After every public disaster there is inevitably an outcry and safety standards are tightened until complacency again sets in with the passage of time.

PROPOSALS contained in the Intoxicating Liquor Bill are nonsensical and legally impossible to enforce, a leading criminal law expert has said.

THE decision by Justice Minister Michael McDowell to transfer certain discrimination cases from the Equality Tribunal to the district courts was branded a retrograde step yesterday by the Equality Authority.

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

THE compelling reasoning behind the report of the Liquor Licensing Commission shows beyond doubt that Ireland’s outdated drink laws are in need of radical reform.

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

THE Government was called on yesterday to fulfil promises made last summer to set up special night courts to deal with spiralling alcohol-fuelled crime.

THE explosion of unprovoked violence on the streets of Ireland’s cities and towns has spawned a plethora of sociological theories about this ugly side of Irish life. But at the end of the day, it comes down to one thing: drink.

EVERY day, alcohol’s burden on society gets heavier and heavier.

A number of equality groups have formed an alliance to oppose the Government's plans to water down the Equal Status Act.

Minister of State, Willie O'Dea, is predicting that changes in the legislation governing pubs and other licensed premises will be in effect within the next year and a half.

TRAVELLERS will find it harder to take claims against publicans who refuse them service under new procedures to be put to government today.

Carl O’Brien, Political Correspondent

PUBLICANS have promised there will be no nationwide blanket ban on serving Travellers following peace talks aimed at resolving the dispute.

Ireland’s pub-goers are bearing the financial brunt of antiquated licensing laws, it was reported today.

The Minister for Justice is pressing ahead with plans to deregulate the drinks trade.