Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI), said the Michelin Star restaurant area is likely to shrink until corporate and international customers return.

Last year, a record 21 restaurants on the island of Ireland won the prestigious Michelin title.

Mr Cummins said: “Michelin restaurants are at the forefront of their game but they are expensive to operate because of the quality of their product.” He said 2020 was a record year for the region before the Kovid-19 impact.

He said: “Until we have an international, corporate market, you’ll see contractions in the Michelin region.”

The new accounts submitted by Chapter One Restaurant, owned by Rose Lewis, underscore the excellent year the region enjoyed last year.

In the 12 months to the end of February this year, the Michelin-starred Dublin restaurant company’s fundraising increased by $ 296,000 to $ 1.28 million.

In February, Lindley Ltd lost $ 69,724. The company had a profit of $ 67,705 at the end of February 2019 – a negative swing of $ 137,429. However, this was mainly due to a 55 per cent increase in directors’ salaries from $ 328,225 to $ 509,267.

Irish Independent