Doesn’t she scrub up well? Whether you’re a fan of the sunny days or you grumble through the hot nights, there’s no denying that Ireland looks stunning in the sun.

The blue waters glisten, the green grass pops against the backdrop of stone walls and the red sunsets stretch for miles. As a nation, we tend to seek the beauty of the coast, enjoying picnics on the sand and 99s dripping on our fingers. People queue for their fish and chips – and if you’re lucky enough to be on Inis Mór, for crab salads and lobster rolls.

On page 14, Janine Kennedy writes about meeting fishing family Bertie and Niamh Donohue and their six children on the island. They diversified a family fishing business that has been on the go for generations – set up for survival even before the Famine – to create Aran Islands Seafoods, a sea-to-plate experience. The lobsters and crab that Bertie fishes offshore is later served up by Niamh and their children in their food truck.

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It’s a fantastic story and while their process is unique, winning them this year’s Euro-Toques Ireland Food Award in the WATER category for their innovative approach to fresh seafood, a version of their story is replicated right across the country. Fresh, local food is prepared in cafés and restaurants and families pull together and work hard in the good weather – making hay while the sun shines.

For these hospitality businesses, the good weather will certainly help the accounts, as will the fact that this is the first month where the VAT rate will be charged at the re-introduced and now permanent rate of 9%. But this was a battle that was hard fought.

To give some background, up until 2020, VAT for service providers, including cafés, restaurants and hotels was 13.5% but when the pandemic hit, that was knocked back to 9%. In August 2023, despite much campaigning, the Government reverted it to 13.5%. However, by that stage, business owners argued it wasn’t an even playing pitch because the price of everything had gone up – electricity, gas, wages, ingredients – and many felt they couldn’t keep hiking prices to counter that.

For these hospitality businesses, the good weather will certainly help the accounts, as will the fact that this is the first month where the VAT rate will be charged at the re-introduced and now permanent rate of 9%

The VAT 9 campaign group was established, but there was bitter disappointment in 2024, when there was no easing of the VAT rate in Budget 2025. It wasn’t until Budget 2026 that the announcement was made that the VAT rate would be returning to 9% – but even that brought challenges. The reintroduction wouldn’t happen until 1 July, a date that seemed very far away last October.

It has been a tough few years, especially given that 99.6% of hospitality businesses in Ireland are SMEs – there was a time when we were receiving almost daily news of a restaurant or café closing. Back in October, the Restaurant Association of Ireland argued some businesses wouldn’t make it until July. Those that kept going often showed remarkable resilience.

So, as you queue for your ice cream or fish and chips, wherever in the country you are, you might think, wow, these guys must be rolling it in – and indeed, the tills can be very active this time of year. But we have to remember when the temperature drops and the days become shorter, there is a long, hard winter ahead for these businesses. The money made on these busy sunny days is what keeps the lights on during cold January nights.