Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

Macy0161 · 18-02-2021 1:29pm

KrustyUCC wrote: »

Thanks

I must stock up on some O'Haras

Definitely will be having a Leann Follain over the weekend

Best bang for the buck there is at €2.50. Although I think O'Hara's "Irish Stout" (which tesco don't carry any more) is also underrated!

KrustyUCC · 18-02-2021 3:31pm

Macy0161 wrote: »

Best bang for the buck there is at €2.50. Although I think O'Hara's "Irish Stout" (which tesco don't carry any more) is also underrated!

I'm a big fan of 51st State as well

Guinness West Indies Porter back to usual price too

discodiva92 · 19-02-2021 2:20am

Amirani wrote: »

Covid has reduced consumption levels across the UK as a whole too.

Surely home drinking is huge levels?

dubrov · 20-02-2021 11:54pm

discodiva92 wrote: »

Surely home drinking is huge levels?

I would've thought so too base on (ahem) a friend's consumption

dubrov · 20-02-2021 11:56pm

The poll is pretty loaded as well.

You can agree Ireland has drinking problems but disagree minimum alcohol pricing is an effective means to deal with it.

Suckit · 21-02-2021 12:50am

dubrov wrote: »

The poll is pretty loaded as well.

You can agree Ireland has drinking problems but disagree minimum alcohol pricing is an effective means to deal with it.

https://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?thread=2057676265&query=the+poll

VinLieger · 24-02-2021 2:56pm

Gabriel Scally in another disgusting attempt to use the pandemic to further his own agenda as well once again misrepresenting things to fit into that agenda

https://twitter.com/GabrielScally/status/1364228704587677696

odyssey06 · 24-02-2021 3:32pm

Scally is a fool. I mean doesn't he know based on minimum unit pricing that pub drinking isn't bad for you and is essential to the fabric of irish society? (according to FG)

Amirani · 24-02-2021 3:38pm

discodiva92 wrote: »

Surely home drinking is huge levels?

At home drinking in the UK has gone up substantially, yes. But the increased volume of alcohol drank at home is considerably less than the reduction in volume of alcohol drank in pubs, clubs and restaurants.

As a result, overall consumption of alcohol is down. I'd imagine it's similar enough here.

Hotblack Desiato · 24-02-2021 4:05pm

According to Revenue figures it is the same here, overall consumption down.

Blasts a big hole in the "uncontrolled drinking at home" "pubs are the only responsible place to consume alcohol" etc. BS we've been hearing to try to justify MUP and other very silly ideas like booze burkas

Our licensing laws are ridiculous and there is strong public support for reform. But that means the stupid 10pm off licence rule needs to go, too.

odyssey06 · 24-02-2021 4:08pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Our licensing laws are ridiculous and there is strong public support for reform. But that means the stupid 10pm off licence rule needs to go, too.

And the Sunday 1230 off licence rule.
Even less defensible than it ever was when you consider the Good Friday changes.

dubrov · 24-02-2021 6:27pm

I think the strict opening hours contribute to the drinking culture here.
There is very much a rush to get booze at certain times and it creates a bit of a buzz as well as creating trouble with so many drunken people being forced out onto the streets together.

Thelonious Monk · 24-02-2021 8:35pm

dubrov wrote: »

I think the strict opening hours contribute to the drinking culture here.
There is very much a rush to get booze at certain times and it creates a bit of a buzz as well as creating trouble with so many drunken people being forced out onto the streets together.

People have been saying this for decades but nothing ever changes.
There's still a Holy Joe element to politics here when it comes to booze, combined with the interference of publicans I can't see things changing for the better. More booze restrictions, warnings on bottles etc. is probably more likely.

Suckit · 24-02-2021 8:45pm

Doesn't McEntees family own a pub that was leased out for 10 years in 2011?
I'm not against the longer hours as they have been spoken about for years and make more sense on a lot of levels, but it's telling that it took a minister not entirely without their own benefits to even mention the possibility of it.
But will take it. It just seems like one hand doesn't know which cheek to scratch.

VinLieger · 24-02-2021 11:26pm

Suckit wrote: »

Doesn't McEntees family own a pub that was leased out for 10 years in 2011?
I'm not against the longer hours as they have been spoken about for years and make more sense on a lot of levels, but it's telling that it took a minister not entirely without their own benefits to even mention the possibility of it.
But will take it. It just seems like one hand doesn't know which cheek to scratch.

The later opening hours is specifically aimed at nightclubs not pubs. FF I think are still the party with the highest percentage of pub owners.

Hotblack Desiato · 25-02-2021 12:43pm

I heard it was both actually

our pub hours are ridiculous but our nightclub hours are even more ridiculous

Also there was some rural pub owner in the Irish Times giving out about the proposal :rolleyes: saying people would just come out later. Well, here's a thing - give your customers what they want and they will be happier and come back more often and you might even gain more customers.

You'd wonder how some of these people can wipe their own arse never mind run a business at all, of course for decades you could be pretty incompetent at running a pub and still make money, these people have a sense of entitlement like you wouldn't believe and really do think the world owes them a living.

Also, same as the Good Friday nonsense, just because the law allows you to be open at a certain time doesn't mean you have to.

Suckit · 25-02-2021 3:47pm

Yeah I think it's aimed at nightclubs and 'late bars' although it just says pubs here.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/laws-to-be-updated-on-pub-opening-hours-and-nightclub-permits-1.4491131

25-02-2021 7:02pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

You'd wonder how some of these people can wipe their own arse never mind run a business at all, of course for decades you could be pretty incompetent at running a pub and still make money, these people have a sense of entitlement like you wouldn't believe and really do think the world owes them a living.

Ive shared this anecdote before but it deserves repeating. After the last lockdown when pubs were allowed re-open, I walked past a pub serving food and they had the menu on the window. Yes, I thought, A basket of coctail sausages and a pint of guinness would hit the spot. It was about 9.10pm. I go in, theres about 5 people inside. I stood at the bar for 5 minutes being ignored by the barman. He finally looks at me and I say "A pint of the black stuff and some cocktail sausages please". We're closing he said. "But its only 9 o'clock". Yeah but the kitchen closes at 9 and we can't serve drinks without food.

This is after about 6 weeks of being closed. Would he not think of getting the 'chef' to give him a crash course in using the deep fat fryer? Or give the 'chef' a few quid to stay after 9pm?

When he needs to take a dump in the morning I wonder does the chef tell him what to put it into?

25-02-2021 7:15pm

dubrov wrote: »

I think the strict opening hours contribute to the drinking culture here.
There is very much a rush to get booze at certain times and it creates a bit of a buzz as well as creating trouble with so many drunken people being forced out onto the streets together.

Another anecdote Ive shared many times before. I lived abroad for a few years where they had 24 hour licensing. One night I went out to meet a few friends, playing pool and drinking beer, the time flew, next thing you know, they are closing, its midnight. Drinking about 2 pints an hour for 6 hours, everyone is buzzed but up for more fun. Do we all order double shots? No, we went down the street to somewhere and got a round of beers in.

By the way, I was drinking with Irish, Scottish and Ukranians. All people who officially have problems with drink. Did that night get messy? No. Hmm, why is that?

A few weeks later Im back in Ireland and go for a few drinks with some friends in the Concorde in Coolock. Again, 2 pints an hour over a few hours, but then "Time people please!", and my mate, whose round it was, buys me 2 pints and a double whiskey which I have about 20 minutes to drink.

At around the same time of night everyone who was in a pub in the county is turfed out into the street. Everyone wants the loo, a kebab and a taxi, not neccessarily in that order.

Is it really a surprise problems happen?

Hotblack Desiato · 26-02-2021 3:47am

In fairness you're not allowed to prepare food to serve to the public unless you've been trained and certified, the chef might have been unwilling to work later or at least not for the money on offer, and how much profit would they make during the extra time anyway? These are very unusual circumstances at the moment

You're dead right about the closing time nonsense of course.

Fr Tod Umptious · 26-02-2021 11:18am

Deleted User wrote: »

Another anecdote Ive shared many times before. I lived abroad for a few years where they had 24 hour licensing. One night I went out to meet a few friends, playing pool and drinking beer, the time flew, next thing you know, they are closing, its midnight. Drinking about 2 pints an hour for 6 hours, everyone is buzzed but up for more fun. Do we all order double shots? No, we went down the street to somewhere and got a round of beers in.

By the way, I was drinking with Irish, Scottish and Ukranians. All people who officially have problems with drink. Did that night get messy? No. Hmm, why is that?

A few weeks later Im back in Ireland and go for a few drinks with some friends in the Concorde in Coolock. Again, 2 pints an hour over a few hours, but then "Time people please!", and my mate, whose round it was, buys me 2 pints and a double whiskey which I have about 20 minutes to drink.

At around the same time of night everyone who was in a pub in the county is turfed out into the street. Everyone wants the loo, a kebab and a taxi, not neccessarily in that order.

Is it really a surprise problems happen?

From my anecdotal experience that has become less of an issue here in Ireland since more places have been allowed to stay open later.

I grew up in a provincial Irish town in the '80s and '90s
It had a load of pubs and two nite clubs
The pubs closed at 11:30 in summer and 11:00 in winter, and the nite clubs closed at 1am regardless
And you had a situation where a lot of people were rushing to drink up and you had a lot of people out on the street at the same time.

But since the new laws came in in the early '00s that has changed to a certain extent.
The pubs are now open at the weekend up to 12:30 all year round and you have have a few more pubs open until 2am, and the nite clubs are still there

What it means is that the crowds are far more dispersed by the end of the night.
Some stay longer in the regular pubs, some go to the late pubs but do not stay till closing and some go to the nite club
I've noticed myself that the big last orders rush you used to see in the pub and nite club is not there anymore
In the late pubs they are very much thinned out by the time last orders come around.

24 hour opening as has been the case in England for years now would be even better with individual pubs being allowed to decide their own opening times.

JustAThought · 26-02-2021 12:51pm

Its a very different landscape now to the 9-5 little traffic 1980’s early 1990’s scenario. Now increasing businesses are working longer hours and offering call service based on different timezones from their ‘Irish’ HQ’s. You also have big international banks working American hours here with thousands of staff working ofd hours. Not to mention the massive airline industry whose crews and support staff stop as late as 11pm. The early house oub license system dosn’t suit them and my guess is they might also like the chance to get home from work, change and go out for a drink/ nightclub. Not possible in Ireland for them.

I never remember working in Dublin /Ireland when I didn’t have a huge commute. Not becUse of dustance but because of no properly functioning commuter support system. Now (pre Covid) you would work from 9-6 or half, and then still have an hour or more likely and hour and a half commute home - that means its close to 730 or 8 as you head in to cook, shower and relax a bit before deciding to go out to relax with friends and have a few pints or chat and rewind. If you’re relying on a bus in the suburbs you can add at least a half hour bus wait time and an hour commute back into the city - and then a walk to wherever you are meting. You’d be lucky if you got in by ten. Then nannystate says you have to be out by 11pm by which time your last bus has gone and you now have to face down the cost of a taxi. No wonder people are drinking socially at home or in other peoples houses in their droves.

I remember when a petrol station chain used have a sign at every counter showing how much of the petrol and wine price went directly in taxes to government. Almost 50%. When you consider your e10 bittle of wine is actually cheap plonk from abroad because the greedy government is lapping half the proce up to squander elsewhere it teally gets you thinking. They have you by the ***** no matter which way you play it.

I love when I’m abroad and can have a long leisurely meal out, go for a walk and hoover in the city at night and then sit in a street terrace in a clean safe environment free from junkies going table yo table and have a bottle of wine or a few drinks and tapas and then take a tram or late coach home - its so unrushed and relaxed and civilised. Here its a mid week frenzy to dash in & gorge through your food to have a hope of getting a drink of your choice in a bar before the public transport system shuts down and leave you in a unpoliced dark empty city looking for a taxi to oay 30 or 40 to bring you home. Hardly worth the effort anymore.

26-02-2021 1:45pm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

From my anecdotal experience that has become less of an issue here in Ireland since more places have been allowed to stay open later.

I grew up in a provincial Irish town in the '80s and '90s
It had a load of pubs and two nite clubs
The pubs closed at 11:30 in summer and 11:00 in winter, and the nite clubs closed at 1am regardless
And you had a situation where a lot of people were rushing to drink up and you had a lot of people out on the street at the same time.

But since the new laws came in in the early '00s that has changed to a certain extent.
The pubs are now open at the weekend up to 12:30 all year round and you have have a few more pubs open until 2am, and the nite clubs are still there

What it means is that the crowds are far more dispersed by the end of the night.
Some stay longer in the regular pubs, some go to the late pubs but do not stay till closing and some go to the nite club
I've noticed myself that the big last orders rush you used to see in the pub and nite club is not there anymore
In the late pubs they are very much thinned out by the time last orders come around.

24 hour opening as has been the case in England for years now would be even better with individual pubs being allowed to decide their own opening times.

An extension from 11 to 12.30. Big whoop.

Throughout my career Ive worked numerous jobs outside the standard 9-5. I worked saturday and sunday in a tech support job where Monday and Tuesday were my weekend. I worked nights in Intel, so my 8am finish on a Monday morning was actually 'my' Friday evening. I worked 3pm to 11pm for a bank. In all those places, current licensing legislation were against me.

Fr Tod Umptious · 26-02-2021 2:03pm

Deleted User wrote: »

An extension from 11 to 12.30. Big whoop.

Throughout my career Ive worked numerous jobs outside the standard 9-5. I worked saturday and sunday in a tech support job where Monday and Tuesday were my weekend. I worked nights in Intel, so my 8am finish on a Monday morning was actually 'my' Friday evening. I worked 3pm to 11pm for a bank. In all those places, current licensing legislation were against me.

Well it was actually relatively speaking.

Even back in the day when the closing time changed from winter 11pm to summer 11.30pm around April it was a "Big whoop" as you say yourself.

26-02-2021 2:24pm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Well it was actually relatively speaking.

Even back in the day when the closing time changed from winter 11pm to summer 11.30pm around April it was a "Big whoop" as you say yourself.

My sarcasm was clearly lost on you.

Fr Tod Umptious · 26-02-2021 3:07pm

Deleted User wrote: »

My sarcasm was clearly lost on you.

Oh I got your sarcasm alright, but for someone who started their pub drinking in the late 1980s and went to the pub regularly thought-out the 1990s 11pm to 12:30am was a big jump when it came in in the early 2000s .

And as I said even the change from 11pm to 11:30pm each April was a greeted with enthusiasm back then.

When you were on holidays and could stay in bars until after 12 and later it was an eye opener.

L1011 · 26-02-2021 3:14pm

discodiva92 wrote: »

Is it worth buying in the north now?Uncle is a truck driver up every week

Beer - no, unless there's a really good special offer on. UK duty on beer is much the same as ours and higher on strong stuff.
Spirits - generally yes
Wine - almost always yes.

BraveDonut · 26-02-2021 3:22pm

Just because a pub can open later does not mean that it has to open later. Figure it out whinging publicans....:rolleyes:

odyssey06 · 26-02-2021 3:35pm

L1011 wrote: »

Beer - no, unless there's a really good special offer on. UK duty on beer is much the same as ours and higher on strong stuff.
Spirits - generally yes
Wine - almost always yes.

Wine -> Especially if you time it for a 25% off 6 bottles weekend in Sainsburys.
Spirits -> Especially for scotch and rum.

kenmc · 02-03-2021 9:01am

The fcukin dry sh1te fundamentalist teetotalers are moaning again!

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/health/off-licence-sales-a-concern-for-alcohol-awareness-group-40147726.html

Wonder did they stop for a millisecond to use their collective brain cell to think that just maybe, in the first couple days in January, people were availing of the last few available offers, discounts, multibuys etc before it was verboten due to their own fcukin policy being introduced.

Absolute imbeciles.

Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

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