Morning road checks spark early evening drinking in Limerick

Publican John Halpin has noticed a change in drinking habits in his pub in Croom. "People are more inclined now to go out to the pub earlier and go home earlier as they're afraid of their lives of being caught."

Sunday has become increasingly popular: “They’re out early in the afternoon and their home by 8pm. By 5pm/6pm they’ll have had a few jars and then they can have a late lunch.

"People are trying to do the right thing, but sure, with Shane Ross's proposals, a sherry trifle would put you over the limit," said Halpin, who is also a member of the national executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland.

During the week, Halpin does not open until 5pm. Customers drop in for a pint on the way home from work, rather than “chance” one later. “You’d always have a few guys coming in from work having a few pints, but now it’s only one or two max. A fella has to relax,” he said.

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Habits in rural Ireland will change further if Minister for Transport Shane Ross toughens driving laws. Under the proposals, drivers found with between 50ml and 80ml of alcohol will be put off the road, rather than getting penalty points and a fine, as happens now.

It is just after four in the afternoon and more than a dozen people are enjoying conversation in the Silver Dollar in Newcastle West. A turf fire glows in the corner. With friendly staff and horse racing on the television, it is a welcome refuge.

Noticeable shift

Proprietor Patrick O’Kelly agrees that a noticeable shift in habits is taking place. “Ross is only looking for votes,” he says

O’Kelly, whose family has served locals for 75 years, says the tough new laws could force him to shut for good.

“In my mother’s time there were 52 pubs in Newcastle West. Back in the 1990s there were 26 pubs. Now there are 11 in the town,” he said.

The culture of customers dropping in for a late pint has eased off: “They’re coming in around 8.30pm now and having two or three pints max, and they’re gone by 10.30pm. Before they would be coming in around 9.30pm and they’d stay until around 12.30am and they might have four or five pints.”

“We are struggling,” he admits.

His 73-year-old mother, Margaret is unimpressed: “It’s a disaster. Our customers, more or less, are the middle-age group, and they’re used to having their couple of pints, and this has knocked all their habits out of kilter,” she explained, “We’ve seen a big change already. They are terrified, especially about the morning after. It’s desperate. The pub trade is absolutely goosed,” she added.

Martin O’Connor, a 22-year veteran behind the counter of the Silver Dollar and a former Guinness bartender of the year, understands rural concerns and agrees that tougher laws will “kill off the country pub”. Nevertheless, he understands Ross’s points, too. He added: “You can’t condone drink-driving, and I see where [he] is coming from, too. If you come in for one pint, are you going home after just one or are you staying for five?

Last year,152 people were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving every week in Ireland. In Limerick city and county, gardaí prosecuted 386 cases, a near-10 per cent increase on 2015. Privately, gardaí accept that drinking habits are changing, spurred by "the Six Nations" and "football on the telly from 12.30 in the afternoon".

Tougher rules, though, will make little difference, says one senior garda.“The [legal] limit is, slightly less than one pint – as a rule of thumb – but the fellas who are caught and get the maximum three-year driving ban are normally well jarred. None of them are slightly over the limit. They are the guys in the firing line and are looking to be caught.”