Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

So do you think people sohlud be happy to pay 7 euro for a pint and 4 euro for a coke?

To some of the naysayers - I could take you on a tour of my locality and show you ppl (mainly men but not exclusively) who sit in the pub morning noon and night skulling back pints and shorts of spirits.

i don’t mean one off “sessions” or benders.

This is their grim life every day of the week.

As an observation, the same people usually running back and forth between the pub and the bookies all day.

So yes, this is the drinking culture of Ireland in 2023. Deeply entrenched behaviours.

I don’t know how they do it it but it goes on.

Add on top of that home drinking of cans or bottles of vodka/gin/etc.

Lot of ppl are in denial over what goes on.

Plenty of pubs do things though. Pool tournament, sky sports, golf society, poker night, sponsor the local GAA team to name a few. But if the population isn't there then it's going to close. A few free drinks won't change that.

That may all very well be true, but not a hint of a solution. What you are saying is that pubs are simply unviable. The product, with all the necessary stuff around it (insurance, wages etc) is simply too expensive for the alternatives available.

But they seem to have reached a point that the price is now starting to become a negative factor. As I said not the only factor and I would suggest not even the main factor, but a factor. So simply raising the price will not fix it for them. So they need to do something.

Either cut costs, or increase revenue.

What I love is people saying pubs havent been raking it in however we are only starting to hear them complaining now after insurance, electricity, heating and basically every overhead they have has sky rocketed which means prior to covid they absolutely were raking it in as the price of a pint has not risen comparatively to the cost of their overheads in that time period and yet its only now after 2-3 years that they have problems.

Well the publicans whinging would suggest otherwise. People are voting with their feet and custom is down according to them.

If pubs had been raking it in why have so many closed?

you've obviously never seen the people who go into a pub and ask for a pint of water and then sit down and watch a match and then get up a leave spent zero money in the pub. that's already happening has been for years

atleast with the free coke/0.0 for the designated driver (easy enough to prove really with driving license etc.) there is some money coming in and it would mean that those people are in the pub rather then not. doesn't seem like a bad idea to me really would be worth a shot.

I like a pint but i wont pay the same price for a 0.0 or €4 for a coke so my wife/friend and sit and enjoy a few pints while i cant because i have to drive the car if i could try enjoy a 0.0 for free or €2 that would chaneg my mind.

but i', lucky enough to live within walking distance of a few pubs but its hard to pay €5.50 for a Guinness and €6.90 for a morretti for the night these days. only thing that keeps me going it the craic and social

They are already cutting costs, closing opening later, closing earlier, not opening at all on weekdays.

As for increasing revenue, the option just isn't there.

I've seen pubs try the pool nights, the darts nights, but they never last.

Very true. A lot of "experts" clearly have no idea of what's involved.

I'm aware of 2 pubs that have reopened in villages recently. They were reopened by wealthy people when the last pub closed down.

Not opened to make profit but to keep the community alive as there was literally no other business left on the main street.

Yes, it's true that there are people like that in Ireland.. and every other country.

It's also true that MUP will have ZERO effect on them.

That will have to await the research which is being done to inform the "sunset" clauses in the legislation. Despite a commonly made remark that alcoholics will always find the money to feed their habit, in some cases that will not be true. And taking very very cheap alcohol off the market will have the effect of reducing consumption for some.

Review of operation of section 13 to 20

21. The Minister shall, not later than 3 years after the commencement of this section, carry out a review of Sections 13 to 20.

It may be simple to you, but I do not accept that you have knowledge of the whole population to come up with that conclusion.

No give with you at all. Posters opposed to MUP readily admit that MUP will bring alcohol sales down and possibly consumption down. What we agree on is that it wont impact the problem drinkers and they wont see the light that AAI are trying to force down their throats.

The people who will reduce consumption are the ones who choose to put a few bob in the credit union or have a holiday or a takeaway instead of paying a kings ransom for a few cans. MUP wont impact the problem drinkers who cause social issues and clog up the health system as a result of alcoholism.

Im sure yourself ,AAI and even vintners lobbies will cook the stats to show us otherwise but most know that reports are fake. When anti mup posters produce their own evidence you will dismiss it.

You just cant admit that that AAI's intentions are more about being kill joys and nosey neighbours than for the sake of the nations health. They are curtain twitchers. Id love to know how many of them are tee total.

You've ran out of any credit around these parts.