The Restaurants Association of Ireland was formed in 1970 with the initial goal of forming a strong lobby that would represent the industry at Government level on issues of importance to the Irish restaurant industry.
Over the past 50 years, the Restaurants Association of Ireland has worked on various campaigns to bolster the Irish restaurant sector, such as advocating for the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality industry, a result of the expert lobbying of a group of dedicated restaurateurs on behalf of themselves and their colleagues. Such successes have been repeated over the years, particularly in the areas of taxation, licensing, standards, curriculum development both at Irish and European levels.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland now represents in excess of 3,000 members, with establishments representing full-service restaurants, coffees shops, hotel restaurants, gastropubs, golf clubs and cookery schools.
We also have over 150 trade partners, which are businesses that we have approved as suppliers of products and services for restaurants.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland established the Restaurant & Hospitality Skillnet in 2017 to provide training to those working in restaurants and the wider hospitality industry. Training is done via courses, apprenticeships and various webinars.