Drinking cans/bottles outdoors in Ireland

Ekancone

Hi im not sure if this should be posted here buy here goes.

I have noticed since we have had an influx in Eastern Europeans to this country that the amount of people (mainly people from this region judging by their language/accents) drinking openly in the street has increased. Now i know a blind eye is turned to homeless people but im on about well-dressed/kept people cracking open pint bottles of a Tyskie and horsing into them in the city centre in Cork. Isnt this meant to be illegal, does this mean i could rip into a few cans of Heineken in the middle of Patrick St or what?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

It is illegal, but the worst a garda is going to do is just pour it out in front of you.

It's very common to drink like this on the continent

rubadub

It is illegal. Many pubs in dublin have seats outside, esp. since the smoking ban. I always presumed some pubs must have made a donation to the "garda benelovent fund", and are simply allowed break the law, same goes for all the illegal smoking shelters you see in pubs.

When I was younger we used to bring cans into dublin and stand outside pubs with drinkers outside. The gardai did nothing, what could they really say? you have to be drinking from a glass and wearing a suit to drink on the street? a glass being more dangerous on the street.
And what could the pub owners say? we were not taking up their (sometimes illegal) seats. It is an illegal activity that they condone so to say we must buy drink there is like saying you can snort coke in the toilets as long as you buy it from the barman.

Ekancone

rubadub wrote:

It is illegal. Many pubs in dublin have seats outside, esp. since the smoking ban. I always presumed some pubs must have made a donation to the "garda benelovent fund", and are simply allowed break the law, same goes for all the illegal smoking shelters you see in pubs.

When I was younger we used to bring cans into dublin and stand outside pubs with drinkers outside. The gardai did nothing, what could they really say? you have to be drinking from a glass and wearing a suit to drink on the street? a glass being more dangerous on the street.
And what could the pub owners say? we were not taking up their (sometimes illegal) seats. It is an illegal activity that they condone so to say we must buy drink there is like saying you can snort coke in the toilets as long as you buy it from the barman.

They have to pay a fee for a license to put seats outside of a pub, so i have no idea where you got that idea from.

arybvtcw0eolkf

daithifleming wrote:

They have to pay a fee for a license to put seats outside of a pub, so i have no idea where you got that idea from.

He's just talking bollox. "Guarda benevolent fund" my arse.

I think its probably a done thing to walk down the streets drinking from a can in some EU countries, it doesn't bother me to see it here. I just think the people doing it look like idiots thats all.

The Bollox

did someone call me?

rubadub wrote:

It is illegal. Many pubs in dublin have seats outside, esp. since the smoking ban. I always presumed some pubs must have made a donation to the "garda benelovent fund", and are simply allowed break the law, same goes for all the illegal smoking shelters you see in pubs.

When I was younger we used to bring cans into dublin and stand outside pubs with drinkers outside. The gardai did nothing, what could they really say? you have to be drinking from a glass and wearing a suit to drink on the street? a glass being more dangerous on the street.
And what could the pub owners say? we were not taking up their (sometimes illegal) seats. It is an illegal activity that they condone so to say we must buy drink there is like saying you can snort coke in the toilets as long as you buy it from the barman.

I do this a lot aswell. me and the lads go down to the harbour with cans and laugh at everyone else there paying an arm and a leg to drink in the sun. suckers

Del2005

rubadub wrote:

It is illegal. Many pubs in dublin have seats outside, esp. since the smoking ban. I always presumed some pubs must have made a donation to the "garda benelovent fund", and are simply allowed break the law, same goes for all the illegal smoking shelters you see in pubs.

When I was younger we used to bring cans into dublin and stand outside pubs with drinkers outside. The gardai did nothing, what could they really say? you have to be drinking from a glass and wearing a suit to drink on the street? a glass being more dangerous on the street.
And what could the pub owners say? we were not taking up their (sometimes illegal) seats. It is an illegal activity that they condone so to say we must buy drink there is like saying you can snort coke in the toilets as long as you buy it from the barman.

As daithifleming said. But if you try and step outside the barriers they have around the seating area with a beer in your hand it's like you where trying to steal from them. When the Stag/Hen's starting over running Temple bar they banned drinking on the streets in Dublin city, bar/resturant owners can apply to DCC, and pay a large fee, to get pavement tables but they have to be behind a phyiscal barrier.

DublinDilbert

daithifleming wrote:

Hi im not sure if this should be posted here buy here goes.

I have noticed since we have had an influx in Eastern Europeans to this country that the amount of people (mainly people from this region judging by their language/accents) drinking openly in the street has increased. Now i know a blind eye is turned to homeless people but im on about well-dressed/kept people cracking open pint bottles of a Tyskie and horsing into them in the city centre in Cork. Isnt this meant to be illegal, does this mean i could rip into a few cans of Heineken in the middle of Patrick St or what?

The majority of the people your referring too aren't getting drunk, they will usually only have one or two cans max. i've seen some of the people you talk of going into the centra on dame street and buying 1 can each then standing chatting infront of the central bank chatting and laughing.... where as the homless people drinking on the street are normally drunk all day long and screaming abuse at people...

flogen

Yeah, I've seen it once or twice in Dublin - one time the guys were wearing all the standard chef gear and looked like they were on a lunch break, which was a bit worrying.

There is a different drink culture on continental Europe - one that's generally more mature than the one in Ireland and the UK. That's why you can buy beer in their McDonalds and it's why people drinking on the street isn't shorthand for scumbag (as was already stated they tend to actually drink socially rather than to excess and don't actually go out to drink and get pissed - you generally wouldn't see them causing trouble, pissing on walls etc. but I bet they'd be dealt with sharpish enough if they did)

All that said I don't think the Eastern European drinking culture is quite as mature as in the likes of Germany and France - probably because it takes a lot of its influences from the likes of Russia.

But I'm not going to generalise and say they can't handle their drink or drink to excess - I'm sure some do but I don't know if it's the culture there.

godtabh

Its often the case that they would buy a can of beer like we would buy a can of coke,

Cans of beer can be bought on thier own. They dont need to be in a 6 pack for company!

Generally in Galway, the guards just go around telling people to clean up after themselves.

No reason to stop people enjoying a few drinks somewhere on a nice day, especially when they're not causing any harm to anyone.

This is something I've always wondered;

is it true that the guards cant do anything if the drinks in a brown paper bag?

rubadub

daithifleming wrote:

They have to pay a fee for a license to put seats outside of a pub, so i have no idea where you got that idea from.

And do you think every single one has this licence?? My local is across the road from a garda station, I have seen the local garda sergeant gambling out the back, covered by an illegal shelter, while one of the gamblers smokes a spliff.

And I am not talking just about seats, in the summer you will often see people standing around on the path outside a pub, nowhere near any barrier or seats. If you go up grafton street you will see it on side streets, many little lanes have no traffic so people stand on the road and drink. Thats what we used to do.

He's just talking bollox. "Guarda benevolent fund" my arse.

Ah to be innocent & naive. Plenty of pubs are "in" with the local gardai. Especially small little places/towns. I know a resturaunt that sold beer with only a wine licence, just had to make a donation to the garda benelovent fund, another resturaunt in the same area refused to "donate" anything, and were subject to many visits, nothing was going on but it disrupted diners. In many pubs lockins are openly tolerated and barely concealed. Many pub owners or bouncers have close ties with gardai, or are ex-garda.

You can say some of this is hearsay, I don't care, what you cannot deny is all of the blatantly illegal smoking shelters, all you need is a measuring tape to prove that. Then complain to the gardai and see if anything is done.

While your at it try and get your hands on a licence which describes how much of the front is allowed to be barriered off, then measure what is barriered off. I would expect 90% are taking up more space than allowed, and then just claim people moved the barriers.

AARRRGH

This is going to sound terrible, but I don't really have a problem with well dressed people having a few bottles of Heineken on the grass. Reduce their age so they're teenagers, and give them a tracksuit, and suddenly I don't like it.

In general though I don't have a problem with people drinking on the street as long as the only person they're damaging is themselves.

Tinytony

Was in a shop last night and a lad came in ahead of me and bought a single can of Dutch Gold. Cost €1.20
I bought a bottle of water. Cost €1.80!!

Kintarō Hattori

daithifleming wrote:

I have noticed since we have had an influx in Eastern Europeans to this country that the amount of people (mainly people from this region judging by their language/accents) drinking openly in the street has increased.

Damned Eastern Europeans eh? Never seen an Irish person have an auld swig while walking down the street?

Giblet

Tinytony wrote:

Was in a shop last night and a lad came in ahead of me and bought a single can of Dutch Gold. Cost €1.20
I bought a bottle of water. Cost €1.80!!

It's even worse in some places. Water costs €2 euro and a can would cost 30c in Portugal.

Ekancone

eo980 wrote:

Damned Eastern Europeans eh? Never seen an Irish person have an auld swig while walking down the street?

To be honest not a great deal, i would say 90% of the time i see a person drinking on the street (not including homeless) its an eastern european accent. If they all had blue hair, i would say: 'All them blue-haired people are drinking cans in the street'. Stop trying to turn this into a race argument.

Kintarō Hattori

I'm not trying to turn it into a race arguement but your opening statement mentioned an influx of 'Eastern Europeans'. If it's not race related why bother mentioning them? Why not say since we've had an increase of immigrants? Why not just mention that you see more people than ever before drinking on the streets?

nesf

The street outside our place is a very popular spot because it's just down from an off-licence. They're grand really, they have a few drinks, chat and head off. I don't see an issue if people are responsible about it and generally they are.

It's just something that they are used to doing back home.

Ekancone

eo980 wrote:

I'm not trying to turn it into a race arguement but your opening statement mentioned an influx of 'Eastern Europeans'. If it's not race related why bother mentioning them? Why not say since we've had an increase of immigrants? Why not just mention that you see more people than ever before drinking on the streets?

I suppose my point with that was i always thought drinking on the street was a big no-no in Ireland, but since the immigrants have come over and started doing this it had made me reassess my beliefs.

nesf

daithifleming wrote:

I suppose my point with that was i always thought drinking on the street was a big no-no in Ireland, but since the immigrants have come over and started doing this it had made me reassess my beliefs.

It's as illegal as being drunk in public is. If you're not causing any trouble then people don't really care.

tolosenc

It's all local county council by-law governed, it is legal in some and illegal in others, as far as I know.

Lenina

So drinking outside pubs was introduced by the Eastern European immigrants? Don`t make me laugh. In that "immature" Eastern Europe only the lowest class behaves like that, people of good upbringing don`t.

Very often I see Irish people totally drunk, not able to talk, vomiting and urinating on streets. No only scum in tracksuits, but regular people, including women and that is what maks me feel sick. Just look around.

nesf

Lenina wrote:

So drinking outside pubs was introduced by the Eastern European immigrants? Don`t make me laugh. In that "immature" Eastern Europe only the lowest class behaves like that, people of good upbringing don`t.

Very often I see Irish people totally drunk, not able to talk, vomiting and urinating on streets. No only scum in tracksuits, but regular people, including women and that is what maks me feel sick. Just look around.

I think it's more people calmly enjoying a beer on the street and not causing any hassle or trouble that people find unusual.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Generally people drinking in the streets are just having a can or two on their way out to a pub or club. Usually if I'm going into town with my friends we have a few cans at the luas station before heading in. We're not harming anyone and only do it because it's much cheaper having a few before going into town and then just having 2 or 3 pints in the pub/club.

RattenKrieg

I like drinking cans/bottles of beer outside, and I don't see why I shouldn't be able to. Sometimes I would drink a beer on my way home if I have walked out to get some and it's a nice evening. Or I might have a beer on the dart on the way to a match. Irish people associate it with yobs for some reason. Take a walk around any German city and it's totally the norm, even on the u-bahns. Same goes for France and Spain. People who leave cans/bottles around are what really annoy me. Especially f**king Dublin fans who WRECK Fairview park before every stupid GAA game, and they call themselves loyal Dubs, bastards.

rubadub

CaptainNegative wrote:

Generally people drinking in the streets are just having a can or two on their way out to a pub or club. Usually if I'm going into town with my friends we have a few cans at the luas station before heading in. We're not harming anyone and only do it because it's much cheaper having a few before going into town and then just having 2 or 3 pints in the pub/club.

Exactly, esp with the price of drink relative to offies. 15 years ago drink was about twice the price in a pub, now it is about 4-5 times so more people drink to tank up and save a bit. If I drink 2 cans on the way into the pub I am saving €8. A lot of the time I could be heading in late, while mates have been in the pub all day, so you want to play "catch up".

And since it is your first 2-3 cans you are not drunk so nobody is bothered, you may as well be drinking coke.

Zzippy

rubadub wrote:

And do you think every single one has this licence?? My local is across the road from a garda station, I have seen the local garda sergeant gambling out the back, covered by an illegal shelter, while one of the gamblers smokes a spliff.

Can I drink in your local?? It sounds like a great place!

CantGetNoSleep

Sean_K wrote:

It is illegal, but the worst a garda is going to do is just pour it out in front of you.

It's very common to drink like this on the continent

no it's not, my friend was fined €63 for drinking a can on her way to a nightclub in Cork

CantGetNoSleep

kearnsr wrote:

Its often the case that they would buy a can of beer like we would buy a can of coke,

Cans of beer can be bought on thier own. They dont need to be in a 6 pack for company!

you can buy a can of beer in coke type vending machines in some european countries

CantGetNoSleep

Deleted User wrote:

Generally in Galway, the guards just go around telling people to clean up after themselves.

No reason to stop people enjoying a few drinks somewhere on a nice day, especially when they're not causing any harm to anyone.


This is something I've always wondered;

is it true that the guards cant do anything if the drinks in a brown paper bag?

I think they should do that everywhere, as long as people arent drunk / rowdy

I've heard the brown paper bag thing, and don't know if it's true or an urban myth, but one possibility is that if you are approached by a guard you can deny it is alcoholic, if it concealed in a brown bag then he has no proof that it is alcoholic so he cant fine you, and he can't search a brown paper bag without your permission

But they'd probably just say they were searching you under the misuse of drugs act which allows them to search virtually anyone

Thomas_S_Hunterson

CantGetNoSleep wrote:

no it's not, my friend was fined €63 for drinking a can on her way to a nightclub in Cork

stung rappid!!!:eek:

Ekancone

CantGetNoSleep wrote:

he can't search a brown paper bag without your permission

Why dont dealers use giant brown paper bags to smuggle cocaine in then?


Gwanawayoutthatyalanger!

Punchbowl

Not just drinking, but these countries social cultures show way more maturity than Ireland. We've all been duped into this 'drinking to excess' culture that we think it's cool to get completely sloshed and that ain't gonna change any time soon..

On a recent trip to Pecs (Hungary), on a hot day, I could see smart business women drinking Dreher from a can as they go about their business.

In McDonalds in Valencia, I enjoyed a cool beer with my Big Mac

In Rome, we drank 660ml Beers on the street, bought in a bar, but perfectly acceptable to take away with you and drink whereever you liked.
They even sell bottles of beer for al fresco consumption outside the Coliseum

All over Europe you can go for a coffee and your mate can have a beer. It's one of the great joys of travelling, getting a few cans or bottles and sitting somewhere you've never been and enjoying it.

But in Ireland, with our shocking lack of civic facilities and completely anti-social city streets, this is impossible. Couple this with the huge amount of skobies, and suddenly street drinking is a taboo issue.

Then again, you guys continue to vote Bertie back in, so you can;t really expect a change anytime soon?

Giblet

Punchbowl wrote:

Then again, you guys continue to vote Bertie back in, so you can;t really expect a change anytime soon?

Will people stop doing this. I'm sure whoever anyone voted for wouldn't do a thing about it.

Punchbowl

Well, it was meant tounge in cheek, so sorry for offending you Bertie.. I mean, Giblet.

(That too was meant tounge in cheek)

CantGetNoSleep

daithifleming wrote:

Why dont dealers use giant brown paper bags to smuggle cocaine in then?


Gwanawayoutthatyalanger!

Because if the gardai suspect you of commiting a drugs offence they can search you on the spot (brown bag and all) without warning, as the misuse of drugs act allows this

If they suspect you of drinking in public it is either a public order offence, or a breach of a bye law, none of these allow a person to be searched on the spot

And i'm not a langer thank god , yabellendya

Tha Gopher

eo980 wrote:

I'm not trying to turn it into a race arguement but your opening statement mentioned an influx of 'Eastern Europeans'. If it's not race related why bother mentioning them? Why not say since we've had an increase of immigrants? Why not just mention that you see more people than ever before drinking on the streets?

God do you ever give up? People describe any group they feel has a tendency to partake in a particular activity with a blanket term- Polish, D4, skanger, culchie, fat women, old people, teenagers, rockers, junkies etc etc. You would find about as many Poles who would take offence at the OPs comment as you would find Irish people taking offence about being portrayed as heavy drinkers. Like ourselves and most other nations from cold and historically poor/war torn parts of Europe, the Poles like a drink- just that not all of them are as boastful about it as we are (particularly women- many Polish women like a skinful, the only difference is that, unlike Irish women, its not considered proper to come into work Monday and tell your colleagues how out of it you were on Friday night)

If i say a large amount of Poles are into dance and hip hop and judge it by my work and social interactions with them and the large amount ive met at hip hop gigs and dance events, is there anything negative about it? If I went on the dance forum and started a post "Ever notice how a bigger proportion of Poles are into hardhouse, trance and techno than Irish people" would you care? Or is it when, shock horror, theyre linked to something negative does it become an issue.

Mind you this summer Ive seen nobody drinking outdoors with this weather Feckin August and still havent made the beach for an all dayer of outdoor beer lairyness.

Terry

I'd worry about the fact that you would consider going to a hip hop event.

Tha Gopher

Not any more, too many damn Poles

Kintarō Hattori

Tha Gopher wrote:

God do you ever give up? People describe any group they feel has a tendency to partake in a particular activity with a blanket term- Polish, D4, skanger, culchie, fat women, old people, teenagers, rockers, junkies etc etc. You would find about as many Poles who would take offence at the OPs comment as you would find Irish people taking offence about being portrayed as heavy drinkers. Like ourselves and most other nations from cold and historically poor/war torn parts of Europe, the Poles like a drink- just that not all of them are as boastful about it as we are (particularly women- many Polish women like a skinful, the only difference is that, unlike Irish women, its not considered proper to come into work Monday and tell your colleagues how out of it you were on Friday night)

If i say a large amount of Poles are into dance and hip hop and judge it by my work and social interactions with them and the large amount ive met at hip hop gigs and dance events, is there anything negative about it? If I went on the dance forum and started a post "Ever notice how a bigger proportion of Poles are into hardhouse, trance and techno than Irish people" would you care? Or is it when, shock horror, theyre linked to something negative does it become an issue.

Mind you this summer Ive seen nobody drinking outdoors with this weather Feckin August and still havent made the beach for an all dayer of outdoor beer lairyness.

Your a sit on the fence kinda guy eh? Opinion split down the middle and all that. Could go this way, could go that way etc.

Giblet

eo980 wrote:

Your a sit on the fence kinda guy eh? Opinion split down the middle and all that. Could go this way, could go that way etc.

It's more a "tend to let people be" opinion. Horrible I know.

Tha Gopher

eo980 wrote:

Your a sit on the fence kinda guy eh? Opinion split down the middle and all that. Could go this way, could go that way etc.

Im more of laid back type in the opinion that certain groups are more likely to do certain things (whether they be racial, gender, national, regional, religious, skangerish, D4tastic, you name it) without bringing a big feckin issue or chip on shoulder into it. How many E Europeans do you know who would disagree that a fair amount like to sink a few cans on a hot Saturday afternoon?