Madam, - It is a shame that big businesses have such a stranglehold on our leisure time. Michael McDowell's proposals for cafe bars offered the prospect of variety, richness of experience and fewer cynical profiteers in our social lives. Important changes could have been made to the social and environmental conditions that encourage mindless drinking.
With small licence fees promoting easy entry, many Irish people could have achieved their dream of owning their own business. The personalities of these new cafe bar owners could have been reflected in the service, ambience, and entertainment provided. Immigrants would have had access to a business that could help them share their culture with Irish people.
However it is not to be. The vintners and their powerful friends are dead against Mr McDowell's proposals, so they have been stopped dead in their tracks. I thought all the tribunals were meant to put an end to this kind of commercial/political cronyism. - Yours, etc,
RONAN KEANE, Kinahan Street, Dublin 7.
Madam, - The abandonment of the Progressive Democrats' proposals for cafe bars is a pity.
It was one of the first positive and long-term steps suggested to tackle the Irish drinking problem. Price increases, increased taxation and regulated licensing have been practised for years, and yet we are drinking more now than ever.
Giving people a social environment where you could have a drink if you wished, but didn't get funny looks if you chose a coffee instead, could have changed things for the better, particularly for the younger generation.
Granting additional licences to restaurants affects only those who have the money to eat out regularly (eg TDs) in one of the most expensive places in Europe to do so.
So please, Progressive Democrats, try to do what your party name suggests: push to make this progressive move which is long overdue. Don't let Fianna Fáil backbenchers and other people with vested interests get in your way. - Yours, etc,
D. KENNEDY, Alexandra Court, Dundrum, Dublin 14.
Madam, - It may be of assistance to people being interviewed about the new licences for restaurants to know that there are no such things as "restauranteurs".
Restaurer is a French verb meaning to restore or refresh. People who restore you are restaurateurs and they do it in restaurants. - Yours etc,
KIERAN COMERFORD, Charleville Close, Rathmines, Dublin 6.