‘End of an era’: Dublin Castle cafe owner harbours no bad feelings over closure

From his cafe in Dublin Castle, Abraham Phelan has seen monumental State visits and banquets, hosting foreign royalty, diplomats and US presidents over the last two decades.

The 73-year-old, originally from Jerusalem, has called Ireland home for 45 years or so, 26 of which he has owned the Silk Road Cafe, which is due to serve its last customers at the complex this week.

“It’s the end of an era,” he said.

The Silk Road Cafe was at the centre of a long-standing dispute after he was told he would have to close for the duration of the State’s six-month EU presidency.

Phelan was initially granted an injunction in June restraining his landlord, the Chester Beatty Library, from closing down his cafe for security reasons.

Mediation talks ultimately ended on Tuesday after both parties reached a confidential settlement that would mean his cafe closes on Friday.

[ Dublin Castle cafe at centre of security shutdown dispute to close permanentlyOpens in new window ]

Phelan, who said he could not speak about the agreement, said it was a “sad time for myself and for the staff”.

He would have preferred to stay open for “another couple of years”, saying he planned to retire at 75 after launching a cookery book next year which incorporates his life story.

“But there comes a time to say, for my sake, for peace of mind, for my age, it’s time to actually step back,” he said.

Across his cafe, cookery school and catering business, he said his staff would total about 40 in the summer months, though he has had to let go the vast majority. This is the “saddest part”, he said, describing staff members as family.

“They’ve been looked after. Some of them have moved to another job, some of them have been given redundancy,” he said.

Six staff members remain, he said, and will continue to work at his cookery school and catering business after his retirement.

Despite the dispute, he said he was “saddened to see certain people go after the Chester Beatty” when news of his cafe’s closure broke.

He would have understood the order to close had compensation been offered, he said, noting that his cafe was the “only private business in Dublin Castle”.

“The unfairness of the whole situation pushed me,” Phelan said, adding that when he ultimately took the issue to the courts, he was “fighting people who I respect, people who I have an amazing relationship with”, which was “odd”.

[ Dublin’s Silk Road Cafe granted injunction to stop landlord from closing it during EU presidencyOpens in new window ]

“It is sad, but I am actually proud of myself. I did not take it on the chin. I did not accept the wrong that’s been done to me and to my staff,” he said.

Phelan said he received legal advice that he could seek an injunction against Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty.

“I could have actually locked the gate of Dublin Castle and put the Government under pressure to compensate and sort out the problem before the start of the EU presidency, and I did not do that because that’s not the type of person I am,” he said.

The cafe’s final opening on Friday will be another normal day, he said.

“We will do our thing. Life will go on,” he said, adding he wishes the Chester Beatty “the best of luck”.

“There is no bad feeling whatsoever. What’s done is done.”