Committee set to call time on pub opening hours chaos

WHY, asks Mr Charles Hanagan TD, chairman of the Dail Select Committee on Legislation and Security, "on a fine summer's evening", should he not be able to buy a pint in a normal pub at five minutes to midnight?

Why, he asks, should he be "burdened" with having to go to the local disco, pay in, put up with loud music, and consume his pint amid flashing lights?

This week the 21 member Select Committee on Legislation and Security held hearings on this and related issues.

It had already received 50 written submissions from bodies as diverse as residents' associations; hotel, pub and dance hall owners representative associations, the Garda, an anti abuse of alcohol organisation, Dothain (Irish for enough), a trade union and a musical rights organisation. It also received submissions from individuals.

The committee will now go into conclave and hopes to report by Christmas, outlining how the laws governing the sale of drink should be changed.

According to coroner, former GAA president and Dothain spokesman, Dr Michael Loftus the liberalisation of pub opening hours in Edinburgh in the 1970s led to drunks wandering around all night.

Earlier and uniform closing was reintroduced. Evaluation of this has yet to be published. "However it appears that since 1989 when late night opening hours began to be reduced, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in drink related violence and crime", according to Dr Loftus.

His work as a general practitioner and coroner has fuelled Dr Loftus's concern about drink. Making alcohol more available by liberalising the opening hours will increase consumption and the prevalence of alcohol related harm, he believes.

The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, launching his National Alcohol Policy on Thursday, seemed to agree with Dr Loftus.

He said he would be drawing the select committee's attention to the conclusion of the World Health Organisation that the "weight of the empirical evidence" favoured limiting the availability of alcohol so as to combat excessive consumption.

MR NOONAN complained about alcoholic lemonades, labelling them "one of the biggest threats to young people in the country", and criticised the "happy hour". He would be telling the select committee, he said, that he opposes extended opening hours.

Committee member Mr Alan Shatter believes it is none of his (Mr Shatter's) business, or that of Dail Eireann, when an adult chooses to have a drink in an establishment serving alcohol.

"The current lawns belong to the philosophy of the last century."

He is in favour of complete deregulation, letting market forces and the owners' desire decide when any establishment opens for the sale of alcohol. His position is supported by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

Mr Shatter argues that deregulation will not lead to increased consumption and says gardai have more serious things to do in fighting crime than trying to establish if a person is serving a bottle of beer at 11.35 p.m."

Among those who disagree with Mr Shatter is the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne. Chief Supt Brian Garvey, in a written submission to the committee on behalf of Mr Byrne, said the Commissioner opposes deregulation.

The Garda is against such a move from an operational point of view, he said. They see the logic of simplifying the law so that pubs, restaurants and hotel discos are treated equally, and recognise that this would mean later pub hours.

Chief Supt Garvey said the Commissioner has no difficulty with letting pubs open between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sundays, but is against changing the Sunday night closing time.

He also suggested to the committee that Garda powers of entry without warrant should be extended in relation to establishments serving alcohol. Some publicans think the Garda already has powers enough.

"None of us likes to talk about it", said the manager of one of the Dublin pubs which have, in recent years, by presenting themselves as dance venues and restaurants as well as pubs, managed to push closing time back to around 2 a.m. "We know we are bending the law."

Through applications for "extensions" to the courts, they get permission to sell drink up to 1.45 a.m., Monday to Friday, up to midnight on Saturday, and to 1 a.m. on Sunday.

"None of us are allowed serve after 12 on Saturday night because it goes into the Sabbath, but we do and the gardai know we do. If we don't flout it and we show respect to the gardai, then we can continue." When there is a raid - "they're visits really" - gardai and the pub manager go through a ritual", and if everything goes smoothly, then the gardai simply leave again.

The consensus among the membership of the Select Committee on Legislation and Security seems to be that there is no demand for complete deregulation, and that it is unfair that ordinary publicans should have to throw out customers at 11.30 p.m., forcing them into a hotel or night club.

The likely recommendation, according to one member, is that pubs, restaurants and hotels with discos should all be allowed serve up to 12.30 a.m., at least at weekends.