Owner 'furious' as busy café at Dublin Castle ordered to shut down for EU presidency

THE OWNER OF a café at Dublin Castle that’s been forced to shut down for the six months of the EU presidency said he’s “furious” the decision was made without engagement with the café.

The Silk Road Café is located in the Chester Beatty library at Dublin Castle. It has been in business since 2001 and was gearing up for the celebration of its 25-year anniversary in mid-July when it was informed it would have to close for security reasons.

The EU presidency will be held by Ireland from 1 July to the end of the year, and will be hosted in Dublin Castle.

Abraham Phelan, the owner of the café, told The Journal he now has to let all his staff go. There are between 20 and 25 staff members employed at the café, a number of whom have been working there for over 20 years.

“We are a family,” Phelan said, adding that he feels he and his team have been “treated with disregard” and “disrespect”.

He said that a six-month closure would make it impossible for the business to reopen at the end of the presidency. 

Phelan initially heard rumours in December of last year that the area would be closed but received no guidance on this. During the last presidency hosted by Ireland in 2013, the café was closed for a limited number of days over the six-month period.

It was also involved in catering for some of the events that were held for the presidency, both at the castle and in other venues.

This time, he said, “they went above our heads. We were not involved in any decision-making whatsoever.”

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The café has been offered no compensation for the closure, Phelan said.

“Nobody gave a duty of care to my staff,” he continued. “Somebody made a decision in their bloody office.”

He is further aggravated that he has not been informed who was behind the decision to implement a full closure of his business.

Although the closure is his main concern, he said his business has been affected by barriers and the closure of the gate at the castle’s main entrance in recent months.

At what is usually the café’s busiest time of year, its revenue is down 50% in the past two months, Phelan said. He had bookings for afternoon tea cancelled by patrons who arrive at the castle and see the gate is closed, with no signage pointing out alternative entryways.

“I wonder how this country’s being run, to be honest,” he said.

The 72-year-old said if the closure had been flagged a year ago, he would have no issue closing the business, but would have done so on his own terms and had the time to properly warn and provide for his staff.

The Office of Public Works (OPW), which has responsibility and oversight for Dublin Castle, said it “does not have operational oversight for the Chester Beatty or its tenant, the Silk Road Café”, and queries regarding its operations should be directed to Chester Beatty.

Contacted with queries regarding timelines, whether the Chester Beatty has received any compensation for its six-month closure, and engagement with the OPW and its tenant regarding the closure, a spokeswoman for the Chester Beatty said: “The Chester Beatty has no further response.”

The OPW further said: “Dublin Castle will serve as the principal State venue for conferencing, meetings, events and receptions during Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

“The Castle will therefore be closed to general public access during the Presidency period of July – December 2026.”

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