Only two pubs around Lansdowne Road raised the price of their pint on Saturday for the international rugby match following a price check survey by the office of the director of consumer affairs, for fear of adverse publicity.
Many pubs in the area traditionally have added as much as 50 cent to the pint on big match days. However, as a result of the "price awareness" campaign first conducted during last year's Six Nations tournament, the majority of licensed premises in the area refrained from upping their prices.
Director of consumer affairs Carmel Foley told The Irish Times 26 pubs were surveyed during the week, and then again on Saturday to compare the listed prices. "Before we began conducting our surveys, it was the norm for these pubs to put up their prices on big match days, so it is obvious the adverse publicity is having an effect."
The two pubs to increase their prices were the 51 Bar on Haddington Road and the Waterloo Pub, Baggot Street. The 51 Bar usually charges €4.20 for a pint of Guinness or Smithwicks and €4.70 for lager with cider costing €4.90 a pint. On Saturday, the bar charged €4.50 for Guinness, €5 for lager and €5.30 for a pint of cider. The Waterloo, whose prices are the same as Bar 51, also added 30 cent to every pint. No one from either of the two pubs was available to comment when contacted by The Irish Times yesterday.
The office of consumer affairs noted that a small number of bars surveyed and who had raised their price for the England game two weeks ago, didn't this time as a result of the controversy.
One such pub is Toner's on Baggot Street, which charged its usual price of €4.10 for a pint of Guinness on Saturday. A spokesman for the pub told The Irish Times: "Well, after the controversy of the last time, we felt we wouldn't bother this time. While we did raise our prices before, it was only 10 cent, unlike some of the other pubs who put them up much higher than us".
As a result of the investigation, Ms Foley's office was over the weekend seeking legal advice on whether to prosecute pubs who failed to adequately display their prices on their premises. Two Dublin city pubs are to appear in the District Court later today for failing to display their prices when checked last year.
Ms Foley also expressed her surprise at the great variance in price in such a small area, with almost €1.50 difference for a pint of Guinness. The cheapest pint of the black was €3.35 at Ryan's of Beggar's Bush. The most expensive was in the Horseshoe Bar at the Shelbourne Hotel at €4.80.