Local senators at odds over Good Friday ban

Seamus Enright

'I believe it will assist the tourism industry here. It is ludicrous that at the beginning of the tourist season and heading into the height of it, tourists cannot have a drink in public houses here. That has been wrong. While bearing in mind what Senator [Joe] O'Reilly said about tradition and religious offence. Quite frankly, other legislation passed in this House and in the Lower House has offended people of religious thinking far more than this legislation will do,' Fianna Fáil Senator Diarmuid Wilson said last week, addressing legislation which seeks to bring an end to the 90-year ban on pubs opening on Good Friday.

The comments came in response to assertions put by Fine Gael Senator Joe O'Reilly, who reiterated long-held reservations against the amendments to Section 2 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1927, tabled by Independent upper house member Billy Lawless.

'A publican had the freedom to opt out of this in the sense that an individual publican might not necessarily open. That is fair enough to a point, but there will be pressure and a commercial imperative on publicans. What is happening up the street can become a difficulty and they could tend to lose customers, so it is putting them in an unfair position,' Sen O'Reilly told last week's debate, at which Minister Charles Flanagan was present.

Stating the proposed changes are at 'variance' with the ongoing public health policy on the matter, Sen O'Reilly said: 'I genuinely believe it offends many, although not all, people from all the Christian traditions in this country who have dearly held religious beliefs around the fact there are two sacred days in the calendar, Christmas Day and Good Friday. It offends the sensibilities of a number of people in this regard.'

Sen O'Reilly also seized upon a 'mythology' the amendments would assist tourism.

'What assists tourism in Ireland is our distinctiveness, our native culture, our difference, our Christian values and our traditions. Maintaining our identity attracts far more people to the country than shredding that identity on the altar of naked commercialism and constantly seeking to fumble in the greasy till and add the ha'pence to the pence.'

While acknowledging Sen O'Reilly's reservations, Fianna Fáil's Dairmuid Wilson expressed the view the legislative proposals are in the best interest of health and controlling the abuse of alcohol.

'We all know what happens at Easter and Christmas. There is a big stock-up of alcohol in private houses because the pubs are closed on Good Friday. Far more alcohol is consumed - in fact, dangerous levels are consumed - because the licensed premises are closed. I also contend that pubs being closed drives more people to drink on Good Friday than would do so if they were open.'

Supporting the assertions of fellow members who had mentioned the licensing laws in Northern Ireland, Sen Wilson added: 'For as long as I can remember, droves of people have travelled to the Border towns in the North in order to take a drink on Good Friday. The only reason for doing so was that the pubs in the Republic were closed. While they might not necessarily have been going for a drink at all, it was something they could not do in the Republic on that particular day.'

So too in support was Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallagher, who described the legislation as 'sensible', and noted that when the prohibition was first introduced, the concept of drinking alcohol at home was a 'non-entity'.

'Unfortunately, in today's world more and more people are drinking at home. 

That is not a good thing. I encourage people who want to have a drink to go to a public house to do so because when one is at home - and I take the odd tipple myself at home - the temptation is to open the bottle and not pay much attention to the measures one is consuming. When one is in a pub, measures are calculated and one knows how much alcohol one is getting. The ship has sailed a long time ago on the issue addressed by the Bill.'