5,000 late drink exemptions in just three years

PUBS across Kerry were granted close to 5,000 special exemptions by the District Courts in three years according to new figures released by the Department of Justice .

The information was released on foot of a series of Dáil questions submitted by Independent Wexford TD Mick Wallace.

According to the Courts Service figures between February 1 2015 and March 31 2017 the courts in District 17 approved applications for 4,739 special exemption orders which allowed pubs and other licensed premises to stay open and serve alcohol up to 2.30am.

The vast majority were granted in Tralee District Court, which approved 2,655 of the applications.

Killarney District Court approved 820 special exemptions in the period. Cahersiveen District Court approved 432; Killorglin District Court approved 261; Listowel District Court approved 251; Kenmare District approved 191 and Dingle District Court approved 129.

It should be noted that special exemptions can be sought at any sitting of any district court in the same county as the premises seeking the exemption.

A local garda spokesperson said that the figures for Tralee do not represent the situation entirely accurately as on weeks when Killarney District Court does not sit (the court there sits once every fortnight) exemption applications from licensed premises are often brought before the court in Tralee.

This factor would significantly skew the number of exemptions granted in Tralee.

The same situation would also frequently apply in Listowel, Dingle, Kenmare, Killorglin and Cahersiveen where the local District Courts sit less frequently.