Varadkar finally sees the light

[Shallowhal]

Ye see Ken...that's been the problem for generations for Paddy the Irishman....your thinking is that we'll have people stumbling all over the kip...well more people...but unless we change and in my opinion should have changed that mentality yonks ago we'll continue to have binge drinking(ye don't hear that term much anymore),most people know when they've had enough and just head home and the ones that always fall out of a pub will no doubt continue to do so and i'll continue to drive past them....but if they fall out later than usual they could probably get the bus and save those taxi drivers who usually anchor their car for any fare the hassle of dealing with them...i'll still be going home at 3am...

[Rat Catcher]

Didn't they extend the official closing time up above in Dublin on Thursdays a few years back and change it back again because it didn't work?

These days there are late bars in suburbia at the weekends. In fact I actually went to work at midnight last night - I prefer to finish at midnight but I was watching the darts - and worked till 04:00 this morning. Plenty coming from the bar(s) in Coolock village between 02:30 and 03:00. The interesting thing is they still only emerge when the bar closes, there were millions - no, more than that, thousands - of taxis informally ranked the rest of the night - not me, Horse, it's not an unofficial stand I use!

In my day we used to go to the local and then on to the disco when that closed. These days the kids seem to drink at home and go to the local late bar or a disco after what used to be closing time... the problem, for publicans, being that the longer hours and higher overheads aren't generating significant incremental turnover. However, the real problem publicans have is folk being afraid of the morning after breathalyser, opening later wouldn't help overcome that. I guess we have to accept cultural shifts, towns are becoming more populated all over the place while pubs are closing down.

Your last orders observation is correct, Hal. I always get 2 after the lights flash in Kyles whereas I only order one at a time in my local 'cos I know I'll be sold another if I want to buy another.

[Belker]

The Irish drinking mentality Hal, is to drink until the shutters come down or you fall, whichever comes First and in my younger days I would be the First to put my hand up and be found guilty of that. It was the way we were reared, drink as much as you can and try to get a sneaky one or two afterwards.
The European mentality is different because they were reared different, they went to a pub which never closed so they were never under pressure to get the Last One in.
IMO longer licencing hours would just mean more drinking late in to the night and less work done the next day.
11.30pm mid-week, 12.30am on weekends and the 2am fer the Late bars is just fine IMO.
If someone makes a decision to go to a late bar, then they are also making the decision not to go to work the next day.

[john m]

Two issues being entangled Tourists like to drink later Irish will drink later.Alcohol sold in Pubs generates multiples of tax against alcohol sold in Lidil bar workers pay tax and PRSI .Leo says he will cut INCOME tax usually paid by high earners and increase Pensions .The perfect Election pitch to both Rich and Poor .So where does the funds come from to pay for all this .Hidden taxes like excise duty PAYE from migrant workers who will stay a few years then fuck off the people who will work the late night bars for chump change .The divide in Irish Society is huge Google Ghetto workers on 100K plus a year and Big Dommos Kids living in their grannys parlour on the dole as minimum wage wont buy them an extra sandwich a week .Later opening hours is just an excuse to drive drunks back into the pub for higher tax yield next will be Green taxes on Fuel,heating,Electricity,The 100 notes a night hospital bed fees will be added to with a small fee to attend National School and Secondary School after all we pay a fee for third level already .The Days we lived in are gone .Corpo houses ,decent bus service ,GPs available by going to the surgery no appointment necessary all a thing of the past .We are now Americans with Irish accents .If you cant pay then Fuck off .Watch the Civil Service shrink with technology your Passport ,Car tax renewal ,Tax P45 or clearence all done on line removing workers from the process.There is a revolution on the way It will start in South America then Africa then Europe .The day when a working man could home and feed a family is gone .Tax is smothering the worker from PAYE ,VAT at point of sale .Excise Duty on drink ,smokes or fuel ,Property Tax ,Death Duty ,Motor Tax .and if you did manage to save a few Sovs they want DIRTax .Late night opening is just a way to get tourists in and Irish Drunks off the sofa and the cheap gargle and back into the high yield taxable Bar trade .

[Shallowhal]

Jaysus John.....local pubs will stick to their normal routine,i'm talking city centre....the amount of workers who work late shifts who'd only love to head into town for a few beers with their colleagues after a shift,i've had loads of them sharing a taxi to their respective addresses of a night/morning.....it's one aspect that we haven't moved with as per our EU partners,
Ken mentioned about it being our culture to drink till the shutters fall or the person falls.....we've done nothing to change that and with Dublin being so "cosmopolitan" anall.

[john m]

Workers working shifts dont earn enough to drink in the city 7 or 8 yoyo a cup .Look at Clondalkin Village mid week only the staff in the pubs .Drugs have overtaken drink as the anesthetic of choice .A spliff cheap vodks and Netflix young people dont want to go out mid week late bars wont make a difference .Publicans are still living in the 70s when the pub was the focal point of any community now its the internet and Lidil take away counter .5 euro for a bottle of red red wine .Late bars wont work as a tax grab .A lad with 150 to spend on drink wont have any more to spend even if the pub is open .

[silverbullet]

Didn't they extend the official closing time up above in Dublin on Thursdays a few years back and change it back again because it didn't work?

These days there are late bars in suburbia at the weekends. In fact I actually went to work at midnight last night - I prefer to finish at midnight but I was watching the darts - and worked till 04:00 this morning. Plenty coming from the bar(s) in Coolock village between 02:30 and 03:00. The interesting thing is they still only emerge when the bar closes, there were millions - no, more than that, thousands - of taxis informally ranked the rest of the night - not me, Horse, it's not an unofficial stand I use!

In my day we used to go to the local and then on to the disco when that closed. These days the kids seem to drink at home and go to the local late bar or a disco after what used to be closing time... the problem, for publicans, being that the longer hours and higher overheads aren't generating significant incremental turnover. However, the real problem publicans have is folk being afraid of the morning after breathalyser, opening later wouldn't help overcome that. I guess we have to accept cultural shifts, towns are becoming more populated all over the place while pubs are closing down.

Your last orders observation is correct, Hal. I always get 2 after the lights flash in Kyles whereas I only order one at a time in my local 'cos I know I'll be sold another if I want to buy another.

There was late opening ( 00.30) on Thursday, and 01.30 Friday/Saturday.

Vested interests argued that people were missing work on Friday as a result of the Cafe bar hours:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/pd-anger-after-mcdowell-abandons-cafe-bar-plans-1.454735

[john m]

Pub Culture is Dead .Country pubs looking for local hacks or free travel to try get people onto bar stools .City pubs looking for longer opening hours ,wont make a difference .

[Shallowhal]

Pub culture might be dead in the burbs.....town is hoppin John.....get out of the boxroom and venture outside the Clondalkin bubble.

[Vikkiz]

My local is busy on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday. Yes midweek it’s dead. But after 12:30 some people would like to go party elsewhere, and then after 2:30 they’d love to again but they can’t.
The young people drink at home, then go to the nightclubs about 1am just to be out and socialisng.

In Spain, the nightclubs only open at 11pm, no one goes til 12:30 but they are open til 4am.
The local pubs still close at 12 or 1. And if someone wants more alcohol they go to a nightclub. Most of the locals all drive to the nightclub, pay in and then have a party at their car cause they have a shed load of drink in the boot.

Longer opening hours won’t make us drink for longer, it’ll just give us more opportunity. As opposed to the partner who doesn’t finish work til 10pm, gets home, showers, changes, gets to the pub for 11pm, they now have 120 minutes to get as much drink into them as possible. If that place opened til 2:30am , they have 4 hours. Meaning they have more time to drink their pints in peace.

My wife and I, we like to head over about 8pm, have our few pints and be leaving in and around last orders.
 The days of ordering 2 or 3 pints each at closing time is long gone as the bar staff just take it off of you and out the door you go if it’s not drank in 30 minutes

[Shallowhal]

That's it Vik.....we probably have more foreign folk living and working here and i've had it said to me about closing times....you can get a beer in McDonalds in most european countries and rarely see people stumbling around the place.....unfortunately the scum in this country fuk everything up!!

[Vikkiz]

That 100% Hal. Bunch of idiots running the circus

[Bob Shillin]

Pub Culture is Dead .Country pubs looking for local hacks or free travel to try get people onto bar stools .City pubs looking for longer opening hours ,wont make a difference .

Definitely changes happening. Many bar staff telling me that 00 alcohol sales are way up, particularly since Heineken Draft, came in, and now Carlsberg coming with similar. Coors Light very big seller.

 Girl passenger working in a suburban bar for last 4 years.
Xmas Eve turnover 2016 €38k, 2018 €14k, 2019 €12k

[mercenary for hire]

Pubs are much more expensive now.For someone on a tenner an hour before tax giving away a days wages to go on the piss isn't value for money when their rent is so high. The pubs wanna sell pub food for restaurant prices...and craft beer another gimmick to charge €6.50 a pint to sophisticated pallets.Mebollix.

Weatherspoons on Abbey street can charge €3.80 a pint and still keep their doors open.I see they bought the bar beside the taxi rank on Hanover quay near the Marker hotel.Nothing wrong with their business model.

[Vikkiz]

Pubs are much more expensive now.For someone on a tenner an hour before tax giving away a days wages to go on the piss isn't value for money when their rent is so high. The pubs wanna sell pub food for restaurant prices...and craft beer another gimmick to charge €6.50 a pint to sophisticated pallets.Mebollix.

Weatherspoons on Abbey street can charge €3.80 a pint and still keep their doors open.I see they bought the bar beside the taxi rank on Hanover quay near the Marker hotel.Nothing wrong with their business model.

Wetherspoon’s will take off here eventually. Like Aldi and Lidl did, it took time and people being snobby towards it. I’ve had their breakfast and I didn’t like it but I’ve not tried their beers yet.
Do they still have one in Dun snobby kip on south side that the ferry used to go to?