Pubs hire security to deal with students at 7am

One of Cork city’s best-known “early houses”, a pub licensed to sell alcohol from 7am, has had to hire extra security to cope with an influx of college students celebrating on the fringes of college social events.

The head of the city’s branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), Michael O’Donovan, described it as a “new phenomenon”. He called on the government to introduce “sooner rather than later” the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill which includes provisions for minimum unit pricing to end the sale of cheap booze, particularly from supermarkets.