“Every time I go to the supermarket, prices are going up and up and up,” said Mrs Gannon. Meanwhile, “fuel is the big one” for the angling and whale-watching side of the business said Mr Gannon, as diesel is needed to keep his boats on the water.

Mr Gannon said the price of diesel has not changed from the high levels recorded last year, as last September he paid €1.18 per litre and last month he paid €1.15.

A key measure in Budget 2024 was Finance Minister Michael McGrath’s decision to defer the final tranche of fuel excise increases which were due to happen at the end of this month.

“I will restore the outstanding amounts of 8c on petrol, 6c on diesel and 3.4c on marked gas oil in two equal instalments on April 1, 2024 and August 1, 2024,” he said.

As he finished up a whale-watching tour for the day, Mr Gannon said he welcomed the deferral. However, while he was lucky to see several whales during the tour, he expects to be less fortunate when it comes to fuel prices. 

Mr Gannon is concerned that the growing tension in the Middle East will lead to further spikes in fuel this year. In addition to sticky inflation and the ongoing geopolitical conflict, his business is also exposed to weather conditions.

“We cancelled over 800 people whale-watching this summer,” he said, adding that windy conditions impacted some of the peak operating months for his business. He added: 

We probably had the worst summer on record. 

The pair are “still trying to pick up after covid”, said Mrs Gannon. Both the angling and the B&B parts of the operation were effectively closed for the bulk of the pandemic. “It’s been an OK year,” she said.

They get most of their angling customers from overseas, mainly Britain and Europe, who fly into Cork airport and then charter a boat for a couple of weeks. Covid travel restrictions therefore hit the angling side of the business while restrictions on hospitality impacted the B&B side.

Rebuilding the business over the last year has not been plain sailing amid the ongoing inflationary environment that has driven up prices.

The couple said they have been benefitting from post-pandemic pent-up demand, particularly among Irish customers, but prices are so high they have lost some of their foreign customers. Mrs Gannon said: 

I’d hate to think we’re pricing ourselves out of it.

Mr Gannon said high hotel rates and the reinstatement of the 13.5% Vat rate has made Ireland less attractive to visitors. He and Mrs Gannon have had to pass on some costs to their customers but this has been a balancing act as “it’s very hard to know what people’s cut-off point is”, said Mrs Gannon, adding that she has noticed customers becoming a lot more cost conscious.