Pubs Open On X-Mass Day, Yay Or Nay?

User45701

What do all think on this issue? I believe that pubs should open on christmass day, mainly because i am anti religious and i think that it is was religious reasons originally to have pubs closed on christmass day.

But ofcoarse there is the problem of ...

1.People who don't want 2 and should not have to work on christmass day, but if working was optional (3x pay or something) then it would be cool with me.

2.There are some "bad" people who would just spend the day there and not with there family or maybe even me drunkenly violent towards family and kids (this was a point that someone brought up in work today)

Then again there are allot of people alone on x-mass day and i feel very strongly that they should have a place to go and at least be with other people.

Because of the reason just above i have to say that pubs should be open with working optional (so not all pubs would be open)

foxy06

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

There are only two days of the year that pubs close surely we can live with that. I'm not a religious person and I love a drink but pubs shouldn't open Christmas Day. People will be forced to work without a doubt and children will be left while one or both parents is off down the pub....call me an old traditionalist but I just hope pubs never open on Christmas Day

Kingp35

Other - Please State

Pubs are officially supposed to be cosed BUT if you look hard enough you will always find a pub that will be open and will let you in the side door.

There is one pub in Dalkey that is always open on Christmas day even if it doesnt seem that it is open

seamus

I don't think there's an actual law to close pubs on Christmas Day....or is there?

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. As it stands, anyone who's going to, spends the day getting trollied at home. So it wouldn't have any major effect on the level of drunken violence. It may even reduce it, as people can "escape" down to the pub and chill out if they need to.

The only thing that would put me off is young people being "forced" to work as lounge boys/girls instead of spending the day with their families.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

What's religion got to do with it?

foxy06

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

The only thing that would put me off is young people being "forced" to work as lounge boys/girls instead of spending the day with their families.

This is what i mean. And yeah it is against the law to sell alchohol on Christmas day

User45701

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

What's religion got to do with it?

Some people believe that christmass day is a religious holiday about god and jesus and that you should go to church and spend the whole day with family and friends in gods love ect.

datk

User45701 wrote:

1.People who don't want 2 and should not have to work on christmass day, but if working was optional (3x pay or something) then it would be cool with me.

Would people be willing to pay 3x the price for the drink?

As there are only two days pubs are shut I think it should be left that way - not for religious reasons - someone somewhere would be forced to 'volunteer' to work that day.

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

User45701 wrote:

Some people believe that christmass day is a religious holiday about god and jesus and that you should go to church and spend the whole day with family and friends in gods love ect.

Weirdos :rolleyes:

My grandparents owned a pub and Good Friday and Christmas Day were the only two days they closed, I reckon it should stay that way. Shops shouldn't really open on Christmas either.

User45701

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

seamus wrote:

The only thing that would put me off is young people being "forced" to work as lounge boys/girls instead of spending the day with their families.

As i said make it optional to work and offer 3x pay to compensate

EDIT:

datk wrote:

Would people be willing to pay 3x the price for the drink?

As there are only two days pubs are shut I think it should be left that way - not for religious reasons - someone somewhere would be forced to 'volunteer' to work that day.

True actually 3x for the price of a drink would be a bit much but there are days when staff are double payed in lots of jobs but the shop does not charge 2x the price... I would pay a little extra for a drink on christmass day myself now not 2x or anything crazy like that but say 10% more or something

county

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

the publican should have the option to open,simple as that

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

User45701 wrote:

Some people believe that christmass day is a religious holiday about god and jesus and that you should go to church and spend the whole day with family and friends in gods love ect.

Think the religios link to Christmas day has been all but killed. It;s a bit hypocritical to think the pub should be closed for rleigious reasons if you don;t go to mass every Sunday. ANd a bit sad if you can;t go a day without a drink.

seamus

User45701 wrote:

As i said make it optional to work and offer 3x pay to compensate

Of course it would be optional to work, but you know as well as I do that young adults in these kinds of jobs are often exploited. Because they're paid under the table and are generally ignorant of their rights, if the employer makes it clear that they've no job unless they work Christmas Day (even at triple pay), they'll do it.

ANd a bit sad if you can;t go a day without a drink.

In fairness, there are few people in this country who go without drink on Christmas Day.

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

ANd a bit sad if you can;t go a day without a drink.

No drink on Christmas day??? Eh... offo!!!

aidan24326

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

They should not open on Xmas day. It's only one day. Too many people would just sod off down the pub instead of spending the day with family. I like a pint as much as the next guy but I can manage not going to the pub for one day.

county

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

aidan24326 wrote:

They should not open on Xmas day. It's only one day. Too many people would just sod off down the pub instead of spending the day with family. I like a pint as much as the next guy but I can manage not going to the pub for one day.

no you`ll stay at home and get drunk:rolleyes:

User45701

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

Think the religious link to christmas day has been all but killed. It;s a bit hypocritical to think the pub should be closed for religious reasons if you don;t go to mass every Sunday. And a bit sad if you can;t go a day without a drink.

Well hold on I have to say that even those who don't go to the pub - most of them will drink at home on x-mass day if its wine or cans/bottle or even whiskey most people do drink on christmass day

Flukey

Pubs should of course stay closed on Christmas Day. Can't people even do 2 days out of the whole year without going to a pub? Maybe they should be closed more often. At one time they were closed on St. Patrick's Day too. At that time there was an annual dog show in the RDS on St. Patrick's Day. There was a bar in it. The dog show always got huge crowds.

leeroybrown

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I voted that they should remain closed for family reasons. I'm not religious and don't like doing things just for the sake of religion but regardless of the (somewhat diluted) religious associations I think that the majority of people in Ireland still treat Christmas Day as a family day. I think that deep down all but the most religious in Ireland view it as a family holiday first and a religious thing second if at all.

While Christmas day remains as the main national holiday I think that the pubs should be prevented from opening. If it gets to the stage where you hop in the car on Christmas day and pick up a couple of DVD rentals on your way back from Tesco and Woodies then I'd be the first to agree that the pubs should be allowed to open.

kippy

See here for the exact same comments that will most likely be aired here. Not much has changed since Easter.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054916099&referrerid=&highlight=pubs+closed+good+friday
As you may read from the post I am against pubs opening on Good Friday or Christmas day for various reasons-not many people agree with me, but thats life.
Kippy

Flukey

leeroybrown wrote:

While Christmas day remains as the main national holiday

Christmas Day is not the main national holiday, St. Patrick's Day is. Even in the Christian churches Christmas Day is not the most important day of the year. Easter Sunday is. Many people would also put some other days like Good Friday or Pentecost ahead of Christmas Day in terms of importance.

gandalf

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

The one thing I like about Christmas Day is the fact nowhere is open. The fact you have one day a year to chill out with your family. If the pubs open, then we will have convienence stores opening and then DIY Stores and then Supermarkets until it just becomes another Bank Holiday.

CathyMoran

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I think that they should be closed for family reasons - Christmas is a real time for spending time with your family (and celebrating the lives of those who have passed) and nothing should interfere with that.

We used to always go to granddad and grandmums graves and visit one of my aunts who sadly passed away a few years ago and visit granny who passed away this year so this Christmas will be a time to celebrate those lives.

The idea of having a pub open and taking away from that family time is horrible.

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

gandalf wrote:

If the pubs open, then we will have convienence stores opening

The shop I work in has opened quite a few Christmas days.

Ruu_Old

county wrote:

the publican should have the option to open,simple as that

Agreed. It doesn't bother me either way though as me no drinkeh zee alcohol.

leeroybrown

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Flukey wrote:

Christmas Day is not the main national holiday, St. Patrick's Day is. Even in the Christian churches Christmas Day is not the most important day of the year. Easter Sunday is. Many people would also put some other days like Good Friday or Pentecost ahead of Christmas Day in terms of importance.

I should have chosen my words more carefully. Christmas Day is the day of the year when the least number of people are working. It also lies during the main holiday period of the year. Paddy's Day by comparison is just a glorified bank holiday.

MrJoeSoap wrote:

The shop I work in has opened quite a few Christmas days.

I know of quite a few shops that open but typically only for a few hours on a skeleton staff so that church going people can get milk and replace the out of date Bisto on the way home from mass.

gandalf

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

MrJoeSoap wrote:

The shop I work in has opened quite a few Christmas days.

Where are they based?

CathyMoran

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

We did spend last Christmas in a hotel though and that was our best Christmas ever, I felt guilty for the staff working but they did help us have a great Christmas after a tough year, have fond memories of having a pint that evening with my family and chilling out. Am very greatful to all those people in the hotel who made our time so special.

county

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

Ruu wrote:

Agreed. It doesn't bother me either way though as me no drinkeh zee alcohol.

freak:D

User45701

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

There are a few 24hr garages open on x-mass day i know that i went to one last year at about 5pm and passed by it again at 2am was still open

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

gandalf wrote:

Where are they based?

Dublin 15. Used to open from around 8 until 2 I think. Haven't done it in a couple of years, obviously wasn't worth paying a couple of staff €25+ an hour.

skibum

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I work in the trade and have done so on and off since i was 12, I can tell you that publicians would have a bitch of a job trying to organise staff for Christmas day. Even if staff were offered 3 times their rate I believe there would be few takers, with the possible exception of people who are here to work hard and earn enough to make their life more comfortable when they go home.

aidan24326

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

county wrote:

no you`ll stay at home and get drunk:rolleyes:

I just might! Though last Christmas day I drank sod all. Prefer to wait for a few on Stephen's day. In the pub of course

gandalf wrote:

The one thing I like about Christmas Day is the fact nowhere is open. The fact you have one day a year to chill out with your family. If the pubs open, then we will have convienence stores opening and then DIY Stores and then Supermarkets until it just becomes another Bank Holiday.

I agree. The peace and tranquility of the day is nice. Nothing open, no traffic, no people on the streets. It's the only day of the year that happens and it's a nice contrast to the normal hustle and bustle.

Mossy Monk

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

aidan24326 wrote:

I like a pint as much as the next guy but I can manage not going to the pub for one day.

you're some hero

publicans should be given the choice. anyone who is prevented getting pissed in a pub on christmas day will probably do so at home anyway

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

aidan24326 wrote:

I just might! Though last Christmas day I drank sod all. Prefer to wait for a few on Stephen's day. In the pub of course

True, the Stephens Day session is a national institution at this stage!

aidan24326

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Mossy Monk wrote:

you're some hero

absolutely

publicans should be given the choice. anyone who is prevented getting pissed in a pub on christmas day will probably do so at home anyway

Publicans could be given a choice and it would make little difference. Most would not open as they'd have staffing problems and it just wouldn't be worth it. Ever thought that publicans might like to have christmas day off themselves? Some pubs in Dublin don't even open on Stephen's day.

admiralofthefleet

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

i believe xmas day is a family day, nothing to do with religion. the pubs should stay closed, just drink at home with the family like we all do at xmas. there is only 2 days in the year that pubs are closed in ireland and we need it. if any country doesnt need more drinking time its definitely ireland

leeroybrown

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Mossy Monk wrote:

publicans should be given the choice. anyone who is prevented getting pissed in a pub on christmas day will probably do so at home anyway

In most of cases they'll be enjoying a few drinks with their family or friends and in the case of families in most cases the family will be better off with them at home for the day.

I can see Good Friday opening coming in eventually as it's a purely religious thing. We've also gotten rid of the Sunday 'Holy Hour'. If people thing that we are being held back by religion I would point towards the example up north where Sunday opening was only made legal in '89 and is still frowned on by a lot of people.

aidan24326

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

leeroybrown wrote:

I can see Good Friday opening coming in eventually as it's a purely religious thing.

Pubs closing on good friday is stupid and serves no purpose other than to make the day before it very profitable for the off-licenses. I think it's laughable to see lads coming out of off-licenses on the thursday evening with crateloads of drink. You'd swear the pubs were going to be shut for 3 months. It's only one day ffs.

county

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

aidan24326 wrote:

Pubs closing on good friday is stupid and serves no purpose other than to make the day before it very profitable for the off-licenses. I think it's laughable to see lads coming out of off-licenses on the thursday evening with crateloads of drink. You'd swear the pubs were going to be shut for 3 months. It's only one day ffs.

the same on xmas eve tbh

MrJoeSoap

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

county wrote:

the same on xmas eve tbh

And the entire week (or longer!) running up to Christmas as well, hectic is not the word.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

User45701 wrote:

Well hold on I have to say that even those who don't go to the pub - most of them will drink at home on x-mass day if its wine or cans/bottle or even whiskey most people do drink on christmass day

Ok, fair enough, badly worded though it was, you know what I mean... You (generally, not specifically) can't complain because sodding off down the pub and being anti-social is off limits for a day... Jaysus, are families that bad these days??

leeroybrown

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

aidan24326 wrote:

Pubs closing on good friday is stupid and serves no purpose other than to make the day before it very profitable for the off-licenses.

Agreed. For most people it's just a normal day of the year. It's only a bank holiday and not a public holiday so most people will be working anyway. Pubs would have no problem staffing it and the only inconvenience it would cause would be to the religious sensibilities of some.

Rb

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I went with "I Believe They Should Remain Closed For Family Reasons".
I can only imagine the type of person that would go sit in a pub on Christmas Day (Christians only obviously).

User45701

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would`nt Go

leeroybrown wrote:

We've also gotten rid of the Sunday 'Holy Hour'.

I Wish we had....
I was in the PDF / RDF a few years back it was not that great TBH, most of the people there where immature people who wanted to "play soldier" so i had little interest in them but what relay pissed me off was the army still follows old religious ideals on sunday the "mess" (army pub) closes for the one hour - so i left, our army is sad enough with its limited recorces and very little if any air support but the fact we still cling to old religious ideals is just so stupid.

aidan24326 wrote:

Pubs closing on good friday is stupid and serves no purpose other than to make the day before it very profitable for the off-licenses. I think it's laughable to see lads coming out of off-licenses on the thursday evening with crateloads of drink. You'd swear the pubs were going to be shut for 3 months. It's only one day ffs.

Its actually one of my fav days for that reason - Its proof like no other that most of the population (more than 50%) want the pubs open *cough democracy*

I do love the goof friday session alright

petes

I'd go to the pub if it was open and get pissed there. Would be after dinner at around 5. We have dinner early so most of the day would be spent with family. Although having a fresh head for the onslaught of Stephens day is an advantage.

phantom_lord

Pubs should be closed for family reasons, simple as that.

Jimoslimos

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Yep I voted "Closed for Family Reasons" along with most people. I used to work as a barman and can say from experience a lot of publicans would want to keep with the status quo. They more than make up the loss of earnings due to the clamour on St. Stephens Day (and even Xmas Eve nowadays)

kevmy

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I voted for closed for family reasons also.
I think that if the pubs were open some of the family would want to go down to the pub and some wouldn't. Some parts of the family drive to dinner at relations and they can't drink, Granny doesn't want to go down cos her arthritis is acted up and the kids want to play with their toys. You can't satisfy all of these people and those who want a drink in the pub but you can in the house.
It'd be a little sad in my opinion people leaving their nice warm house and going to a cold pub being served by people who don't want to work but need the money. If ya want to drink you can do it at home and if your worried about people who are alone at Christmas invite them to your house for the day, it is the season of goodwill.
Anyway you might miss the start of "It's a Wondeful Life" and/or "Back to The Future":D

Idbatterim

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

They should be closed! for many reasons, but who bloody cares once they are! do we really need to have access to pubs 365 days a year? come up with something else to do for a day!

biko

Let the poor bar staff have their day off.
Stop whining, you alchos.