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

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.

Wacker

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

Jimoslimos wrote:

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.

If they wanted to keep with the status quo, then they could happily stay closed on Christmas Day, and I'd have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the fact that they don't have the option of legally staying open if the barman doesn't want to keep the status quo. I do not believe that this is something that a government should be legislating on. Society is at it's best when we have more legal options, not less.

Now, for all of you who say that it is only two days a year, don't you see that that works both ways? Why should the fact that it is only twice a year only count when you want to keep the pubs closed? In my opninion, if it is only two days a year, then it would be no big deal for them to be open either, on those two days.

kippy

Lads have a look here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054916099&referrerid=&highlight=pubs+closed+good+friday
Pretty much every argument has been put forward so far.
My opinion, Pubs shouldnt be allowed open on these two days a year. They shouldnt have the choice.
We have a big enough problem with alcohol in this country as it is. Never mind the other arguments.
Kippy

kevmy

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

kippy wrote:

We have a big enough problem with alcohol in this country as it is. Never mind the other arguments.
Kippy

Hear, hear

SmoothyG

I think that if the pub owner wants to open and the staff agree to a pay structure then they should be able to do what they want. if someone wants to go to the pub on xmas day then who am i, or ye, to say otherwise.

wouldnt go myself, but live and let live i say

Jimoslimos

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

Wacker wrote:

What I do have a problem with is the fact that they don't have the option of legally staying open if the barman doesn't want to keep the status quo. I do not believe that this is something that a government should be legislating on. Society is at it's best when we have more legal options, not less.

I did say a lot/most publicans would want to keep things as is, however if the law was changed and they were given the option to open/close then you'd find a cascade effect where a few open and then everything follows suit - greed comes into the equation since no publican worth his salt is going to sit by and watch his/her competitors take business on Xmas day. Sometimes legislation is neccessary for situations as such.

User45701

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

SmoothyG wrote:

I think that if the pub owner wants to open and the staff agree to a pay structure then they should be able to do what they want. if someone wants to go to the pub on xmas day then who am i, or ye, to say otherwise.

wouldnt go myself, but live and let live i say

That reley is the fairest way to have thins in a democratic country

scojones

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

I go for pints in the Shannon Golf Club every xmas day for 2 hours. It opens from noon to 2pm.

bonkey

One question for all those voting "close for family reasons"...

What about people with no family?

Just because you're lucky enough to have someone to spend Christmas with doesn't mean that everyone else is.

Mossy Monk

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

kippy wrote:

We have a big enough problem with alcohol in this country as it is. Never mind the other arguments.
Kippy

lets ban alcohol completely then

kizzyr

I Believe They Should Be Open - I Would Go

I@m lazy today and haven't bothered to read all of the thread just now (but will later I promise:D ) but I think they should be closed. There are 2 days in the year that the are supposed to close and I have no problem with that. I think its crazy that as a nation we moan about not being able to go the the pub on Christmas Day, is it that difficult to stay at home :rolleyes: