Dawn the hatch..
August 6, 1945 Subtle impact of UK reform
NEW opening hours for bars and nightclubs “well into the wee hours” will be proposed in the new Sale of Alcohol Bill to be introduced next month.
A senior government source told The Irish Daily Star last night that the changes will be “major” and will “bring the licensing laws into the 21st century.”
The massive reforms of the licensing laws will be introduced by Justice Minister Helen McEntee as part of a wider government plan to jumpstart the State’s night-time economy.
Although no official closing times have yet been approved or decided upon, major cities all over Europe that Dublin competes with for tourists are already open until up to 6am, while 4am is regular almost everywhere.
One of the main aims of the new night-time economy plan is for us to compete with other European destinations.
It is a cross-departmental plan.
Ms McEntee said: “All of this work is happening together.
The report also recommended replacing them with one new unified Sale of Alcohol Bill.
It will definitely see longer opening hours for licensed premises later into the early hours.
The exact provisions will be hammered out and presented when the new Bill is launched soon.
Norm
But in the meantime, Ms Martin previously told this paper she wanted to see European-style nightlife, where cafe, bar and nightclub openings until 4am and beyond are the norm.
Catherine Martin was asked by The
THE NEW NORMAL: A bill from Minister McEntee will look to extend operating hours for our pubs
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IN 2005 the British government changed the law to allow pubs to serve alcohol 24 hours a day.
Ultimately, the policy has had its pros and cons — and still is not widely taken advantage of by bars.
The idea behind the reform was to give drinkers greater flexibility and help reduce alcohol-related crime — as there would no longer be a rush to drink before 11pm and it would spell an end to crowds fighting after closing time.
Critics said it would lead to round-the-clock drinking and there were warnings of added chaos, with police and medics concerned.
Crime
In fact, after its implementation alcohol-related crime did go down — though so did all violent crime and the proportion that was alcohol-related stayed the same. That still bucked the trend from countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Iceland, which all saw increases in crime after similar legislation.
Drinking and bingedrinking fell though linking any of this to the Licensing Act is difficult.
The government’s own review of the policy in 2008 concluded it had not led to the problems some people were worried about. But there was no clear evidence of positive benefits.