Gardaí set to increase checkpoints outside pubs

GARDAÍ are set to dramatically increase the number of checkpoints outside pubs and nightclubs after the Attorney General confirmed random breath-testing is legal and constitutional.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy yesterday said the AG’s advice had been “very helpful” in clarifying the extensive powers available to gardaí to stop vehicles in order to detect drunk drivers.

“The gardaí can establish a checkpoint in the vicinity of a licensed premises in order to identify persons who may be committing breaches of the law relating to driving while under the influence of alcohol,” he told a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport