Bar entrepreneur calls for staggered closing times

BAR closing times should be “staggered” so not everyone leaves pubs and clubs at the same time, a leading figure in Ireland’s hospitality industry said yesterday.

The ongoing review of licensing laws provides an ideal opportunity to introduce real reforms, according to Jay Bourke, the entrepreneur who co-owns some of Ireland’s most successful restaurants, bars and clubs, including the Café Bar Deli restaurant group and the former Bewley’s on Grafton Street in Dublin.

“It is necessary for Ireland to introduce sequential closing so that people can get home quickly once they leave a venue.