What’s behind the recent closure of four vegan restaurants in Dublin? 

Could it be that people are turning away from vegan diets or are they just part of the sad trend of Irish restaurants shutting for good? 

Last year also saw sales at Beyond Meat, one of the world’s largest vegan retailers, drop by 18%. 

So are is the traditional omnivorous diet back in fashion? 

Speaking to Sarah Madden for The Hard Shoulder, former vegan influencer Anthony Clavin explained that he actually found it “healing” when he began eating again. 

“I was 10-years a vegetarian, I was two to three as a vegan,” he said. 

“I was in it, I was a bit dogmatic - you got to believe in something.” 

Shoppers browse meatless and plant-based vegan processed food products at a supermarket. Image: Robert K. Chin / Alamy

Formerly a vegan chef, a “crazy accident” meant he was unable to work in a heavy kitchen and instead he got a job in a cafe. 

It was there that he had something of an epiphany. 

“It was up the Wicklow Mountains and we got this local bacon in,” he said. 

“We got this local bacon in - literally from a pig that was slaughtered down the road. 

“I just couldn’t resist - it was like this weird pull. I don’t want to sound like a primal but that’s what it felt like. 

“I went for it and it was like a night and day process; energy, happiness as well, hormonally it made a huge difference and I could just stay lean.” 

Bacon strips sizzling on a frying pan. Picture by: Elena Elisseeva / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Clavin has 16,000 followers on social media and many of them started following him during his time as a vegan chef. 

When he posted an article about why he was eating meat again, he got “a lot of grief” from his followers and he estimates around 5,000 unfollowed him. 

'I’ve maybe come full circle'

Nor is Mr Clavin the only person to give up veganism after years of careful adherence. 

Oonagh McMorrow became a vegetarian at the age of nine but began eating meat again in her late 20s. 

“I really enjoyed eating meat, I missed eating meat,” she explained. 

“As I grew older and made that decision to go back to meat eating, I decided I needed to be more careful about where it came from and that it had lived as healthy and happy a life as possible if I was going to eat meat.” 

E6K4HT Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), hind with young, captive, Bavaria, Germany

Now a parent, she has taught her children how to pluck a chicken and they have watched her butcher a deer in the kitchen. 

“Last summer, I passed my HCAP which is a deer hunting certification course,” she said. 

“I think young and teenage me would be quite baffled but quite proud that I’ve maybe come full circle.”

Ms McMorrow is now comfortable with the idea that she has found a "happy, healthy way to eat meat". 

Main image: A roast chicken. Picture by: Alamy.com