{"id":458180,"date":"2026-05-20T10:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458180\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:07:08","slug":"owner-of-dublins-silk-road-cafe-fearful-business-could-end-for-good-due-to-forced-closure-for-eu-presidency-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/458180\/","title":{"rendered":"Owner of Dublin\u2019s Silk Road Cafe fearful business could end for good due to forced closure for EU presidency \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The owner of a cafe in Dublin Castle<\/a>\u2019s grounds has said he does not see it returning to business after a forced six-month closure due to the European Union<\/a> presidency unless there is compensation. <\/p>\n

Ibrahim Phelan, the 72-year-old owner of the Silk Road Cafe, which has been located in the Chester Beatty library<\/a> since 2001, believes the decision to close the cafe for six months is \u201cunfair\u201d after he was left in the dark on the matter.<\/p>\n

Phelan said the reality of such a closure is the \u201cdemise\u201d of his business.<\/p>\n

Despite being involved in catering for previous events including the 2013 EU presidency and the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 2011, \u201csuddenly this year, it\u2019s like we don\u2019t exist\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n

Phelan said the cafe has seen its revenue shrink by 30-40 per cent in the last year. He claims that is primarily due to the recent closure of the Palace Street entrance to Dublin Castle in preparation for Ireland\u2019s hosting of the presidency.<\/p>\n

While accepting the level of security needed during the EU presidency may require the cafe\u2019s closure, the lack of compensation and lack of information stood out as a big problem for the business. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a drip and drab of information, and you have to ask for information,\u201d Phelan said. <\/p>\n

The cafe\u2019s staff found out about the planned closure only by \u201csheer accident\u201d when people who had heard about the closure offered their sympathies. <\/p>\n

The Chester Beatty library will close to the public on June 15th to accommodate the EU presidency.<\/p>\n

Phelan doesn\u2019t see himself returning to the cafe unless compensation is provided to the cafe for the six-month closure. <\/p>\n

This has caused the cafe to begin \u201chaemorrhaging\u201d staff. <\/p>\n

Phelan acknowledged the support that the team has received since the news of the cafe\u2019s closure broke, but said many of the staff are still anxious and that the atmosphere reflects that.<\/p>\n

In relation to those securing work elsewhere, Phelan said he was unable to replace them. <\/p>\n

\"LucyLucy Johnston and Padma Chinathoo at the Silk Road Caf\u00e9. Photograph: Jack Brady <\/p>\n

Padma Chinathoo (39) has worked at the cafe for more than eight years and said a significant amount of shock followed the news. She has yet to look for work elsewhere as the team is \u201cstill waiting for answers\u201d on the closure, she said.<\/p>\n

Lucy Johnston (19), who has worked there for over two years, said while she is able to return to college in September, it\u2019s unfortunate to be forced to leave her \u201cfirst proper job\u201d.<\/p>\n

The closure is going to \u201caffect everyone negatively,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

With some staff members having worked at the cafe for ore than two decades, Phelan said he considers his team family rather than staff. <\/p>\n

Responding to queries at Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a>\u2019s ardfheis last week, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> said that while there were \u201cvarious aspects to getting Dublin Castle ready\u201d for the EU presidency, he wasn\u2019t aware of any individual business having to close for six months.<\/p>\n

The Office of Public Works<\/a> said it had responsibility and oversight for Dublin Castle but did not have \u201coperational oversight\u201d over the Chester Beatty and its tenant, Silk Road Cafe.<\/p>\n

The Chester Beatty was approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Despite the closure of the cafe, the Silk Road cookery school in Kimmage and the online shop will remain in business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The owner of a cafe in Dublin Castle\u2019s grounds has said he does not see it returning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[157633,615,4507,62613,5148,61,60,43,32235],"class_list":["post-458180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-chester-beatty-library","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-2","tag-dublin-castle","tag-european-union","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-office-of-public-works"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}