Safety chief tells publicans, ‘Wake Up!’

PUBLICANS were told to “wake up” last night and put away the begging bowl after a call for compensation because of the effects of random breath testing on the pub trade in rural Ireland.

One of the country’s key road safety leaders insisted that pub owners needed to stay with the times, adapting services to stamp out drink driving.

Road Safety Authority chief executive Noel Brett was responding to demands by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) for government assistance, and claims that breath testing was wreaking financial havoc in rural pubs by keeping consumers away from taps.