Licensed Vintners Association want Government to call time on Good Friday pub closures

Publicans have renewed the fight to get pubs opened on Good Friday, claiming the ban on the sale of drink is archaic.

Vintners are asking the Government once again to open bars and hope to use the precedent for a rugby match in Limerick to cash in on the Republic of Ireland soccer international in Dublin on March 25.

However, with an election looming there are only weeks left to amend laws to allow drink to be served on one of only two days in the year when pubs traditionally keep their doors closed. The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) said reversing the ban should be a no-brainer.