Covid - not just about crushing the curve - continues to throw us a few curved balls.
Fifteen months ago it was the vulnerability of our health, now in Galway it is about where one can drink in public. Some might say the two could be inextricably combined.
This week publicans, the public, and the gardai are looking for clarification on where one can have a drink. Some of our streets have been turned into attractive al fresco dining areas, but according to city bylaws, strictly speaking, one cannot drink alcohol in a public place. Gardai, in charge of upholding the laws of the State, which include the licensing laws, are being asked to use their discretion. But what is a public place - the area outside a pub, the footpath, the adjacent square?
It is not helped by three sets of regulations that dictate our public drinking - the Covid regulations, licensing laws, and city bylaws. And it all adds up to confusion.
It is all new. On one side we have gardai who are in an unenviable position as the Covid regulations seemingly contradict both licensing and bylaws. There are examples of punters who have bought an allowed takeaway pint in a local pub, only for it to be confiscated by a garda some 40 metres from the premises. Yet legal eagle and senior counsel Constance Cassidy says there is no breach of licensing laws by allowing the drinking of alcohol outside premises, once the transaction of purchasing the alcohol has taken place on the licensed premises. And to add to the confusion and complication, she acknowledges that in some cases there could be a local authority bylaw which prohibits the consumption of alcohol outside premises. Clarity is now needed for publicans and restaurant owners.
Back in February the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee indicated she was going to modernise licensing laws, aiming to publish a new bill to update the laws to support the hospitality and cultural sections of the community and the night-time economy.
"Our culture and hospitality sectors have been the worst effected by Covid. Over the course of our plan we will modernise our licensing laws to support the development of the night time economy so our cities can take their place among the cultural capitals of the world."
These sectors, she believes will revive. And she will introduce reforms to support the development and regulation of the night-time economy, including modernising licensing laws. This would include staggering trading hours for pubs, late bars, clubs and restaurants and updating the application processes.
This proposed legislation would be welcome and overdue to replace the present complex and outdated laws. This includes the present situation of having three different trading hours in a week - Monday to Thursday 10.30am to 11.30pm; Friday and Saturday 10.30am to 12.30am; and then Sunday 12.30pm to 11pm. To add to the complication, there are also late night extensions to 2.30am. Why not standardise the hours for the entire year? Or why not have 24-hour openings which, while perhaps a novelty initially, would stop the present day flood of revellers hitting the streets, particularly around Eyre Square, where a lot of anti-social behaviour can occur.
Some of Ireland's licensing laws date back to 1935. There was the famous "holy hour" in which pubs had to close between 2.30pm and 3.30pm each day which was finally abolished in 1988. On Good Friday when pubs were closed, a person with a valid travel ticket could get served in the bar of a train station. And then there was the famous bona fide traveller, who at closing time could travel outside the city limits in search of a pub and be served.
Different times, but the whole issue of licensing should be reviewed and made more simple.
