24 Hour Drinking

fischerspooner

I believe 24 hour bars and off licences will be introduced in Britain this Autumn. Do you think it's a good idea? I think for a few months or maybe longer a lot of people will be getting seriously drunk etc., but I think in the long run it will work for the better, and change the drinking culture altogether. People will be able to stay in bars/clubs until they feel like going home, until they are tired etc. The way it is now everyone streams onto the streets full of drink and energy, looking for more to do, but there is nothing to do except start fights in fast food outlets etc. People are hammering pints at last orders, they can't take their time, it's a recipe for disaster. It clogs up the cities with drunken revellers at 3am every weekend. How can the government not see that this is a problem that can only be solved by longer hours? Why do they insist on nannying us with their archaic laws? I can never see it introduced in Ireland, we do what we're told by the government here, no one ever protests except those whingeing frustrated spoilsports who would hate to see young people able to do what they want, and would never allow such laws.

drunkenfool

I believe it will work in the long run, for the reasons stated above, there wont be a huge number of drunks on the streets at a particular time, cueing for taxis etc. Thats when its the busiest time for police, its not rocket science to see this. I feel that the streets will be safer due to there being less people on the streets at that certain time.
And as for you saying that we just sit back and do what we are told, i dont fully agree with you there. As I remember there was a time during the year when the government were going to make EVERYTHING close at i believe it was 1 or half one. There was uproar obviously, and there was alot of online petetions etc and in 2 or 3 days i think in the region of 200,000 people signed one if not more. That put a stop to that. Thats just the guards being ****ing lazy and trying to ruin everyones fun!!

Mossy Monk

the chances of 24 hour bars here are slim to none. they reduced the drinking time on Thursdays by an hour ffs :mad:

aidan_walsh

fischerspooner wrote:

there is nothing to do except start fights in fast food outlets

Only if you're a moron.

DrIndy

Bring on 24 hours drinking and allow ireland to enter the 21st century and join the rest of the fecking world without archaic, moronic, insulting licensing laws.

seamus

The problem with 24 hour drinking is that there will be an adjustment period of a few weeks, where people will still mostly leave the pubs at the same time out of habit, during which the naysayers will continually say "Ya see?! I was right! Tool of the divil!".

weemcd

Ive heard all the pubs in my town (armagh) are being granted 24 hour licences in the near future.

Could be bs tho

fischerspooner

never thought I'd consider moving to armagh...

super_furry

I think the current system we have here is fine. Maybe Thursday and Sunday's pub hours should be extended but aside from that, I'm happy the way the pub and club hours are here. The real problem is the prices the greedy bastards charge.

fischerspooner

the system is NOT fine! It doesn't cater for people who like to stay out late at night! I used to get annoyed when my parents made me come home early when I was a teenager, now it's the government. In normal countries like france, spain, germany, italy etc., you can take your time on a saturday night, have a few drinks at home, and then go to a bar at 1 or so and stay till 5 or 6 or 7. Why am I not entitled to do that?

stevenmu

I think it's be a great idea, if some drunken scumbag is going to start a fight with me, I'd prefer if he'd been drinking for the last 12 hours instead of the last 2 or 3. Altough it'll be tough when it's first brought in, people are used to being told when to stop drinking, with no time limits there'll be more onus on the pubs to refuse people who've had too much, but I think most are well capable of that at this stage.

I don't buy the 'increased availability increases the problem' argument at all. There's already more than enough availability, it's just that the government deems us not fit decide for ourselves when we should be allowed make use of said availability. When you consider that the only people who should be allowed to drink, are those who are also eligible to vote, which is a much bigger decision than what time to have your few pints at, it becomes a farce.

Viscosity

24 hour drinking might work in some countries but not here at the minute. I'm sure some of ye have been in Australia where 24hr opening is pretty normal. Its fine but there are some subtle differences between here and there. The biggest one regarding pubs is that you can be asked to leave at any time and if you refuse the police are called in and along with being arrested, you get a $550 fine. In my opinion this is a great system (bouncers on a power trip aside) but I'm not sure it would work here.

From what I've seen from the pub trade, in the few years that a 24 hour system would need to be considered a success, it would create serious social and economic issues.

Well, that and the fact that the sun kills your eyes when you leave a place at 7 in the morning !

Dave!

That would be quite handy, I get sleepy after too many pints, so it'd be grand to go asleep in the pub and get the early bus home! lol. It would also mean more money for booze since I wouldn't have to get a bleedin taxi! :cool:

Flukey

The current closing hours in Britain are ridiculous. I've been over there 5 times in the last 12 months. At a time that Irish people would just be getting going, 11pm, the pubs are closing over there. It's madness. I was in Manchester in June. On Sunday night they called last orders for 10:30pm. It was still bright outside! We did the buy several rounds routine and stayed for a while, as they do, but it seemed strange to be calling last orders during daylight. I don't know about 24 hour opening, but they do need to open later in Britain and ban smoking too. You really notice that now when you go over there.

jonny68

DrIndy wrote:

Bring on 24 hours drinking and allow ireland to enter the 21st century and join the rest of the fecking world without archaic, moronic, insulting licensing laws.

spot on there mate

pred racer

Live in the arsehole of nowhere like me and ya can drink until whatever time you like.(or until the publican wants to go to bed)

To give you an example, I was watching a program about 24 hr drinking with my uncle (60, goes out for a couple every night) and he asked me,
"what time is closing time anyway"

So if us us ignorant puddle splashers can manage

All ye cosmopolitan dubs should have no probs atall

Dave!

^
Aye, but we're civilised, unlike ye

Just kiddin

Tiesto

usually I never reply to posts for the simple reason that im just too lazy and couldn't be bothered logging in.But in this case i think i must.
I was talking to my friend about this since i came home from Germany. I lived in Germany for the last 15 months working in Irish pubs and studying. I had an excellent time.But one thing i really really loved about the country was the closing times. I would usually go out at around 9pm and stay out until about 6 or 7 am. I could take my time with the beer.No rushing.No throwing back the pints as quick as possible. The night is long.I had the best nights out ever in Germany for the simple reason that i had a nice state of merryness the whole night. Rarely getting too drunk. Rarely waking up the next morning wondering how i got home.Not once did I have problems with drunks on my way home. I had my first night out since i came back from Germany last Saturday night and it was absolute muck. We arrived in the pub at around 11pm and from then on just knocking back the pints. Was buckled by the time i got to the night club, yeah its up to me how much i want to drink. Suppose it was just being around my bindging friends which made me drink so much.Was a pretty crappy night overall. Felt like i was only in the club 2 minutes and i was leaving again. And to top it all off on the way out the door some farmer starts on me for no reason. I miss Germany

weemcd

DaveMcG wrote:

^
Aye, but we're civilised, unlike ye

Just kiddin

way to post.

That makes no sense.

Dave!

It was a joke. Ignore it if it doesn't make sense to you. Thanks.

pred racer

DaveMcG wrote:

^
Aye, but we're civilised, unlike ye

Just kiddin

LOL

dawballz

aidan_walsh wrote:

Only if you're a moron.

You must be living under a rock not to know that this country is full of "moron's".

Sarsfield

I support 24 hour drinking in the expectation that Darwinism will result in the extinction through accident/violence/liver damage of some of the worst of the crop of the current Irish population.

While we're waiting, I'd only be in favour if there was sufficient Garda manpower to stop the morons from being a nuisance to the rest of us. The penalty for serving drunks should be loss of licence based on a penalty points system. The penalty for drunken behaviour should be a hefty fine and a 'name & shame' system. There should be a proper system of licensed doormen, not just thugs in black bomber jackets. In residential areas there would need to be rules about noise too.

When all of the above is in place, it might just work. I wouldn't expect many pubs to stay open outside regular hours anyway. Except maybe an extra hour or so on Saturdays.

Dermo

so when is this going to be brought in and this will include the north right?

Cianos

I really really really hope they bring in 24 hour licenses here. I think it would be a revolutionary move that would bring about so much change for the better. But thats where the problem lies. In general, the public view seems to embrace the idea of nannying the drinking populace - and the view that application of increasingly tighter laws is the only way of solving the drink problem. I dont know why or from where this idea came from, but I believe it roots back to the core problems that our society faces. I think its great that England is introducing 24 hour licensing, because the Irish government would be too chicken sh!t to make such a move. Maybe when they Britains drink related problems drop triumphantly, they will start making the brave consideration of introducing it here.

The vast majority of people see this as the most common sense approach. Why cant those in power see that also?

They moan about policing required to over-see round the clock drinking hours.....what?! By forcing 90% of the club/late bar customers out onto the streets at the same time, you are going to need a hell of a lot more police work to sort out all the sh!te that follows! If you allow people to trickle out of the clubs whenever they please, you are not going to get the stampede of madness that is witnessed every weekend night in any city/town.

Come on Irish government...you put the square block in the square hole.

Dave!

Cianos wrote:

Come on Irish government...you put the square block in the square hole.

lol! Nicely put

Mossy Monk

Cianos wrote:

the Irish government would be too chicken sh!t to make such a move.

i wouldnt think so. the problem is is that they are so misguided on lots of things they are being told its a bad idea by Johnny No Pints and Mary Health Freak

eirebhoy

I'm suprised pretty much everyone that replied to this thread are in favour of 24 hour pubs/clubs.

I go out on Saturday's and pretty much drink 12-14 hours of that day. I rarely get drunk, rarely even get a bad hangover the next morning. Going out on a Saturday night and I'd probably get drunk and forget half the night. Its not how much you drink that makes you drunk, its how quick.

I can't think of any real reason why we have specific closing hours. People get drunk on a Saturday night and get into fights, etc. Its not as if more hours will make them more drunk and get into more fights. If someone wants to get drunk and cause havoc they will do whatever time the pub/clubs close at.

qwertyup

Flukey wrote:

The current closing hours in Britain are ridiculous. I've been over there 5 times in the last 12 months. At a time that Irish people would just be getting going, 11pm, the pubs are closing over there. It's madness. I was in Manchester in June. On Sunday night they called last orders for 10:30pm. It was still bright outside! We did the buy several rounds routine and stayed for a while, as they do, but it seemed strange to be calling last orders during daylight. I don't know about 24 hour opening, but they do need to open later in Britain and ban smoking too. You really notice that now when you go over there.

Tell me about it. As a student over in England, it's really annoying when they shut up so early, especially if you're not in the mood to hit a club.

scuba steve

i wish there was a 24hour off license open on thursday, every place in town was closed at 1