Drinking on good Friday

Botany Bay · 03-04-2007 3:49pm

stipey wrote:

I don't drink and I don't believe in any god.

I may have been born and raised a Catholic but I despise how church ridden our country once was and, to a certain extent, still is.

If people have particularly strong religous beliefs and wish to adhere to them then I'm sure nobody would begrudge them that. However, I absolutely detest the amount of laws and practices that are part and parcel of this country only because of their links to Christianity - and Catholicism in particular.

No pubs opening on Good Friday is just the start of it in my opinion. So the Catholic church forbids the sale (and consumption) of alcohol on Good Friday and unfortunately for people of other religous beliefs they have to suffer too. (I know they can buy drink ahead of time - but why should be prevented going to their local just because the Catholic church don't think members of their flock should).

By the same logic, anywhere that serves food should be forced to close during the hours of daylight during Ramadan. We are a multi cultural society now after all.

All pork products should similarly be banned - permanantly! There are a great many Jewish people in our country - we have to cater for them too.

Turn on RTE at noon or 6pm and you get the Angelus. Does our national radio station broadcast muslim calls to prayer? In a PC move RTE tried to say it wasn't a religously motivated thing and was instead intended to offer people time to reflect. Bull**** - why is it still on at traditional Angelus times and why do their continuity announcers still refer to it as pausing for "the Angelus"

Aaarrrggghhh! I think i need to stop now before my head explodes. But in summary, my point is... why should the religous beliefs of a subset of our community be inflicted upon the entire nation through legislation?

Exactly how i feel. Its riduculous, did you know an atheist for example can't become a member of the judiciary or hold the office of the president:mad: You have to swear some bible oath or somesuch!! We should at least be more secular in our outlook, but this collective nostalgia of some people harking back to the "good old days" of wee Ireland with its wonderful Magdalene laundries and Industrial schools, and Archbishop Mc Quaid telling everyone how to be good souls:mad: :mad: Hate isn't a good thing, but i keep a lot of it in reserve for the Catholic church!!

Zebra3 · 03-04-2007 4:51pm

People should organise pickets outside their local RC church when they're having the stations of the Cross on GF as protest against church interference in the state.

03-04-2007 4:55pm

Twats that buy train tickets just to drink on Good Friday make me laugh. Fools.

Or maybe its a good time for a daytrip with the lads? I'll be going to Newry this Friday for a great day out, get the Easter weekend off to a good start.

cornbb · 03-04-2007 5:08pm

Whatever the bullsh1t law about the pubs/offies being forced to close on GF, I'd have to say this habit many people seem to have of stocking up beforehand and getting hammered just to make a point is also a bit stupid and pointless. [/auld fella whining cause he has to work on saturday]

I will also be making my point with steak this year

5starpool · 03-04-2007 5:18pm

It's a tough life isn't it?

Personally I don't really care, as if I fancy a drink I will have a few cans, but at the same time it doesn't really bother me that pubs can't rip us off for 2 whole days of the year.

vorbis · 03-04-2007 5:31pm

the persecution you suffer must be terrible Stipey. Its 2 days out of 365 days. As other people have stated, those people who want to drink on the day probably drink more than they would on any normal friday! To use it as an example of the church ruling our country is laughable. The church's influence on irish politics is practically gone.

Shockin Stockin · 03-04-2007 5:34pm

Good Friday= Beer, burgers and Life of Brian on DVD

MikeHoncho · 03-04-2007 6:00pm

At least we are not a Quaker country:

Bournivile is a Quaker town set up by Mr Cadburys chocys himself and their is no alcohal in the whole town 365 days a year.

tolosenc · 03-04-2007 6:33pm

Such an un-PC law, its ridiculous. Are we prohibited from consumption(public or private), or just purchase? (I'm talking actual laws. Ones that count)

Flukey · 03-04-2007 8:07pm

Don't you think it's a bit ironic that all the people here complaining about the pubs not being open and saying what they are going to do themselves on Friday are not giving out about the fact that they themselves don't have to work on Friday? So a fair compromise would be that the pubs will be open on Friday, but all of you that are off on Friday have to go to work too! To be totally fair, we'll have you having to be at work every other day of the year too, including Christmas Day. So there we go, we can have the pubs open every day of the year and all of you can work every day of the year too. Well there we are, that's that sorted. Now everyone is happy.

Stephen · 03-04-2007 8:13pm

Eh, plenty of us DO have to work on Friday. It is not a public holiday. Banks are closed but many other businesses will be open.

constitutionus · 03-04-2007 8:27pm

Riskymove wrote:

What gets me is the amount of people I know who are not regular drinkers who go beserk about it.

I mean they probably go out on the tear once a month but can't live with the pubs being closed for just 2 days out of 365.

Holy Thursday night in pubs is a sight to behold; you would think there was an impending apocalypse by the way people put the gargle away!!

thats because one good friday the pubs will shut and NEVER open again !!! (mwah ha ha ha ha

)

TBH I think its a bit of a lark, honestly who hasnt tried to get a sneaky pint in a local on GF? It seems to appeal to the irish mentality of rebellion. personally im usually stuck working good friday so when im finished i just knock on the door of a pub i know and have a few illicit scoops afterwards ,the pints just taste better when their against the law

DarkJager · 03-04-2007 8:29pm

Thankfully my local doesn't believe in good friday. Doors open at 12pm and stay open till late.

Nature Boy · 03-04-2007 8:33pm

DarkJager wrote:

Thankfully my local doesn't believe in good friday. Doors open at 12pm and stay open till late.

Can they actually do that? Is it actually against the law to serve alcohol on good Friday or is it a choice the pub makes?

DarkJager · 03-04-2007 8:36pm

Not sure man, they've done it for the last 4 years straight without any Gardai interference.

Flukey · 03-04-2007 8:50pm

Stephen wrote:

Eh, plenty of us DO have to work on Friday. It is not a public holiday. Banks are closed but many other businesses will be open.

I know some do, but a lot of the people giving out about this have been telling us what they did on previous Good Fridays - on their day off!!!! It is those people that I was aiming that comment at. In the run up to every Good Friday and Christmas Day we get this debate, with the majority of people that are giving out about it, being themselves off work on those two days. It is ok that they are off, but they don't afford that privilege to the pubs on only two days of the year. When they have to keep their days off to just two days a year or less, then we'll be happy. You can imagine the outrage here if it was announced that from now on schools, colleges, offices, etc. had to be open all but two days in the year. Then imagine the outrage if people came in and said they should be open on those two days too.

Nature Boy · 03-04-2007 8:59pm

Flukey wrote:

but they don't afford that privilege to the pubs on only two days of the year

Pubs can close whenever they want. They don't need a special day to do it

Red Alert · 03-04-2007 9:08pm

A storm in a teacup. Can ye seriously not drink for 2 days of the year, or go to someone's house or on a road trip to do it?

And actually, the people who keep talking about diversity might consider this: a lot of people in ireland still are big followers of the catholic church, especially the elderly. The government know that upsetting them is a bad idea!

Crucifix · 03-04-2007 9:24pm

First they came for the people who wanted to drink on good friday, and I didn't speak up because I didn't want to drink on good friday....et cetera

robinph · 03-04-2007 9:37pm

Stephen wrote:

Eh, plenty of us DO have to work on Friday. It is not a public holiday. Banks are closed but many other businesses will be open.

Yep, I have to work on Friday because for some daft reason it's not a public holiday in Ireland but as I'm not in Ireland at the moment every other fecker around here is going to be off work and in the pub all day. :mad:

I think my internet connection might mysteriously go down at some point on Friday.

Nature Boy · 03-04-2007 10:09pm

Red Alert wrote:

Can ye seriously not drink for 2 days of the year

I'm sure we can. But like I said it's not about that. It's about equality. I should be able to go to the pub if I want to. It's like saying that I can't use boards.ie on good Friday. I could certainly live without it but I shouldn't have to without good reason!

Blondie86Star · 03-04-2007 10:34pm

Dont agree with it purely because we are meant to be in a "multicultural" society. I wont be drinking though,gotta work!

randylonghorn · 03-04-2007 11:18pm

In my experience, Good Friday is national designated house party / barbeque / whatever day, solely as a result of the law. If it was changed, we would actually have to plan what day to do this on!

Mrs_Doyle wrote:

Anyhow, that was the first I knew of the fact that the Lord himself supposedly asked us not to drink alcohol on Good Friday.

He didn't.

For that matter, although the Gospels record that he turned water into wine, there is no record that he ever turned wine into water!

Flukey · 03-04-2007 11:30pm

Nature Boy wrote:

I'm sure we can. But like I said it's not about that. It's about equality. I should be able to go to the pub if I want to. It's like saying that I can't use boards.ie on good Friday. I could certainly live without it but I shouldn't have to without good reason!

Fair enough, but would you apply the same standard to yourself? If they have to be open everyday to enable your choice to go there, then your workplace or college etc., should also be open every day too so that people that want to go there can do so too. If it is about equality, only essential services like the health or emergency services are open all the time. Selling of alcohol does not fit into that category, yet have just 2 days off a year. So for equality's sake, if anything, the pubs should be closed more often. Maybe they should just be open 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, like a lot of businesses are. Or maybe we could go further and close them down for the entire summer, like schools and colleges. That would be real equality, wouldn't it?

Nature Boy · 03-04-2007 11:41pm

I think i worded my post wrong. I didn't mean to say that pubs should be open whenever I want. They should be allowed to open or close whenever they want

Alessandra · 03-04-2007 11:47pm

Important question, will I be able to go shopping on Good Friday?

Flukey · 03-04-2007 11:55pm

Nature Boy wrote:

I think i worded my post wrong. I didn't mean to say that pubs should be open whenever I want. They should be allowed to open or close whenever they want

Yes, they should be, but look at the furore caused when they are all closed for just one day! Everyone wants more days off, as we have seen in all sorts of different threads that pop up here from time to time, but when it comes to pubs, people want them open every single day throughout the year. They only have to close for two days in the entire year, and yet that is too much for a lot of people. It's ridiculous when you think about it.

JC 2K3 · 04-04-2007 12:40am

Flukey wrote:

Yes, they should be, but look at the furore caused when they are all closed for just one day! Everyone wants more days off, as we have seen in all sorts of different threads that pop up here from time to time, but when it comes to pubs, people want them open every single day throughout the year. They only have to close for two days in the entire year, and yet that is too much for a lot of people. It's ridiculous when you think about it.

What the hell are you talking about? What other businesses HAVE to close on particular days? 2 days is too much for people as it's discrimination against a type of business.

Mossy Monk · 04-04-2007 1:02am

Reading some of the posts in this thread one can only assume that bar staff only get two days off a year. They work every other day. Yes that's right 7 days a week they work. Oh wait, they don't.

This whole bar staff are entitled to the day off bull**** is boring. Nobody is entitled to it.

Random · 04-04-2007 1:07am

Religion influences too much in this country. We're outdated.

Drinking on good Friday

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