ALCOHOL Action Ireland agrees with the views of the Department of Health’s alcohol policy adviser, Dr Ann Hope, about cafe bars.

Dr Ann Hope, National Alcohol Policy Adviser at the Department of Health and the Government’s main advisor on alcohol, has warned that forthcoming legislation to permit cafés to sell alcohol will exacerbate drinking problems.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell’s plans to introduce café-style bars to tackle binge drinking will only make the problem worse, according to the Government’s foremost alcohol adviser.

DRINK suppliers are being urged not to increase prices as speculation grows that a hike could be imposed as early as next month.

GOVERNMENT proposals to license café bars to sell alcohol will not increase its consumption, Justice Minister Michael McDowell argued yesterday.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell’s plan for continental-style café bars will worsen the country’s alcohol problem by making it more readily available, a member of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol has warned.

THE Government yesterday stepped up its battle against binge drinking and street violence with the introduction of café-style bars.

THE forbidden Good Friday drink can often be the sweetest pint of the year.

The justice minister plans to crack down on excessive drinking by encouraging a return to smaller community pubs, he revealed today.

ALLOWING children to be in a pub after nine o’clock will be illegal in a fortnight. The next batch of regulations under the new liquor licensing laws comes into effect on September 29.

THE Government has approved the publication of the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2003 which contains tough provisions to combat drunkenness and disorderly conduct and abolishes late opening on Thursdays.

CHILDREN are running riot in pubs because publicans cannot ask them to leave, the Vintners Federation of Ireland said yesterday.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has warned that several recommendations made by the Government-appointed Commission on Liquor Licensing would undermine Ireland's equality laws.

PUB opening hours should be brought back to 11.30 on weekend nights, Fine Gael will propose today in a new tough policy on alcohol abuse.

Plans to replace Ireland’s pub culture with a cafe-style society were tonight defended by the Tanaiste.

PUB closing hours are set to go back to 11.30pm on Thursdays, as late hours are blamed for absenteeism on Friday mornings.

Plans to introduce small owner-run pubs in a bid to stamp out binge-drinking may be too restrictive, publicans warned today.

PUBS may be allowed to stay open until 2am on weekends as part of a radical shake-up in licensing laws to be unveiled later this year.

LOCAL authorities will be given the power to control pub opening hours under proposals being drawn up by Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

THE Irish Traveller Movement has raised concerns about signals from the Government that it is considering change to the way equality cases involving publicans are handled.

LOCAL councillors could be given powers to control pub opening hours as part of a radical shake-up of the drinks industry.

The Government has announced plans to introduce legislation next year giving publicans greater power to deal with people who cause trouble on their premises.

EXTENDED pub opening hours are to be officially reexamined just over two years since their introduction.

IF Equality Minister Willie O'Dea is feeling totally frustrated over the entire controversy involving publicans and Travellers and the issue of equality, it would be hard to blame him.

THE fragile truce between publicans and Travellers in the row over the right to service is again under threat.

THE Commission on Liquor Licensing has been tackling a variety of issues. These range from the cost of liquor licences, to the contentious bone of the publican's rights to refuse drink to anyone deemed unfit to consume more, to the presence of children in bars or the inflated price of soft drinks in public houses.

THE Equality Authority is boycotting a Government-ordered review of the legal limits on a publican's right to refuse to serve alcohol.

PUBLICANS must be given the legal right to ban children from their premises, the Commission on Liquor Licensing recommended yesterday.

The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell has criticised the application of new laws governing underage drinking in Dublin.