Galway off licence owners should commit to opening later or have earlier closing hours on St Patrick’s Day to help prevent scenes of drunken and anti-social behaviour on the National Day.
This is the view of Labour city councillor Niall McNelis who has made his call due to St Patrick’s Day falling on a Saturday.
“There are serious concerns that huge crowds will come into the city for the parade and to watch the sporting events in bars in the city centre,” he said. “The opening hours are already restricted from 12.30pm to 10pm. I believe they should all volunteer to stay closed till 2pm, at that stage the parade will have passed, crowds will have dispersed, and it will be easier to control.”
Cllr McNelis said many communities “dread” St Patrick’s Day owing to “irresponsible” use of alcohol.
“We do not want a repeat of what happened a few years ago at the Spanish Arch in the city centre,” he said. “Residents in many areas of Galway complain annually about the accumulation of drinkers of all ages in their estates who take over the green spaces and who engage in anti-social behaviour and intimidation.
“It is clear that alcohol is a major contributing factor to this disorder. A number of years ago the Lord Mayor of Dublin called on the vintners of Dublin to subscribe to a voluntary code of early off-licence closures around the St Patrick’s Day and I am repeating that call for Galway.”
He said earlier closures would take the pressure off the Gardaí and the emergency services and encourage those who wish to “drown the shamrock” to do so in their own homes or in the regulated atmosphere of their local pub.
