Court: Bar extensions allowed on Good Friday

There is no legal bar to publicans obtaining late-night licence extensions, allowing them to serve drinks into the early hours on Good Friday, the president of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, has ruled.

A judge in the Dublin District court had refused to grant a Good Friday late-bar extension to the Red Cow Inn, on the Naas Road, Dublin, which meant a huge back-up in similar applications, pending an appeal to the Circuit Court.

The appeal was allowed yesterday, by Judge Groarke, freeing publicans to obtain bar extensions in cases where there is no objection by the state authorities, including the Garda Síochána, and where all necessary legal proofs are in order.