Law reform may end booze ban
Traditionally a rest day for publicans, it's not necessarily a dry day in Ireland.
There was a time when drinkers would traverse the country to enjoy the hospitality of an inter-city rail bar.
Similarly, high-fliers can today produce a boarding pass at any airport.
Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of arrivals who are unfamiliar with some of our 19th and early 20th-century licensing laws, the absence of a céad mile fáilte in Irish pubs and restaurants comes as a shock.
Restaurants may open today if they choose, but no matter what licence they hold, they cannot display or serve alcoholic drink.
Former justice minister John O'Donoghue believed it was inoffensive to many Christians to alcohol abstinence on Good Friday and said people could drink all they like at home.
However, his successor Michael McDowell is taking steps to modernise the licensing laws, although the Vintners' Federation of Ireland insisted its members were happy to enjoy a break to carry out maintenance. At the same time, however, many licensees will be responding to a 'three knocks on the door' signal today.
Cork barrister Michael McGrath, a legal consultant to the McDowell-established Commission on Liquor Licensing, said most of the licensing regulations date back to the 1800s.
"There has been much talk of reform for over a century," he said. "However, it was only when Minister McDowell took office that steps were taken to modernise the laws."
Mr McGrath said the law reform task will consider whether the Good Friday ban should remain.
"Some people think it is inappropriate in a multicultural society to single out a day special to one religion and make it illegal for all persons ... to purchase drink on that day," he said.
"After all, if it is conceded that the criminal law can be used to enforce the strictures of a particular religion, we could have Muslims demanding pubs be closed all through the month of Ramadan.
"That's a sobering thought," he added.
