IL Vicolo — Restaurant in Galway

GALWAY RESTAURANT IS THE FIRST BUSINESS IN IRELAND TO CHALLENGE THE VACCINE PASS AT COURT ON GROUNDS OF DISCRIMINATION

A District Court Judge in Galway was asked on Monday 4th October to set aside a Compliance Notice issued on 20th August and which had been served upon the owners of a well known Italian restaurant in Galway City known as Il Vicolo.

The Restaurant had been served with the notice by a number of HSE compliance officers appointed under the Health Acts 1947-2021 (as amended) otherwise known as the ‘Indoor Dining Legislation’. The Restaurant was appealing the order whilst the HSE were seeking to shut the restaurant down by way of a cessation order. The Restaurant had been inspected on several occasions because of their stance and was shut down for two days in September following a HSE application for an emergency cessation order.

Oisin Collins Senior Counsel for the restaurant submitted that the EU Digital Covid Certificate Regulation provided for a third category of testing. This had been included at a European level in order to avoid issues of direct and indirect discrimination as people may not be able to get a vaccine or may choose to get a vaccine. This omission was a clear breach of the regulation itself, European privacy law, the Constitution, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the EU Convention on Human Rights. He submitted that his position on the issue of discrimination was unanswerable.

In reply, Stephen Moran BL for the HSE said the Irish Government were effectively 'at large' in relation to how they wished to deal with the issue of re-opening pubs and restaurants at a domestic level given the serious threat to public health and the rise in cases due to the Delta variant.

District Judge, John King having heard detailed submissions on discrimination, decided that he did not have to rule on this issue as the Compliance Notice only went so far as to require records rather than prohibit people from entering.

Gerry commented after the hearing:

‘Our restaurant has been non-stop inspected by Compliance Officers since this law was imposed because of our non-discriminatory stance and this has been our third time to appear at court. It was very difficult for my entire staff when we were shut down without notice and we all suffered financial loss. I work on my instinct and right from the get go I had a strong feeling that this law is wrong, discriminatory and divisive. My principles and convictions are very important to me. I have two children and a baby on the way and I feel that it is my moral and ethical duty to challenge such laws and policies. For if we do not take a stance and legally challenge the erosion of our civil and constitutional rights what future have our children?’.

Lawyers For Justice wish to commend owner Gerry McMahon and the staff of Il Vicola, particularly Breffni Archer, for demonstrating such courage, integrity and strength of conviction.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi:

'Fear...

Unfortunately we didn't has the greatest customer experience that we were hoping for. We came from Canada with the intention of having a romantic dinner at this restaurant to celebrate our engagement. We absolutely fell in love with the venue as soon as we walked in. We chatted with one of the managers prior making a reservation, she was very nice, she showed us the place around and answer all our questions. We were very interested in reserving the table by the semi-circular window that overlooks at the river (picture attached). She said they don't take reservations under any circumstances for that table as is very popular, they basically keep it on first come basis. However, she said we could make a reservation and they could make a note that we were interested in that table. So we did. Upon our check in we were received by a girl with a terrible attitude, later on I found out that she was the other manager, I think her name is Louis? There was absolutely no one sitting on that table nor in that section of the restaurant so we asked for the table we so much wanted. With a terrible attitude, she said that table was reserved for 8 pm and that we will be only allowed (and that was the term she used) to one course meal. We agreed, we thought we would take the 50 minutes on that table and enjoy it but she still gave us attitude. Later on I found out that the table was reserved for a chef that worked in the restaurant. I felt very disappointed that they made an exception based on favouritism. If they say they dont take reservations then it should be it and we should have been allowed to enjoy our 3 course meal in the table of our preference. I'm terribly disappointed with the customer service here. I think if they say they dont take reservations for specific tables, then they should respect that and allow the guests to enjoy their meals wherever they...

We were so excited for our anniversary dinner, got rave recommendations to go here so we made reservations for 8:30p Sunday night. Showed at least 5min early and were seated just a bit behind schedule to start but were placed at the bar in the meantime which was nice at least. Then even after we got seated took probably another 20 min or so for our order to be taken, and then another 55min or more to get our food. We didn't leave until after 1030p (2 hours later) which was not our choice. The table who came in next to us arrived after we placed our order and had their plates cleared by the time we started eating...not sure what went wrong there. Staff was polite and atmosphere was nice though.

My husband decided to try the prawn special but it was just so so and had very few pieces of protein. He was ultimately so unsatisfied he didn't even finish his meal. We were given a free alcoholic beverage as compensation for my husband not eating however for a €24 dish we just expected a bit more from the quality. I got the Friendly Chicken and mine was just fine I had no major complaints but definitely not the rave worthy food we expected. Was a pretty big disappointment to stay so long, pay €101 bill, and leave so unhappy.

The experience was only worsened by the table who came in next to us, I know there was little the restaurant could do about it but one woman was yelling and cursing so loud at her companion it was clearly disturbing us and other tables nearby. we Were trapped in a corner booth behind them and it was just absolutely awkward... and just added to the frustration of waiting an hour for food. I really think they would have been well within reason to ask her to be considerate or leave.

We would not go back.

& As you can see I generally leave many positive reviews so this is especially sad to report for a place with such...