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Child Item

Alcohol off sales ater 10 PM rule.

JumpShivers

Why are alcohol off sales prohibited after 10PM?

I find it annoying that as an adult over 18 I cannot buy alcohol at an off license after 10PM . Before anyone mentions that dentists and doctors etc are not open late at night,that is because there is no demand for them and besides they are not legally prohibited from opening at those times.

And to those of you who say that I should plan ahead, it's not always that simple. What if you are with friends at home late in the evening and you decide that you want a few cans? Or you are finishing a late shift in work and decide a nice bottle of wine would be nice that evening.

Equally annoying is not being able to purchase alcohol before 12:30 on a Sunday. If you are shopping for the Sunday roast in the morning you have to come back later and get the wine another time.

Is there any reason given for the 10PM rule? It seems rather arbitrary, same for the 12:30 rule on Sunday.

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Senna

You know wine doesn't go off, you can buy some and just leave it in the house till you want it.

DareGod

In 2008, they changed the off licence closing time from 11pm to 10pm. They also changed late licences from 3.30am to 2.30am.

And sure it has solved our alcohol problem and it has significantly reduced alcohol-related antisocial behaviour. http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7a/16/f1/7a16f1714999a7593b9ee5b4787a640b.jpg

ThisRegard

custard gannet wrote: »

The man was a scumbag out and outl

I don't think it was anything to do with him. He actually went up against the vintners with his cafe bar plans.

Was it actually his idea or just a law introduced by the government at the time?

dr.fuzzenstein

The idea is that easy availability of alcohol causes mass drunkenness.
In Germany you can go to a 24 hour petrol station to buy beer a 4 am if you want and in some workplaces beer is available from vending machines.
The next theory is that cheap price causes mass drunkenness.
In Germany you can go to Aldi and buy yourself a 6 pack and a bottle of 40% vodka for LESS than €20.
Pubs are reasonable too.
When I was over there earlier this year, did I see hordes of Germans crawling around drunk, puking, fighting and urinating?
Let me think...no. Not a single one. People have a few civilised drinks and then go home.
Meanwhile in Ireland alcohol prices are amongst the highest in Europe, if not the world and there are a million stupid-ass rules to stop you buying drink. By government logic this country should be sober as a judge, alcohol consumption should be far lower than anywhere else. Is that the case?
What is the case is that politicians will always look out for their very good and dear friends and relatives in the pub trade and of course themselves if they happen to run a pub and make sure that those mean, nasty supermarkets don't go pissing in their soup. Because then it's time to put manners on them.
Anything, only so the pubs don't have to do anything demanding like compete or innovate (the very IDEA!) and they can go on pretending it's the 80's and it's business as usual and they will never, ever have to change, because they have the same idea as everyone else hounding the government for a leg up, a favour, a push or a handout:
The World Owes Me A Living! I Am Entitled!
Because it's such a small country, cronyism, nepotism and "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" will forever decide how the country is run.
So the government keeps pretending and raising the price. Raising the price did nothing the last 23 times it was tried, but I'm sure 24 is the lucky number!
What do they say about repeating the same action over and over again, expecting different results?

One eyed Jack

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Ah I don't thinks it's about getting sh1t faced, Jack.

You could be sitting at home in a Friday night after a mad week at work. Dinners cooked, washing up done and you're flicking through the channels watching this and that. Then you think to yourself that you'd love a glass of red, watch that movie before bed but it's gone 10pm and that choice is taken away from you.

Stupid law but I can always rely on dial a drink

I thought the dial a drink had gone out years ago until I was in a friends house there last year and she got a delivery, she was confused because to her it was as normal as a pizza delivery, couldn't understand why I thought it was bizarre that it's still available

ThisRegard

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

It's a stupid rule...twice I've witnessed people refused whilst joining the queue on time and the clock striking 10pm before they get served

Many tills are simply programmed not to allow the sale of alcohol outside of permitted hours so it doesn't matter when you join the queue, the assistant can do nothing about it.

Ash.J.Williams

Senna wrote: »

Probably goes by time on till, staff could be in trouble if drink sales registered after 10pm, completely reasonable.

I'm not saying the issue is the staff..obviously it knocks off at ten.

NachoBusiness

The tension in the Tesco self service queue tonight at 9:55 was unbearable.
We just knew some of us wouldn't make it.

NomadicGray

NachoBusiness wrote: »

The tension in the Tesco self service queue tonight at 9:55 was unbearable.
We just knew some of us wouldn't make it.

I hope no can was left behind

[Deleted User]

@senna I could have a bottle of wine in the cupboard for ages and never touch it. Then when it's drunk, I would never think about replacing it when I next go to the shops.

Still going, Jack, and at off licence prices.

Del2005

That's the other stupid thing about the off licence law. Because it's enforced by civilians it's 100% adhered to yet the law against being drunk in public is completely ignored by our law enforcement officers. Shows where the priority is in stopping dunken mayhem on our streets. Once you pay €5+ for a pint you can do as you please but a shift worker can't get a can or bottle on the way home from work!

Cienciano

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Don't really see an issue with the rule, 10pm is reasonable.

Its stupid. What if I want a drink at home and it's after 10?
And what if I'm in the supermarket getting stuff for the sunday dinner at 12:15 in the afternoon and decide I'll get a nice bottle of red wine for the rib roast? No, sorry, can't sell it to you, that's illegal too.

custard gannet

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Let me think...no. Not a single one. People have a few civilised drinks and then go home.
t:

Germans are, on the whole, too tight fisted to get drunk on even cheap beer.

But it brings me to a point. While Aldi and Lidl are no doubt welcome for having shaken up the prices of food, why are their booze, while relatively cheap, not earth shatteringly so? I've seen beer in there for 90 cent a can (I didn't chance it)- while it's welcome and all, why don't they sell mainland EU prices for low quality cans and spirits? 50 cent cans and 7 euro bottle type deals.

Sunnyisland

Basing social policy and legislation on making sure the children all turn up at 9am is ridiculously backward in a 21st century 24-hour global economy.I could drink 24 hours here if I really wanted to. But nobody does.

Remove the artificial "closing time" deadline and people simply wander in to the bar for a quiet pint when it suits them then go home when it suits them. You don't have hordes of pissed people all thrown out onto the street at once puking and fighting.

There's not the "naughty children that need to be controlled" reactionary nonsense, which just makes people subconsciously defensive/rebellious/aggressive to start with.

One point worth mentioning though is we do need a bit of a change in our alcohol culture though.

kneemos

custard gannet wrote: »

Germans are, on the whole, too tight fisted to get drunk on even cheap beer.

But it brings me to a point. While Aldi and Lidl are no doubt welcome for having shaken up the prices of food, why are their booze, while relatively cheap, not earth shatteringly so? I've seen beer in there for 90 cent a can (I didn't chance it)- while it's welcome and all, why don't they sell mainland EU prices for low quality cans and spirits? 50 cent cans and 7 euro bottle type deals.

VAT probably.They'ed be making a loss.

slimjimmc

kneemos wrote: »

VAT probably.They'ed be making a loss.

Excise probably the main difference. Massive excise in Ireland by comparison to most EU countries.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/excise_duties/alcoholic_beverages/rates/excise_duties-part_i_alcohol_en.pdf

TheLastMohican

Ridiculous laws. But, fair play to my local supermarket, they have some exactly priced items next to the wine sales ......... so you just buy one of those items and 2 bottles of red ....... the teller zaps the non-alcohol item three times and puts a couple of vertical lines on one page and zeros on another in a note book by the till. As I rarely drink beer I cannot vouch for a similiar solution.

An Irish answer to an Irish problem!

Incidentally, what time does the Dáil Éireann bar close? Reminds me of Keith Richard's band - The Expensive Winos. Except The the latter are worth paying and are professional.

Menas

You think our off licence rules are antiquated, try going to Canada where you can only get off licence wine and spirits from government owned stores.
But in fairness, they open at 9am and close at 10pm.

Sunnyisland

In Spain and Portugal they stop serving alcohol in off-licence etc at ten .

Against that you can buy beer anywhere even McDonald's, A happy meal n a pint there please :-) sure make dat two pints bud and forget the chips....

Whitewinged

Was talking to these two students that i met in a beer garden the other week.

They were sitting with some randomer who was a self proclaimed buddist and strong believer in corporal punishment! I think he was on his own and he kept buying drinks for them.

They were torn between risking staying in the pub for the possible free drink and making it to tescos to get their cheap wine before 10.

They chose the tesco route in the end.

BMJD

None of you dipsos ever hear of shoplifting? No need to worry about 10pm ever again.

dan1895

BMJD wrote: »

None of you dipsos ever hear of shoplifting? No need to worry about 10pm ever again.

How does one shoplift from a store that is closed?

mikeym

Morale of the story always have an emergency stash of drink

Junkyard Tom

If there's a logically sound argument against having 24/7/365 alcohol sales I'd like to hear it.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Don't really see an issue with the rule, 10pm is reasonable.

For ****ing North Korea.

KungPao

I can't believe some people here support it or just shrug and say 'sure just stock up beforehand'.

It's a ridiculous rule and as said only really inconveniences casual/moderate drinkers.

Winos will always find a way to get their hands on drink. Either through stocking up, making it themselves or having a contact. And they won't be going to the pub for it.

Tarzana2

I'm not a big drinker but the off-licence laws in this country are ridic. I can only assume the hours were shortened to drive people into the pubs?

Menas

Tarzana2 wrote: »

I'm not a big drinker but the off-licence laws in this country are ridic. I can only assume the hours were shortened to drive people into the pubs?

Its a fair bet to say that the vintners associations are very active in helping the government define any laws and taxes regarding off licences!

Alexis Sanchez

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

If there's a logically sound argument against having 24/7/365 alcohol sales I'd like to hear it.

I'd like to see someone rise up to this challenge. The only thing closing times have accomplished is encouraging people to drink faster, which makes them struggle to handle their booze.

The Randy Riverbeast

I'm not sure how encouraging people to hoard alcohol in their house helps. Wouldnt it make people more likely to drink as it is easily available?