Proposals to shut pubs where minors are served rejected
by Sarah Murphy
PUBLICANS have rejected Government proposals to shut down pubs where alcohol has been sold to underage drinkers.
The Vintners Federation of Ireland has called for the introduction of mandatory ID cards to help publicans in the fight against underage drinking.
The publicans criticised the failure of the Government to extend Sunday night trading hours.
Speaking to over 500 publicans at their annual conference in Wexford, the new VFI president Dick Dunne, said: "we welcome the publication of the new licensing reform Bill, which is a historic piece of legislation. The proposal that any publican found to have served alcohol to a minor will be closed down for a period of seven days for a first offence is penal," Mr Dunne said.
"I would urge the Minister to reject this proposal and to assist publicans in curbing the underage drinking problem in practical, workable ways. We do not condone any publican who serves alcohol to people under the legal age.
"We want to find a solution to this problem and work closely with the gardaí and Department of Justice. The power of discretion in cases where a pub is to be closed down, should be placed in the hands of the District Courts in each area. The difficulty for publicans has always been the accurate identification of a person's age. There must be a mandatory national identity card to enable publicans to legally establish a person's age. A voluntary national ID card does not carry the weight or authority that is needed on this important issue."
The new Bill will place the onus on publicans to ensure every alcoholic drink consumed on the premises is done so by a person of legal age. "Sunday trading hours have not been extended to match the 12.30am closing hours of Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday night is an important sporting day in the country and people want to have a drink after matches with freedom of staying a little later. We also believe having three different closing times in the one week will result in not only Irish people being confused but tourists being very much inconvenienced. Nevertheless, we do welcome the abolition of Sunday's Holy Hour and see this as very beneficial for people in today's modern society."
© Irish Examiner, 2000