Government scraps plan to ban early house pubs

THE country’s 50 early-hours pubs will remain open after the Government scrapped plans to abolish them in a forthcoming overhaul of drinking laws.

But Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said no new licences will be handed out for early houses, which start serving at 7am.

This form of premises has existed since 1927, when licences were given out to cater for those attending early-morning markets or fairs, or whose jobs left them in need of a drink at unsocial hours.