Off licence closing times - should they be restricted from selling past 10pm?

amadangomor · 19-06-2019 02:19PM

When you see how casual it is on the continent it makes a mockery of this nanny state law. You can get cans in chippers in a lot of Europe ffs.

I remember as well that there was little enforcement of the law with previous off licence hours we had and if you asked nicely and weren't staggering you had a decent chance of being able to buy alcohol later/earlier in shops. The 10 o'clock thing just cemented the law in the eyes of shop keepers.

Giblet · 19-06-2019 02:25PM

Sunday 12:30 is a pain in the hole, especially as I do my shopping Sunday morning when it's quieter. No reason for it, might want a can during a game or something and have to run up before hand like an alco instead of sneaking it in with the rest of the shopping.

harry Bailey esq · 19-06-2019 02:32PM

Balanadan wrote: »

What about people who get up early on a Sunday morning to do their shopping and have to make a separate trip to buy alcohol after 12:30?

I'm fairly well stocked with an assortment of various drinks at home. Spirits/beers/wines etc. I don't go shopping on a Sunday, I go for a long stroll with the dog. I usually leave around 7/8 and get back about 11ish. Im always equipped with a 350ml hipflask. Depending on the weather I'll fill it with rum, whiskey and on rare occasions vodka. But I'll always have a mix and a glass in my bag for the vodka. If it's a particular nice morning I'll leave the flask at home and bring an eight pack of beer. Eitherways, every Sunday by the time I'm home I'm half cut and well before the offo opens. I'm still of the belief that the licensing laws for off sales should be 24 hours, with the opening hours left to the discretion of the owner of each individual off licence.

veryangryman · 19-06-2019 02:42PM

Since we'll all shortly be forced to "be organised" with E Cars and the like, the alcohol rule is a decent warm up.

I cant remember ever being short of beer stocked up. Plenty in storage. Look after the crates and the cans will look after themselves.

JohnnyFlash · 19-06-2019 02:45PM

Just ring Dial-A-Can. You pay a premium alright, but those Chinese guys will have a slab delivered to your door in about 30 minutes.

amadangomor · 19-06-2019 02:48PM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Just ring Dial-A-Can. You pay a premium alright, but those Chinese guys will have a slab delivered to your door in about 30 minutes.

Knew some Brazilians doing this a few years ago, made good money at it. What would punters be prepared to pay for a slab these days?

JohnnyFlash · 19-06-2019 02:50PM

amadangomor wrote: »

Knew some Brazilians doing this a few years ago, made good money at it. What would punters be prepared to pay for a slab these days?

50 eurons.

Jimmy McGill · 19-06-2019 02:52PM

amadangomor wrote: »

Knew some Brazilians doing this a few years ago, made good money at it. What would punters be prepared to pay for a slab these days?

In my area its €30 for 20 bottles after hours, not sure about slabs.

meeeeh · 19-06-2019 03:28PM

amadangomor wrote: »

When you see how casual it is on the continent it makes a mockery of this nanny state law. You can get cans in chippers in a lot of Europe ffs.

Plenty of continental countries limit sale of alcohol and some like Germany limit Sunday opening times of shops.

Anyway it doesn't bother me. I don't have alcohol issues so I can buy alcohol and store it at home without drinking years worth of alcohol in a day.

....... · 19-06-2019 03:35PM

meeeeh wrote: »

I don't have alcohol issues so I can buy alcohol and store it at home without drinking years worth of alcohol in a day.

^^ This is a bizarre statement. You dont have to have a drink problem to sometimes want to buy booze before 10.30am!

I dont have alcohol issues either but the day before xmas eve 2 years ago it took me 3 hours to drive to the local Tesco at 11am. A trip that had taken me 10 minutes at 8am. But I had to go back after 10.30am because I wanted to buy alcohol.

As it stands I have been refused alcohol loads of times with the weekly shop because I am an early riser and like to get out and the shopping done early before the crowds arrive and parking is more difficult.

meeeeh · 19-06-2019 03:44PM

....... wrote: »

^^ This is a bizarre statement. You dont have to have a drink problem to sometimes want to buy booze before 10.30am!

I dont have alcohol issues either but the day before xmas eve 2 years ago it took me 3 hours to drive to the local Tesco at 11am. A trip that had taken me 10 minutes at 8am. But I had to go back after 10.30am because I wanted to buy alcohol.

As it stands I have been refused alcohol loads of times with the weekly shop because I am an early riser and like to get out and the shopping done early before the crowds arrive and parking is more difficult.

I don't think any alcohol is worth spending three hours in traffic.

I don't even notice opening times and even if I missed them I usually restock well before we run out of stuff.

....... · 19-06-2019 03:47PM

meeeeh wrote: »

I don't think any alcohol is worth spending three hours in traffic.

I don't even notice opening times and even if I missed them I usually restock well before we run out of stuff.

It was the day before xmas eve. Once in the traffic there was no way of getting out of it. And I needed the booze for the entertaining we were doing over xmas, because we dont "store" alcohol at home - well not enough for several people at once anyway. I can just imagine the in laws if theyd arrived for the gathering and I primly told them "well I dont think any alcohol is worth spending three hours in traffic" - get a grip!

Maybe you dont go shopping as early as me. But if you are an early riser its a massive pain in the arse to have to go back out later on when the traffic, parking and crowds are worse.

On a more general note, I despise the government restricting the time I am "allowed" to buy anything.

If I want a bottle of booze at 8am then why shouldnt I be allowed to buy one?

Balanadan · 19-06-2019 03:50PM

It punishes people who are responsible drinkers who don't store crates of drink at home.

odyssey06 · 19-06-2019 03:52PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Anyway it doesn't bother me. I don't have alcohol issues so I can buy alcohol and store it at home without drinking years worth of alcohol in a day.

I don't have alcohol issues. I have storage issues.
Plus bargain hunting issues on a Sunday morning...

meeeeh · 19-06-2019 04:25PM

odyssey06 wrote: »

I don't have alcohol issues. I have storage issues.
Plus bargain hunting issues on a Sunday morning...

I'm not one of those people who consider visiting Aldi on Sunday morning fun pursuit.

Anyway alcohol issues comment was tongue in cheek however I really don't see the issue. It was never easier to shop than it is now. I don'toverly mind when alcohol is sold in the morning but 10 o'clock closing limits drunken trips in car to off licence, drunk kids or young adults trying to buy extra quantities of alcohol. This isn't some unique Irish solution, if you check around Europe quite a few countries have restrictions. It tends to be the ones with a bit problematic attitude to alcohol.

YFlyer · 19-06-2019 05:01PM

Felipe Vast Misfortune wrote: »

I used to work then manage an off licence for a decade or so (up to about half way through that decade it was 11.30 I finished), this so much....it was a busy off licence but the shop quietened down really most nights around 10/10.30pm and the last hour it was just the odd person in for an "emergency" Ciggies or Naggins….and how hard is it to go to an offy between 10.30am/12.30 on sunday -10pm

Why 12:30 on a Sunday?

Jimmy McGill · 19-06-2019 05:12PM

YFlyer wrote: »

Why 12:30 on a Sunday?

So people don't drink before mass

YFlyer · 19-06-2019 05:13PM

Chips Lovell wrote: »

Whatever about the evening opening hours, the morning ones are a pain in the hoop. If you want to pick up a few bottles of wine with your weekly shop, you can't do it too early in the morning, particularly on a Sunday.

I've got the kids with me, a week's worth of groceries. What do they think I'm going to do, crack it open in the car park at 10 in the morning?

And don't bring the kids with you to the supermarket when they're around 16 years old.

YFlyer · 19-06-2019 05:25PM

Jimmy McGill wrote: »

So people don't drink before mass

And watching the priest drinking the blue nun.

Scoundrel · 19-06-2019 05:28PM

Balanadan wrote: »

What about people who get up early on a Sunday morning to do their shopping and have to make a separate trip to buy alcohol after 12:30?

The people of Yemen are holding a benefit concert for them due to their insufferable hardship.

gimli2112 · 19-06-2019 05:35PM

I tried buying booze recently on a bank holiday not even a religious one and was told I couldn't until something like midday. I thought we got rid of that rule around the same time we gave up on christianity. It's like I'm still living in the 1990s.

odyssey06 · 19-06-2019 05:56PM

gimli2112 wrote: »

I tried buying booze recently on a bank holiday not even a religious one and was told I couldn't until something like midday. I thought we got rid of that rule around the same time we gave up on christianity. It's like I'm still living in the 1990s.

That was either the staff \ manager or their till system being too dumb to distinguish the different holidays of Sundays, Patrick's Day and ordinary public holidays.
They can legally sell alcohol on a public holiday at 1030.

CelticRambler · 19-06-2019 05:59PM

meeeeh wrote: »

Plenty of continental countries limit sale of alcohol and some like Germany limit Sunday opening times of shops.

True enough. Here in France, if you haven't bought your 5l box of wine by 11h45 on a Sunday morning, the shops will be closed and you'll have to go a village fête somewhere to get your booze. And they'll be selling it on the strength of a "licence" that they got by dropping a form off at the local town hall saying "we'll be selling alcohol from 10am till 2am on Saturday and Sunday next ; let us know if you object." And there'll be children there till 2am too.

The longer I spend outside of Ireland, the more the Irish relationship with alcohol - on the side of both consumption and regulation - seems completely messed up, and no amount of tax or time-restriction is going to change the culture.

tcawley29 · 19-06-2019 07:37PM

odyssey06 wrote: »

That was either the staff \ manager or their till system being too dumb to distinguish the different holidays of Sundays, Patrick's Day and ordinary public holidays.
They can legally sell alcohol on a public holiday at 1030.

I used to work for a till provider.
Usually it is whatever is configured by the manager which prevents the normal operators from doing anything else.
Are you sure based on the public holiday at 10:30 thing? I know we always got a load of calls over the holidays to get the timing changed for the day in particular.

odyssey06 · 19-06-2019 07:55PM

tcawley29 wrote: »

I used to work for a till provider.
Usually it is whatever is configured by the manager which prevents the normal operators from doing anything else.
Are you sure based on the public holiday at 10:30 thing? I know we always got a load of calls over the holidays to get the timing changed for the day in particular.

Only St Patrick's Day should have same hours as a Sunday.
As public holidays usually fall on a Monday, 1030 opening hours apply.

It's summarised here:
https://vfipubs.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/TRADING-HOURS-KNOW-THE-LAW-1.pdf

Full text here:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2003/act/31/section/10/enacted/en/index.html

It does seem to be a common mis-conception but there is no legislation prohibiting selling alcohol between 1030 - 1230 on mornings of public holidays, except St Patricks Day - at least none I can find.

There might be a special exemption for Sunday if it falls on 23rd or 24th December, that alcohol can be sold from 1030, but I'm still trying to figure out if that is pubs only. Update, seems to apply to off licence sales also:
https://centra.ie/beat-the-queue/terms-and-conditions

Chancer3001 · 19-06-2019 08:15PM

The amount of times I've wanted to buy booze and just missed the deadline meaning I couldn't is quite high.

Terrible for me.

Fantastic for public health costs down the line

odyssey06 · 19-06-2019 08:26PM

Chancer3001 wrote: »

The amount of times I've wanted to buy booze and just missed the deadline meaning I couldn't is quite high.
Terrible for me. Fantastic for public health costs down the line

Not really. If it did send you to an early grave think of all the pension money, long term chronic prescription meds and nursing home costs you'd have saved the gubberment; whilst also enriching their coffers with all the lovely excise.

jippo nolan · 19-06-2019 08:44PM

Jimmy McGill wrote: »

So people don't drink before mass

What about midnight mass?

odyssey06 · 19-06-2019 08:47PM

jippo nolan wrote: »

What about midnight mass?

Isn't that why it's not at midnight anymore... mass needed to start before the pubs closed...

goose2005 · 19-06-2019 09:22PM

Balanadan wrote: »

What about people who get up early on a Sunday morning to do their shopping and have to make a separate trip to buy alcohol after 12:30?

Shouldn't they be at Mass anyway?

(or whatever ridiculous nonsense it is that Protestants get up to)

Off licence closing times - should they be restricted from selling past 10pm?

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