A Dublin restaurant was hit with a closure order over concerns of a cockroach infestation.
Diwali, an Indian and Nepalese restaurant located along South Great George's Street in Dublin, was forced to close by safety inspectors in July, after a report had said that "evidence of a significant cockroach infestation throughout the kitchen food preparation areas".
The report added that the insects were "present at all stages of their life, including egg cases", while "multiple dead cockroaches" were also discovered.
These dead insects were found "beneath the plate warming unit", "beneath and behind tall freezer unit", "inside the glass screen of the microwave door" as well as "inside the wooden unit that houses the fuse box".
Inspectors stated that this had presented a "serious risk of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria".
The order to close the restaurant was issued on July 27, and lifted on August 7.
According to reports in the Irish Mirror, Diwali acknowledged on social media that they had failed to conform to the "hygiene standards", and had added they had disappointed their customers and expressed their regret regarding the matter.
On social media, the eatery wrote: "We've spent these past weeks doing more than just cleaning. We've rebuilt. Our kitchen has been completely renovated from the ground up, our equipment upgraded, and our entire food safety process redesigned under strict new protocols.
"Every member of our team has gone through retraining, and management has taken full ownership of ensuring this never happens again", they added. "Today, we're proud to reopen with a kitchen and a commitment that's genuinely new. Come see it for yourself. Come taste the food we've always been proud to serve, made in a space you can now trust completely. We'd be honoured to welcome you back".
"We made the difficult decision to close our doors", however many were quick to point out that the closure was not their choice to make".
Following this, one person wrote: "You didn't make any decision. You were shut by the health inspector for putting your customers at risk. As if you couldn't see hundreds of cockroaches in your kip of a kitchen. Shameful".
To this, Diwali replied: "Thank you for saying this directly , you're right to hold us to a higher standard, and we won't make excuses. The closure happened because we failed an inspection, and that failure is entirely on us".
"We've used the time since to completely rebuild our kitchen and retrain our team, because our customers deserve better than what we gave you", they added: "If you're willing to give us another chance in the future, we'd welcome the opportunity to show you the changes in person. If not, we understand and we're still sorry". (All quotes according to the Irish Mirror and DublinLive).
