Last year McDonald’s announced plans to expand across the country, a victorious signal of intent coming 50 years after it began flipping burgers in the UK and Ireland.
Much has changed in the culinary space over those five decades – and since the first golden arches franchise opened its doors on Dublin’s Grafton Street in 1977 – including a growing awareness of healthy eating and nutrition. But it appears to have done little to inhibit our taste for fast food.
Expansion plans by the US chain, famed for its Big Macs and Happy Meals, have now come into focus.
As well as several branch upgrades, McDonald’s has recently secured planning permission for two drive-through restaurants in Mullingar, Co Westmeath and Butlerstown, Co Waterford, and has pending applications for sites in New Ross, Co Wexford; Thurles, Co Tipperary; and Carrigaline, Co Cork.
Last year it said it would also bring a renewed focus on urban outlets “demonstrating an ongoing commitment to supporting successful high streets across the country as town and city centres continue to evolve”. It vaunts local investment and jobs – but what other, less welcome contributions might the expansion of fast food bring?
In a world where public health is increasingly seen in the context of anti-obesity medication, questions of diet and lifestyle can get less attention.
This month, a study in the Lancet medical journal found rates of people obese and overweight are spiralling due to a “monumental societal failure” to tackle root causes. Data from over 200 countries shows more than half of adults and almost a third of children and young people are set to be affected by 2050.
Last year, Prof Carlos Monteiro said “ultra-processed foods” – he coined the term – were displacing healthy diets globally and required tobacco-style health warnings.
In Ireland, one in three children from disadvantaged areas are now overweight or obese. Consultant endocrinologist Prof Donal O’Shea – who recently bemoaned the presence of the “Ronald McDonald House” accommodation centre at the new national children’s hospital – identified the socio-economic disparity where “complex obesity in childhood is almost exclusively in less well-off areas”.
The links between fast food and obesity are well rehearsed. But as its reach expands, so does turnover. Most recent accounts for McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, which is approaching 100 franchises, showed an 8 per increase in 2023, to almost €86 million.
