Sup to Govt to save our pubs

Last orders affecting boozers at terrifying rate

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Studies have found Western nations face an epidemic of solitude as the “attention economy” draws us ever deeper into a virtual unreality.

Loneliness itself has been made a health priority of the European Commission. It can cost health systems an estimated €2,000 per patient whose disconnectedness from society results ina spiral of mental and physical health problems.

In the US, loneliness costs the economy an estimated €460 billion.

For centuries on this windswept island, the local pub has been our equivalent of the sun-splashed European piazza where the old gather of an evening.

It is even under consideration for UNESCO world heritage status.

I don't know if Jack Chambers and Pascal Donohoe are theatre fans. But had they seen Gleeson’s haunting performance in The Weir maybe it would have given them pause.