorly maintained roof and ceiling have resulted in the potential contamination of food preparation areas, equipment, and food, which poses a grave and immediate danger to public health.”

Meanwhile three Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:

– White Sands Hotel (Closed area: the small kitchen ground floor), Coast Road, Portmarnock, Co Dublin: The White Sands Hotel was served with a closure order on January 7 after the HSE received a complaint about the three-star hotel two days prior, which included “video footage of a rat in the bar”. Health inspectors visited the premises the same day, who said in their report that the “veracity of this complaint was verified”.

“A report from your own pest control provider (dated 06/01/26) was submitted to this office in the afternoon of 06/01/26 and this confirmed rodent (mice) activity in the small kitchen ground floor on that date,” the health inspector said in their report.

“The conditions outlined above could lead to a risk of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria thereby leading to a serious risk to consumers.”

The Closure Order was lifted on January 10.

White Sands Hotel, Portmarnock, Dublin(Image: Google Maps)

– Chillers Restaurant and Lounge, Unit 1, Liffey Valley Complex, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22: This Dublin restaurant was issued a closure order on January 5 after health inspectors determined that “there was no evidence that the management system for food safety, which had been in place previously, had been fully implemented and maintained”.

According to the report from the health inspector, there was an accumulation of grease deposit that had formed on the ceiling tiles above the utensil wash sink, while there were greasy deposits on the floor beneath the cooker.

The walls, wall floor junctions and doors in the main kitchen were spattered with food and dirty throughout, while there was dirt on the floors, walls ceilings and doors in ancillary areas off the main kitchen including store rooms, dry good store, stairwells and corridors leading to staff facilities.

The inspector also found that the interior and exterior including handles of the undercounter fridges were dirty, the sink in the bar area was full of dirty glasses from the previous trading period and there was a bucket full of brown unidentifiable liquid containing white pipes beneath the sink in the bar area.

The closure order was lifted on January 9.

– O’Connell’s Foodstore, Main Street, Bansha, Tipperary: This Tipperary shop was served a closure order on January 19 after it was found to be selling food with use-by dates that had passed. The shop has been ordered to stop selling any foods labelled with use by dates until the order has been lifted.

The closure order was issued as during an inspection on January 19, unsafe foods had been placed on the market including:

a) Cream labelled with ‘use by’ dates of 19/12/25 and 03/01/26

b) Cooked ham labelled with a ‘use by’ date of 07/01/26

c) Back rashers labelled with ‘use by’ dates of 29/12/26 and 10/01/26

d) Sausages labelled with ‘use by’ dates of 14/01/26

e) Milk labelled with a ‘use by’ dates of 15/01/26

f) Black pudding with ‘use by’ dates of 04/01/26

g) White pudding with ‘use by’ dates of 14/12/2

The closure order has not yet been lifted.

Commenting on the closure orders issued last month, Mr Greg Dempsey, Chief Executive, FSAI, highlighted the need for food businesses to implement a rigorous food safety management system with their business.

“Inspectors are finding recurring incidents of unhygienic practices and rodent infestations in food businesses,@ he said.

“Implementing and maintaining a food safety management system is a basic requirement and should be of the highest importance for food businesses.

“Maintaining a clean premises is not a ‘nice to have’ – it is a basic legal requirement. All food businesses have a duty of care to their customers to serve food that is prepared in a clean premises and is safe to eat. There is no excuse for bad practice.”

Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website. Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month.

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