By contrast, Dublin city and county has lost just 10 pubs in the same period, dropping from 786 to 776.

Vintners say rural Ireland needs an urgent sustainable transport solution to combat the effects of new drink-driving legislation.

Rural drivers should be given new licences which allow them to pick up passengers for a set price within 15km of their homes in a bid to clamp down on ongoing drink driving concerns.

Pubs in rural areas have to turn over at least €8,000 per week or they may not survive, according to a new report.

Campaigners in Ireland have welcomed the decision by Scottish judges to reject an appeal against minimum unit pricing.

Plans for a minimum alcohol price have suffered a setback after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled similar plans in Scotland would breach EU law if less restrictive tax measures could be introduced.

Among the old reliables in Michael Noonan’s budget, consumers of alcohol and motorists escaped unscathed, but cigarette smokers will have to cough up another 50 cent per packet.

From the Cliffs of Moher to the Book of Kells, Ireland has a lot to offer in terms of celebrated tourist destinations.

The head of the Vintners’ Federation has warned that a publican or bar worker could be killed because of increased levels of violence unless tougher sentences are handed down to those involved.

Attacks on publicans have risen 40%-50% in recent years and the lack of appropriate sentences is only exacerbating the problem, writes Padraig Cribben

PEOPLE normally go to the local pub for a pint or two, a glass of wine, or a cup of coffee.

In publican speak, they’re the ‘lost generation’ — younger people who have forsaken the traditional pub for the nightclub or home-drinking, as well as the tens of thousands that have emigrated.

Alcohol Action Ireland has called on the Government to prioritise the health of children and not to pass the alcohol industry’s self-regulatory codes into law.

Alcoholic drinks will carry calorie counts, health warnings, and a minimum price floor under a wide-ranging Government bid to combat abuse.

Conall Ó Fátharta finds publicans in Cork are very upbeat about the trade’s future.

It was a case of hands across the border as football legends Niall Cahalane and Mikey Sheehy raised a jar to a new Vintners’ Federation campaign for responsible drinking.

Publicans have warned the 10 cent increase in the cost of a pint of beer and measure of spirits will put up to 2,000 jobs at risk in the drinks sector this year.

The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland is introducing a scheme to encourage young adults to drink with their parents.

More than four out of five publicans outside Dublin have had to either let staff go or reduce their hours in the first three months of this year, a study shows.

Off-licences across the country were reporting brisk trade last night as shoppers flocked to buy wine before the price shot up from midnight.

Irish Farmers Association president John Bryan said the measures in Budget 2013, including changes to PRSI, will put some farmers out of business.

Publicans have called on the Government to introduce a novel “lid levy” of 15% on all off-licence sales in next week’s budget in a bid to raise extra taxes and counteract the problem of the availability of cheap alcohol.

The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) has claimed Diageo’s decision to increase the price of its products will put thousands of jobs at risk across the country’s pubs.

Better food, free internet access and livelier entertainment are among the menu of items punters want to attract them back to pubs.

Pub owners are drowning under a sea of regulation and a glut of cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets.

A leading publican has claimed Cork City centre is “dying at night” due to the excessive cost of late-night bar extensions.

ENJOYING the craic at the local may be top of the wish list of overseas visitors to Ireland.

GARDAÍ have appealed for a missing prison officer to contact his family and let them know he is safe and well.

A NATIONAL debate on rural isolation is needed following recent comments by the Kerry coroner, the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) has said.

THE Government’s decision not to increase excise duty on alcohol has been strongly criticised by health experts, but welcomed by the alcohol industry.

LARGE breweries will have to stop early morning pick-ups and deliveries if the rampant theft of beer kegs is to be stopped, a senior figure in the publicans’ organisation the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland has warned.

FOOTBALL is coming home, for less.

IRELAND’S legendary Green Army will be a depleted force next month as fewer than 1,000 supporters are expected to make the journey to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup.

TIME was that inheriting a pub was nearly as good as inheriting a farm — though neither was as enviable as inheriting a Dáil seat.

PUBLICANS have called on the Government to introduce a series of urgent measures, including a reform of the rates system and a ban on below-cost sales of alcohol, to help hundreds of struggling pubs around the country to survive the recession.

IN response to Tom Fitzgerald’s letter (August 27), headlined ‘Alcohol – a drug served by amateurs’, I wish, on behalf of the 4,500 publicans represented by the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), to answer certain questions posed.

Debate rages as pubs make legal history by serving drink on Good Friday.

THE Competition Authority made rulings on 27 mergers last year, 11 less than in 2008, according to the organisation’s latest annual report.

Some 150 tradesmen, architects and engineers have signed up to use their skills free of charge to help distraught homeowners devastated by floods, it was revealed today.

THE letter (August 31) from Padraig Cribbens, chief executive of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) left me breathless and somewhat surprised that a person in such a responsible position would in the course of a selective and self-serving presentation of data have the audacity to claim that Dr Declan Bedford, acting director of public health with the HSE – who enjoys a national and international reputation – presented flawed research to an international conference.

PUBLICANS have vowed to step up pressure on the Government to introduce a range of measures to prevent the loss of 5,000 jobs at risk in the sector.

PUBLICANS in 5,500 establishments throughout the country have been told to call time on a co-ordinated price freeze.