First Communion can be toasted with bubbly

FIRST Holy Communions can be toasted with bubbly as a judge’s refusal to allow alcohol to be served where families celebrate their children’s special day was overturned yesterday.

Judge Michael Pattwell refused the application to license a marquee in the gardens of Castlehyde Hotel in north Cork, as he found it deeply offensive that anyone should plan to involve drink to such an extent in a Church celebration for eight-year-olds.

"I have encountered drink in connection with baptisms, Confirmations and marriages. Six of the seven sacraments I've seen soiled by drink. But I haven't come across an ordination yet," he said in Fermoy District Court last month.