Café society a threat to country pubs

WITH regard to recent proposals to change the licensing laws, I think Justice Minister Michael McDowell should realise that public houses in rural Ireland are a totally different ‘pot of cabbage’ to their counterparts in urban and city centre areas.

As it stands, there is an over-supply of pubs in small towns, villages and rural areas many only struggling to survive.

The provision of café-style licences in these situations would surely sound the death-knell for these already stretched publicans who provide a vital service to local communities and manage to keep their prices reasonable.