Irish Examiner view: Time to forge a new attitude to alcohol
Public health expert Thomas Babor cites the rise in assaults and injuries in the Netherlands and Norway associated with extensions of pub and club opening hours. File picture: Yui Mok/PA
Readers will no doubt be aware of the sweeping changes to the licensing laws envisaged in legislative proposals circulated earlier in the year. The General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill (2022) would allow alcohol licences for museums and galleries, pubs would stay open for longer, and nightclubs could remain open until 6am.
There is a long-running argument in favour of such liberal opening hours, one which is plausible enough. It centres on one unfortunate consequence resulting from the current legislation — a standard, universal closing time means the streets can be thronged with revellers all leaving hostelries at the same time, with the accompanying potential for misunderstandings, to put it politely.
However, with no fixed closing times, customers are not all forced to leave a bar by a certain hour, ending the notion of a rush for last orders ahead of closing time, thus fostering more of a continental cafe society-type environment in Irish towns and cities.
Unfortunately, Tom Babor, an expert in public health, suggests such changes to the licensing laws are likely to lead to more violence on Irish streets, and he has strong evidence to back this up.
His research suggests that a one-hour extension in opening hours in central Amsterdam resulted in a 34% increase in ambulance calls for alcohol-related injuries compared to other areas of the city, while 18 Norwegian cities saw an increase of 16% to 25% in assaults attributable to a similar
extension of opening hours.
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The Irish relationship with drink is not one to foster undue optimism about these proposed changes, but it is worth pointing out that the legislative changes are also an opportunity to help change that relationship for the better.
On those grounds alone they may be worth persevering with, even if it takes time for some to become accustomed to the difference.
