Drinkers swallow tax hikes

DRINKERS in the Taoiseach’s favourite watering hole would have found added tax on the pint of plain a bit hard to swallow.

In the last week, publicans in Dublin pushed up the price of a pint by an extra 10 cent.

Those quietly nursing their pints in Fagan’s Pub in Drumcondra weren’t too put out by the Budget - it could have been a whole lot worse, they reasoned.

Even the smokers were not outraged by the extra 50 cent they will have to pay for their packet of fags.

Manager Peter Roe was not expecting the 35 cent increase on alcopops to have much of an effect. He felt that those who wanted them would still buy them.

The pub sells more pints than any other drink, with alcopops accounting for about 10% of sales.

Mr Roe also believes the 50c increase on cigarettes, pushing the price of a packet of 20 from €5.30 to €5.80, won’t make much of a difference either.

“I definitely don’t think so. If they went up by a euro they would still buy them,” he said.

Brendan O’Dwyer from Drumcondra, who was quietly sipping a creamy pint, felt single families and older

people should have got a bit more. “Charlie McCreevy reminds me of Neil Kinnock. He could say a lot more in a lot less time. He ends up baffling people.”

Michael Fanning, also from Drumcondra, went to the same school as Bertie Ahern - they were even in the same class. “As a matter of fact I tied him to a tree in the park one time,” he said, laughing.

Mr Fanning actually thought it was a great Budget. “It doesn’t affect me because I don’t smoke and the pint wasn’t hit.”