Beloved Temple Bar restaurant announces shock closure after ‘decline in Dublin city trade’

The iconic spot was trading for 28 years.

Luigi Malones has been in operation for the past 28 years, but today announced it will be closing down.

A statement from the restaurant on social media said that they will "cease to trade on Sunday 13th April."

They added that they felt a "sense of deep frustration as we have been effectively barricaded into our own premises for the last three months as the street is being dug up and rebuilt all around us and as a result our turnover has plummeted in that period."

The following financial loss they said made it "impossible to trade on without inflicting damage on all stakeholders."

They also wrote of how appreciative they have been of "the support and loyalty of our management and staff through what has been a difficult and frustrating time for them also and despite their best efforts we were all fighting an up-hill battle when our restaurant was so inaccessible.

"We know streets have to be repaired but this project which we were told would take 1 month took over 3."

They further added that they have been affected by "the gradual but general decline in trade in Dublin City Centre for various reasons known to the industry at large compounded by the inflationary pressures that have made it impossible for our operation to trade at a profit."

The restaurant added: "We will accept any gift vouchers in the interim trading period whilst we trade and of course honour them at Luigi Malones Cork restaurant. Finally we wish to thank our many customers over the years who frequented our restaurant."