When two halves fail to make a whole

IN attempting to prove value for money for locals and tourists alike, Ms Vickery (Irish Examiner letters, May 27) merely highlights a classic example of rip-off Ireland — the price of the half pint against the price of the pint.

Ms Vickery quotes €2.25 as the price of a half pint of Heineken; by extension, this makes the price of the pint €4.50.

I cannot understand why the price of the half pint is not exactly half the price of the pint. It’s not as if it takes longer to pour or comes out of a different keg. No, it’s just another way to fleece the customer.

Recently, the price of the pint was increased in my local by 10 cent to 3.65 and, lo and behold, the price of the half pint also increased by 10 cent, to 2.15. Why not five cent?

I await January 1, 2004, with interest, when a blanket ban on smoking in pubs comes into effect and publicans here begin to feel the pinch as did their counterparts in New York. Will we see price cutting as a way to tempt consumers? Somehow, I doubt it.

Barry O’Reilly,

125, Beech Park,

Station Road,

Ballincollig,

Co Cork.