9pm ban on children in pubs 'should be changed'

THE difficulties caused by the 9pm ban on children in pubs were predicted by the opposition when the law was introduced last year, Fine Gael tourism spokesman Jimmy Deenihan said yesterday.

Urging a change in the law, the Kerry North TD said Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue should have raised the concerns of tourism and rural areas at the Cabinet when the legislation went through last year. "I forecast the problems for tourism at the time and the minister for justice said he couldn't have one law in Dublin and another in Ballybunion," he said.

Agreeing totally with Mr O'Donoghue's present sentiments that the ban needs to be relaxed, FF Limerick West TD John Cregan said he raised the problem with Michael McDowell and FF Cork East TD Ned O'Keeffe and said the ban was affecting every part of the country and the entire licensing law needed to be examined.

"We will destroy the hospitality industry and the leisure time of parents with their families. What is needed is a practical approach where the publican has discretion," he said.

Fianna Fáil Donegal North-East TD Cecilia Keaveney said she favoured a review of the law from a broader perspective to examine the problems of underage drinking and public order.

But if Mr O'Donoghue has support at the Cabinet table for his concerns, his ministerial colleagues were unwilling to put their heads above the parapet yesterday.

Health Minister Micheál Martin said the Government took a collective decision on the ban when the justice minister brought it through the House and that's where the position stands.

"Any further discussion on it will be a matter for the Cabinet to decide again collectively and I don't intend to get into a public sort of debate on the matter. We are not a county council, we are a government," he said.

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern also acknowledged that the Government did agree upon the measure when the law was passed last year, but said it could be looked at again at a later date.

"Now if there are difficulties in relation to it, obviously that's something that people like John O'Donoghue would articulate. It is an issue that has come up and it is one thing that I think we would have to keep under review as time moves on," he said.

According to a spokesperson for the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuiv, a commission is looking into the licensing laws.

"When the report is received, the minister will make his views known at Cabinet," the spokesperson said. Defence Minister Michael Smith did not wish to comment upon the matter, his spokesman said.

When contacted in relation to the issue, none of the other Fianna Fáil Cabinet members or their representatives responded.