Do You Eat or Order From Here? 56 FSAI Closure Orders in 2026 as Inspectors Find Rodents, Cockroaches, Filth and Serious Food-Safety Failures
From curry and sushi to takeaways, cafés, pubs, hotels, food stalls and retailers, FSAI enforcement action in 2026 has exposed pest infestations, unsafe food handling, filthy equipment, temperature failures and other serious breaches of food-safety law.
It might be your favourite curry. A quick pizza on the way home. Sushi for lunch. A Chinese takeaway at the weekend. A coffee and sandwich from a café. Or a meal from a restaurant you’ve ordered from dozens of times.
The food can look delicious, smell perfect and taste exactly as expected.
But what happened before it reached your plate?
Official Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) records show that 56 Closure Orders had been issued in Ireland in 2026 by 13 August, alongside a number of Prohibition Orders.
Some of the findings reported by FSAI across its monthly enforcement statements make uncomfortable reading.
They include rodent droppings, dead rodents, live cockroaches, cockroaches inside food areas, inadequate handwashing facilities, filthy equipment, mould, unsafe food temperatures, cross-contamination risks, poor traceability, improper food handling and failures to implement basic food-safety systems.
July produced perhaps one of the most disturbing descriptions of the year: FSAI reported human waste overflowing from a manhole in a staff toilet into a room where food-contact equipment was stored, beside a food-preparation area among the reasons for that month’s Enforcement Orders.
So, do you recognise somewhere you eat or order from?
Here is the 2026 picture, month by month.
January 2026 — 4 Closure Orders
FSAI reported four Closure Orders during January.
| Business | Location | Closure/order detail |
|---|---|---|
| Chillers Restaurant and Lounge | Liffey Valley Complex, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 | Closure Order |
| White Sands Hotel | Coast Road, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin | Small ground-floor kitchen |
| The Shamrock Lodge | Seamus Ennis Road, Finglas, Dublin 11 | Kitchen only |
| O’Connell’s Foodstore | Main Street, Bansha, Tipperary | Holding for sale/supply foods labelled with “use by” dates |
The official FSAI register recorded Chillers Restaurant and Lounge as served on 5 January, White Sands Hotel on 7 January, The Shamrock Lodge on 15 January, and O’Connell’s Foodstore on 19 January.
Among the reasons reported by FSAI for January’s orders were rodent activity in a ground-floor kitchen, grease deposits on ceiling tiles, dirty walls and doors, a major ceiling leak in a kitchen and unsafe food being offered for sale after its “use by” date.
February 2026 — 3 Closure Orders + 1 Prohibition Order
| Business | Location | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Duud | Pinewood House, Huntstown Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 | Closure Order — rear yard and two storage containers |
| Masala Chowk Restaurant and Takeaway | Green Isle Park, Port Road, Letterkenny, Donegal | Closure Order |
| Letterkenny Spiceland | Green Isle Park, Port Road, Letterkenny, Donegal | Closure Order |
| Good African Food Store | Oldtown Road, Letterkenny, Donegal | Prohibition Order |
FSAI’s February announcement said inspectors found problems including rodent droppings on boxes containing food, floors and pallets; a dead mouse beneath food shelving; droppings around food packaging, shelving and equipment; inadequate traceability and insufficient cleaning and disinfection.
The Good African Food Store action was a Prohibition Order, not a Closure Order. That distinction is important.
March 2026 — 12 Closure Orders + 2 Prohibition Orders
March saw a sharp increase in enforcement.
| Business | Location | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Kebab House 66 | Moore Street Mall/Parnell Street, Dublin 1 | Closure — 31 March |
| Georgian Delight | Moore Street Mall, Dublin 1 | Closure — 31 March |
| Dailo Nepali Kitchen | Moore Street Mall, Dublin 1 | Closure — 31 March |
| Tiramisu Mania | Moore Street Mall, Dublin 1 | Closure — 31 March |
| Spicy Bite | Moore Street/Moore Mall, Dublin 1 | Closure Order |
| Glanmore Foods Ltd, Grange Community College | Donaghmede, Dublin 13 | Closure Order |
| Eskimo Pizza Bandon | St Patrick’s Quay, Bandon, Cork | Potato-peeling room |
| Eurospar | Annesley Bridge Road, Fairview, Dublin 3 | Closure Order |
| Bruno Gomes | Food business operating from a domestic dwelling, Ferndale, Navan, Meath | Closure Order |
| Arsh Bazzar | Mary Street, Clonmel, Tipperary | Butcher area |
| Mars Pizza | Coolbeg, Kildimo, Limerick | Closure — 12 March |
| Meet Brazil | Castle Hill, Enniscorthy, Wexford | Upstairs kitchen serving restaurant/takeaway |
| Al-Eman Halal Shop Ltd | Irishtown, Clonmel, Tipperary | Prohibition Order |
| Pinoy Sari Sari | Mary Street, Dublin | Prohibition Order |
March’s findings were particularly striking.
FSAI reported an active cockroach infestation, dead cockroaches inside a fridge, evidence of rodent activity, a dead mouse in a cockroach trap, rodent droppings, meat being air-dried in a bedroom, inadequate handwashing facilities, no hot water or soap, dirty stagnant water, heavily soiled equipment and inadequate food traceability.
April 2026 — 5 Closure Orders
| Business | Location | Date served |
|---|---|---|
| Doolys Fish and Chips | Waterford & Tramore Racecourse, Tramore | 2 April |
| Empoli Restaurant | The Plaza, Main Street, Swords | 7 April |
| CraftCup Limited | Heather Road, Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18 | 15 April |
| Yama | Gerald Griffin Street, Blackpool, Cork | 23 April |
| Lily House | South Square, Rosscarbery, Cork | 24 April |
The Doolys order concerned the manufacture and wholesale of foods of animal origin and their subsequent placing on the market.
FSAI said reasons across April’s orders included an active rodent infestation in food-storage and kitchen areas, rodent droppings, cobwebs and spider egg sacs in food-preparation areas, use of an unapproved establishment, inaccurate allergen declarations, inadequate traceability, poor cleaning, mould and dampness in staff toilets and unsafe food-handling practices.
May 2026 — 7 Closure Orders
| Business | Location | Date served |
|---|---|---|
| Hole in the Wall Pub | Blackhorse Avenue, Cabra, Dublin 7 | 26 May |
| Mace | Slane Road, Harmonstown, Navan, Meath | 27 May |
| A table serving food | Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Mullingar | 20 May |
| Shapla Indian Spice | Hanover Court, Kennedy Avenue, Carlow | 15 May |
| Captain’s Catch | Parnell Street, Limerick | 13 May |
| Jilly & Joe’s | Dove Hill Centre, Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary | 7 May |
| Sheela Palace | Liffey Valley Complex, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 | 7 May |
Some orders were highly specific.
The Mace order concerned an external prefab food-storage unit.
The Hole in the Wall Pub order covered food and food-contact-material storage in first-floor storerooms and food preparation/service from the ground-floor kitchen.
Jilly & Joe’s order concerned the cooling of cooked foods, including meat, poultry, gravies, sauces, rice, potatoes and other vegetables.
Across May, FSAI reported evidence of rodent activity including a rat carcass, rodent droppings, accumulated waste, failures in food cooling, dirty equipment and floors, greasy preparation counters, unsafe handling of raw chicken and ready-to-eat food, inadequate handwashing and animal hair on a pallet storing food-contact packaging.
June 2026 — 13 Closure Orders + 1 Prohibition Order
June recorded the highest number of Closure Orders of any month in 2026 up to the end of July.
| Business | Location | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Navan Asian Store | Metges Lane, Navan, Meath | Butcher counter/area including coldroom |
| Meat Stall — Vehicle 172-C-2476 | Balbriggan Market, Co. Dublin | Closure + separate Prohibition Order |
| M&M Meat | Balbriggan Market, Co. Dublin | Closure |
| Foodstall — Vehicle 222-D-9510 | Balbriggan Market | Closure |
| Branza Foodstall — Vehicle 131-D-40171 | Balbriggan Market | Closure |
| Liviu Lacatus | Coolnacon, Clonroche, Wexford | Closure |
| Adina Fusteac | Coolnacon, Clonroche, Wexford | Closure |
| Premises occupied by Aleksej Kardasev | Warehouse, Shercock Road, Carrickmacross, Monaghan | Closure |
| RAHA Indian Cuisine | Park Street, Dundalk, Louth | Preparation/sale of ready-to-heat meals and onion bhajis to other businesses |
| Esquires Coffee | Navan Town Centre, Navan | Activities requiring storage of high-risk ready-to-eat perishable foods |
| Atlantic Chinese Restaurant | East End, Ballybunion, Kerry | Closure |
| Al Huda Grocery | Summerhill, Dublin 1 | Closure |
| Asian Delights | Lagan Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11 | Closure |
FSAI’s June findings included live cockroaches, slugs, spiders and woodlice in food-preparation areas, rodent droppings on shelving, food packaging and food-contact equipment, inadequate handwashing facilities, food exposed to contamination, chopping boards black with mould and cooking equipment covered in heavy black grease and food debris.
Inspectors also encountered unsuitable premises layouts, incorrect food temperatures, inadequate traceability and a food worker wearing a heavily stained uniform covered with old food debris.
July 2026 — 11 Closure Orders + 2 Prohibition Orders
July brought another 13 Enforcement Orders.
| Business | Location | Date served |
|---|---|---|
| Sushimi | Mary Street, Dublin 1 | 1 July |
| Elm Tree Farm Food Stall | Clonmel Show, Powerstown Park Racecourse | 5 July |
| Roots Health Food | Salthill & Monkstown DART Station, Co. Dublin | 7 July |
| Deli Gold – Grill House | Townsend Street, Dublin 2 | 13 July |
| Sheela Palace | Ballyowen Shopping Centre, Lucan | 15 July |
| India Dining | Prospect House, Church Street, Wicklow | 16 July |
| Babylon Restaurant | Irishtown, Clonmel, Tipperary | 17 July |
| Canteen Street Food | Mobile unit, Damastown Park, Dublin 15 | 17 July |
| Chicken Club | The Square, Listowel, Kerry | 17 July |
| The Village Shop & Takeaway | Mountbolus, Offaly | 23 July |
| Diwali | South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2 | 27 July |
| Ocras | West Cork Business & Technology Park, Clonakilty | 2 July — Prohibition |
| Rebel Ice Cream | Harbour Point, Little Island, Cork | 16 July — Prohibition |
The Sushimi order specifically concerned preparation and sale of sushi in the shared first-floor kitchen, rather than necessarily every activity at the address.
FSAI’s July reasons included inadequate procedures preventing cross-contamination between raw and cooked food, inadequate HACCP training, problems with ready-to-eat food labelling and monitoring, rodent droppings, a dead rodent close to food products and cockroach activity in food-preparation areas.
There was also the extraordinary sewage-related finding involving human waste overflowing from a manhole in a staff toilet into a room storing food-contact equipment beside a food-preparation area.
Other problems included defective refrigeration, incorrect food temperatures, grease and grime, food debris, a disused cooker being used as a bin and improper defrosting and handling of frozen fish.
August 2026 — Latest Record So Far
As of the FSAI register refreshed on 13 August 2026, one additional Closure Order had been recorded for August:
| Business | Location | Date served |
|---|---|---|
| The Darkey Kelly’s | 19 Fishamble Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 8 | 11 August 2026 |
August is not a completed month, so this figure should not be compared directly with the completed monthly totals above.
2026 FSAI Closure Orders — The Numbers
| Month | Closure Orders |
|---|---|
| January | 4 |
| February | 3 |
| March | 12 |
| April | 5 |
| May | 7 |
| June | 13 |
| July | 11 |
| August to 13 August | 1 |
| 2026 total to date | 56 |
FSAI’s official summary, refreshed 13 August 2026, records 56 Closure Orders and six Prohibition Orders for 2026 so far.
That means 55 Closure Orders were issued in the first seven completed months, an average of almost 7.9 per month.
June was the busiest month with 13, followed by March with 12 and July with 11.
Those three months alone account for 36 of the 55 Closure Orders issued between January and July — around 65% of the total.
June and July alone produced 24 Closure Orders in just two months.
Are “Foreign Food Outlets” the Problem?
Looking through the lists, consumers will notice businesses associated with a wide range of international foods — Indian, Nepali, Chinese, Brazilian, sushi, halal foods and others.
Names include Diwali, India Dining, RAHA Indian Cuisine, Shapla Indian Spice, Dailo Nepali Kitchen, Georgian Delight, Meet Brazil, Atlantic Chinese Restaurant, Asian Delights and Sushimi.
But describing this as FSAI “disapproving foreign food” would be inaccurate.
FSAI does not approve or disapprove a cuisine because of where it comes from.
Its enforcement concerns compliance by individual food businesses.
The same 2026 lists contain pubs, hotels, coffee shops, supermarkets, fish-and-chip businesses, market stalls, food manufacturers and other establishments.
The issue is food safety — not nationality.
A Closure Order Doesn’t Always Mean the Business Is Still Closed
This distinction is particularly important when these stories circulate on social media.
A business can receive a Closure Order, correct the problems identified by inspectors and subsequently have the order lifted.
FSAI states that Closure Orders can apply to all or part of a premises or all or some of its activities.
Once the premises has improved to the satisfaction of the authorised officer, the order may be lifted.
FSAI also keeps Closure Orders in its published enforcement reports for three months after an order has been lifted.
So seeing a business on an FSAI enforcement list does not automatically mean it is closed today.
A Prohibition Order is different again. It can prohibit the sale of a particular product, class, batch or item of food and should not automatically be reported as closure of the entire business.
Would You Know From Looking at Your Meal?
Probably not.
That’s what makes these reports particularly relevant to consumers.
A customer can judge taste.
They can judge presentation.
They can see whether the dining room looks clean.
They can read five-star reviews.
But they generally cannot see the food-storage areas, refrigerators, pest-control systems, preparation surfaces, staff facilities or records behind the kitchen door.
You can’t tell from the taste of a curry whether ingredients were stored at the correct temperature.
You can’t tell from a photograph of sushi whether frozen fish was handled correctly.
You can’t tell from a coffee-shop review whether rodents have accessed a storeroom.
And you certainly can’t tell from an attractive plate whether cockroaches have been discovered elsewhere in a food-preparation environment.
That is why inspections matter.
Taste Isn’t a Food-Safety Certificate
The 2026 FSAI figures tell a much bigger story than one restaurant or one type of food.
By 13 August, 56 Closure Orders had already been issued during the year.
The official monthly statements describe everything from routine failures in cleaning and food-safety management to conditions involving rodents, cockroaches, mould, unsafe food storage and sewage contamination risks.
The important message isn’t to stop ordering curry, sushi, Chinese food, pizza or any other particular cuisine.
It’s much simpler:
Tasty food isn’t necessarily safe food.
A meal can look fantastic.
It can smell fantastic.
It can taste fantastic.
But the customer sees only the finished plate.
Food inspectors see what happened before it reached the table.
Source
Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) — Official Enforcement Orders, Closure Orders, Prohibition Orders and monthly Enforcement Order statements, January–August 2026.
Information and business names in this article are based on official FSAI records. Closure Orders may relate to all or only part of a premises or activity and may subsequently be lifted. Readers should consult the current FSAI enforcement register for the latest status of an individual order.
