Price of drink in the pubs, no wonder we're drinking at home more.

IrishSkyBoxer · 08-02-2014 09:25PM

I don't drink anymore thankfully, such a waste of time and money and a perfect example of the herd mentality. A lot if you guys should really reconsider your alcohol consumption - 8 to 10 pints in one sitting. Jesus. God help your fat livers.

Anyway the price of soda is all I worry about and it's a rip off too - almost three euro for a small glass of diet coke

Amirani · 08-02-2014 09:26PM

harney wrote: »

It was around €6.70 in Finland last month for a 1/2 litre of beer in more than one pub. Between €7 and €9 for a 1/2 litre of beer in Paris in December, unless you went to the hotel bar where it was €14 per 1/2 litre. It is apparently more expensive in Norway than Finland for beer, not to mention prices in Sweden, so perhaps you should go check your facts?

Denmark is also significantly more expensive for alcohol.

SamAK · 08-02-2014 09:29PM

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

8 to 10 pints in one sitting. Jesus. God help your fat livers.

Shur be-jaysus mikey anythin' less than ten pints is only a shnack!

Banjo String · 08-02-2014 09:43PM

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

I don't drink anymore thankfully, such a waste of time and money and a perfect example of the herd mentality. A lot if you guys should really reconsider your alcohol consumption

No.

Gummy Panda · 08-02-2014 09:43PM

Il Trap wrote: »

I was in the Viscount pub in Whitehall in Dublin about two weeks ago. First time drinking in the place. It was a Tuesday night and there were about 5 people, presumably mostly locals, dotted around an otherwise empty and atmosphere-less lounge area.

I ordered a pint of Heineken and handed the bar man a fiver and said thanks. Next thing the barman tips me on the shoulder and says, 'Sorry, do you have another 30c'?

5.30! for a pint in a pub on the outskirts of the city. Absolute thieves! A grand pub otherwise but the price of the pint was ridiculous.

That pub use to be packed 15 years ago. Now it is dead. Managed into the ground.

dundalkfc10 · 08-02-2014 09:54PM

IrishSkyBoxer wrote: »

I don't drink anymore thankfully, such a waste of time and money and a perfect example of the herd mentality. A lot if you guys should really reconsider your alcohol consumption - 8 to 10 pints in one sitting. Jesus. God help your fat livers.

Anyway the price of soda is all I worry about and it's a rip off too - almost three euro for a small glass of diet coke

Yes Doctor, My Grandad drank 10 pints on 2 or 3 sittings a week and lived till he was in his 90's, know many others too

Doris300 · 09-02-2014 04:59AM

dmc17 wrote: »

It's 8:15 here

It's 3.58 here donal, mc.

Galwayguy35 · 09-02-2014 07:42AM

Chinasea wrote: »

More like how have any pubs managed to stay open.

OK, so why don't you try if you think you can do it cheaper.

Have you any idea how much it costs to run a pub? Pay overheads? Pay insurance, pay rates, heat the vast half empty spaces, plan to server food and end up throwing it away when the weather turns bad and not a sinner turns up? Honestly.

I am not saying that the price you pay in a pub or restaurant is cheap, but get real. Report back please once you've done so. You take a chance and open a pub with your home laid down as a guarantee to the bank and hang around and wait for the punters to turn up.

Not really, most of the pubs are family owned and are passed down so have been paid off years or decades ago so the whole "home laid down as a guarantee" doesn't really apply, anyone getting into the business is renting these days.

Well known pubs in the larger cities would still sell but the person buying them would have a few million in the bank to start with.

Publicans were very quiet when their pubs were full of customers and there was no mention of the fact that many of them were driving home at the end of the night.

Now that people have less money to spend and have changed to off licenses for more realistically priced booze organisations like the VFI have started taking the moral high ground and are worried about all of us drinking too much and God forbid not have to pay a fortune for alcohol.

[-0-] · 09-02-2014 07:47AM

It's terrible, Joe.

suicide_circus · 09-02-2014 09:48AM

when is minimum price of drink due to come in?

I would pretty much never buy a slab of 24 cans for 20euro or whatever, far more likely to buy a handful of gay beers and maybe share a bottle of spirits with a couple of people, how much more expensive will my drinking really get? over my dead body will it gwt me back into the pubs.

Chinasea · 09-02-2014 10:31AM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Not really, most of the pubs are family owned and are passed down so have been paid off years or decades ago so the whole "home laid down as a guarantee" doesn't really apply, anyone getting into the business is renting these days. So in effect, your're saying they should provide a service to the punters, like eh, emmm, a charity! After all it is our entitlement that someone should stay open 7 days a week, heat a big auld barn, in the off chance that we pop by and spend a few quid once in a while.

Well known pubs in the larger cities would still sell but the person buying them would have a few million in the bank to start with. That's strange, so in a country that has seen this particular trade slowly die, based on your 'idle €million theory' there should be a que of people outbidding each other and slamming their millions down to provide this national "entitlement" service. With a drop in over 1/3 of its business since 2006 it really is a puzzle; NOT.

Publicans were very quiet when their pubs were full of customers and there was no mention of the fact that many of them were driving home at the end of the night. Ye wha.. Begrudgery bell rings

You use your spare million to take a chance and wait for the hordes to hammer your doors down. There are thousands of pubs for sale, go get a bank loan and put your house & kids down as guarantee and sell the odd G&T for €1 or 2 and then report back.

Menas · 09-02-2014 11:19AM

Chinasea wrote: »

You use your spare million to take a chance and wait for the hordes to hammer your doors down. There are thousands of pubs for sale, go get a bank loan and put your house & kids down as guarantee and sell the odd G&T for €1 or 2 and then report back.

That's a very bold statement.

Santa Cruz · 09-02-2014 11:26AM

WikiHow wrote: »

You cant beat pints in a pub though, having tins at home is not the thing.

Couldn't agree more but in the right pub/GAA club etc. Sitting on the high stool, watching that pint being slowly filled, allowed to settle, finish off with a nice creamy head. No excessive music in background but the buzz of conversation.

Though I often have a few Guinness draught at home and they are not bad if you keep the cans out in the shed for coolness but the atmosphere isn't the same and the missus doesn't get tarted up.

charlietheminxx · 09-02-2014 11:59AM

I paid nearly 15 feckin euro for a double Malibu last week.

Banjo String · 09-02-2014 12:28PM

Chinasea wrote: »

You use your spare million to take a chance and wait for the hordes to hammer your doors down. There are thousands of pubs for sale, go get a bank loan and put your house & kids down as guarantee and sell the odd G&T for €1 or 2 and then report back.

Supply and demand. Too many pubs competing for too little consumers (too little that are prepared to pay the prices being asked)

Very few publicans are adapting their business strategies to match the decline in people's disposable income.

Restaurants Offer various deals, 3 courses for €10, 4 for €12 etc.

Very few pubs I've been in have started to address the need to offer sweetners for example. How much does those little glass bottles of mineral cost? Why not offer them free with a spirit? Charging 3 and 4 euro for them isn't acceptable anymore.

Why not offer deals on pints? If a pint of paulaner (example) is five euro, why not offer 6 for twenty euro?

No, publicans think the good times are still here, with there €6 for large cokes, and 4 or 5 euro for a mixer.

Then whinge to the Govt when things aren't going their way.

suicide_circus · 09-02-2014 12:37PM

got a bottle of beer in an empty bar on a rainy afternoon in Dublin city centre a few days back, 6euro. I can honestly say I will never return to that establishment.

JustAddWater · 09-02-2014 01:58PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

got a bottle of beer in an empty bar on a rainy afternoon in Dublin city centre a few days back, 6euro. I can honestly say I will never return to that establishment.

This new trend of 330ml bottles costing 15-20c MORE than their respective pints, it's quite frankly a load of bollox and is seriously putting me off pubs

languagenerd · 09-02-2014 02:18PM

I don't drink, but the price of soft drinks can get ridiculous too. Paid €3.50 for 300ml of Lucozade last night. I'd've been better off drinking beer...

Now, I know I'm paying for the experience - for the glass and ice, the staff, the chairs/table (in some places), the electricity, the music, the TVs, the pub rents, etc. I'll happily contribute to that and I don't expect ultra-cheap drinks or shop-price drinks just cause I'm a non-drinker. But ,at the same time, that's a 446% mark-up on what I pay for the same thing in the supermarkets (comparing a 300ml pub bottle for €3.50 and a 375ml supermarket bottle for €1) and shops have overheads too.

Even worse, I've been charged €3.50 for a can of Sprite in places where I've already paid in at the door. Their loss in the end though, cause I end up buying less drinks and I'd be less likely to go back there again...

Satriale · 09-02-2014 02:45PM

languagenerd wrote: »

I don't drink, but the price of soft drinks can get ridiculous too. Paid €3.50 for 300ml of Lucozade last night. I'd've been better off drinking beer...

Now, I know I'm paying for the experience - for the glass and ice, the staff, the chairs/table (in some places), the electricity, the music, the TVs, the pub rents, etc. I'll happily contribute to that and I don't expect ultra-cheap drinks or shop-price drinks just cause I'm a non-drinker. But ,at the same time, that's a 446% mark-up on what I pay for the same thing in the supermarkets (comparing a 300ml pub bottle for €3.50 and a 375ml supermarket bottle for €1) and shops have overheads too.

Even worse, I've been charged €3.50 for a can of Sprite in places where I've already paid in at the door. Their loss in the end though, cause I end up buying less drinks and I'd be less likely to go back there again...

Bear in mind that in a shop you are also paying for many of the things you listed. they have the same rent, rates, insurance, staff costs, heating, music.

You would want to be getting a gold plated throne and Perrier ice cubes served by a member of the royal family for that 446%.

Cian92 · 09-02-2014 02:57PM

NiallSparky wrote: »

Denmark is also significantly more expensive for alcohol.

No it is not.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-21062013-AP/EN/2-21062013-AP-EN.PDF

These are the most up to date statistics from EuroStat. Ireland is the second most expensive country in the EU for alcohol, behind Finland. Interestingly enough we are the most expensive for tobacco.

These statistics include alcohol bought in supermarkets, so when those in power harp on about the need for minimum pricing we can tell them there is no need for it, we are already very expensive.

darkpagandeath · 09-02-2014 03:06PM

Cian92 wrote: »

No it is not.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-21062013-AP/EN/2-21062013-AP-EN.PDF

These are the most up to date statistics from EuroStat. Ireland is the second most expensive country in the EU for alcohol, behind Finland. Interestingly enough we are the most expensive for tobacco.

These statistics include alcohol bought in supermarkets, so when those in power harp on about the need for minimum pricing we can tell them there is no need for it, we are already very expensive.

Was going to link stats but I see you already have. People like to make up were not expensive and say ohh that really expensive bar in France makes the whole of France the same price.... Its factual information Ireland is the 2nd most expensive for Alcohol overall not just in pubs.

Cian92 · 09-02-2014 03:14PM

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Was going to link stats but I see you already have. People like to make up were not expensive and say ohh that really expensive bar in France makes the whole of France the same price.... Its factual information Ireland is the 2nd most expensive for Alcohol overall not just in pubs.

And this misinformation people so easily believe allows campaigners to campaign without issue for increased prices. Alcohol Action Ireland I'm looking at you.

daRobot · 09-02-2014 03:22PM

Cian92 wrote: »

No it is not.

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-21062013-AP/EN/2-21062013-AP-EN.PDF

These are the most up to date statistics from EuroStat. Ireland is the second most expensive country in the EU for alcohol, behind Finland. Interestingly enough we are the most expensive for tobacco.

These statistics include alcohol bought in supermarkets, so when those in power harp on about the need for minimum pricing we can tell them there is no need for it, we are already very expensive.

Perhaps I'm reading the pdf incorrectly, but are Turkey, Norway and Iceland not also ahead of us on those EU alcohol indicies?

suicide_circus · 09-02-2014 03:25PM

Cian92 wrote: »

And this misinformation people so easily believe allows campaigners to campaign without issue for increased prices. Alcohol Action Ireland I'm looking at you.

alcohol action ireland: we as a nation have a drink problem - increase prices

vintners association: the pub trade is dying - increase prices

responsible drinker : we 're already far more expensive than 95% of Europe

hand wringers: THINK OF THE CHILDREN

suicide_circus · 09-02-2014 03:26PM

daRobot wrote: »

Perhaps I'm reading the pdf incorrectly, but are Turkey, Norway and Iceland not also ahead of us on those EU alcohol indicies?

those countries are not in the EU

darkpagandeath · 09-02-2014 03:26PM

Cian92 wrote: »

And this misinformation people so easily believe allows campaigners to campaign without issue for increased prices. Alcohol Action Ireland I'm looking at you.

I does make my blood boil when then come out with " Cheap alcohol is the problem" what cheap alcohol ? Were is this cheap alcohol their talking about if were the 2nd most expensive country to buy it in ... Then you have Consultants making stuff up jumping on bandwagons. Do these people do any research or just believe what the government/agenda report says ?

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/consultant-blames-cheap-price-of-alcohol-for-neknomination-craze-29974910.html

daRobot · 09-02-2014 03:36PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

those countries are not in the EU

Amazing what lack of sleep can do to you

thattequilagirl · 09-02-2014 03:43PM

I have lived abroad since 2009 and get home about twice a year. Every time I go out at home I'm shocked that after five years of recession the price of it hasn't come down at all. I live in Dubai where alcohol is taxed absolutely massively, but drink still works out cheaper here and everywhere does decent happy hours and ladies nights.

Drinking in a pub means getting out of the house and socialising, it means your drinks are measured and there are sober people behind the bar and possibly in security that - most of the time - can control any unexpected occurrences, it's a much better way of drinking than sitting at home pouring your own drinks and pubs should cop on and get people back in the door.

hatrickpatrick · 09-02-2014 03:43PM

Minimum pricing is protectionism, simple as that. It has nothing to do with public health, it's the government, as usual, pandering to a lobby group.

Incidentally, why are pubs down the country so much cheaper? I seriously doubt rent is the only factor here, another is obviously publicans thinking that they can rip city people off easier than their rural counterparts. If that's the case, and they're facing competition from supermarkets, they can f*ck themselves as far as I'm concerned.

smurgen · 09-02-2014 03:51PM

I earn a not bad wage and I simply cannot stand paying a fortune for booze anymore.I love the stuff but its a total waste.any time I've gone out recently I've easily spent 100-120 on a bog standard night out.not affordable!I'm gonna have to do more pre drinking at home.the pub is dead,long live tescos!

Price of drink in the pubs, no wonder we're drinking at home more.

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