Pubs expected to generate over €40m as 90 year ban lifted
Good Friday is expected to generate over €40m in sales for pubs throughout the country.
Today is the first time in over 90 years that pubs can sell alcohol after the ban was overturned earlier this year.
Queues formed outside pubs as a 90-year ban on serving alcohol on Good Friday was lifted.
Some punters eager to experience the novelty of ordering a pint on the holy day were lined up outside early opening bars from 7am.
In what was set to be a long and productive day for hostelry owners, many pubs were buzzing throughout this morning as revellers reaped the benefits of the law change.
Publican Brian Conlon, of Slattery's Bar on Capel Street in Dublin city centre, was one of the first to pull a legal Good Friday pint at 7am this morning.
Brian Conlon from Slattery’s pub pulls one of the first legal pints at 7am this Good Friday morning. The ban on selling alcohol on this day was lifted in January #historic #GoodFriday pic.twitter.com/Z8EPTe5PKu
— Gail Conway (@gailconwaymedia) March 30, 2018
"It was busier than usual this morning, when I opened up at 7am there were queues at the front door," he said.
"I think people were more coming in for the novelty factor that it was the first time in 90-odd years that you could legally have a drink."
Shane McShea was the first customer @SlatterysBar to tuck into a ‘fry and a pint’ shortly after 7am today #GoodFriday The ban on the sale of alcohol has been lifted after 91 years pic.twitter.com/ATDStapfAG
— Gail Conway (@gailconwaymedia) March 30, 2018
He said many of the punters were tourists from places such as England, Spain and Germany who arrived in Dublin and needed to wait until lunch to check-in to hotels.
"They are all in having pints, they are all having breakfast - that option wouldn't have been there last year, so I think it's a great thing," he said.
"Some bars I've heard don't want to open, but it's a choice - you don't have to go drink on Good Friday, but if you want to go drink we are open, we are serving drink and we'll be here all day."
Mr Conlon said his staff were happy to work on what previously had been a day off.
"They are all excited to come in and work, they want to be part of history because of us being the first bar to actually serve drink at 7am," he said.
"They all wanted to get their picture in the paper."
Slattery's regular Jim Croke welcomed the lifting of the ban.
"It's very good, it's great for tourism and it's good for the country," he said.
Mr Croke said he would have been in Connolly train station - one of the few places exempt from the prohibition - if the pubs had still been closed on Good Friday.
He said he was delighted to be enjoying a pint in his local instead.
"And I'll have another few before the day's in," he added.
The Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2017, which was voted through the Dáil in January, overturned a ban on Good Friday drinking that had existed since 1927.
#Cork #News #pubs are open for the first time ever on a #GoodFriday after the law was changed this year. Paraic ORegan of The Welcome Inn in #Cork city is serving the first #drinks of the day pic.twitter.com/d1rNjl5deE
— Cork's 96FM (@Corks96FM) March 30, 2018
The move came after years of campaigning from a hospitality industry infuriated at the annual lost revenue opportunity at the start of the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Some Christian campaigners remain opposed to legislation that won the support of all parties in the Dáil.
The Intoxicating Liquor Act of 1927 also banned drinking on St Patrick's Day in Ireland, but that was lifted at the outset of the 1960s.
There were some exceptions to the 90-year Good Friday ban - alcohol could be served to hotel residents; those travelling by air, rail or sea; or people attending a theatre show or a sporting event such as greyhound racing.
In 2010 pub owners in Limerick were granted special dispensation to open when the city hosted a high-profile rugby match between Munster and Leinster.
Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), said the decision to allow pubs to open on Good Friday was long overdue.
"The removal of this the ban puts Ireland on par with the rest of our European neighbours," said Mr O'Keeffe.
"This change is good news, not only for Dublin pubs but also for our wider hospitality and tourism sectors, as people flock to the capital over the Easter weekend expecting the best of Irish hospitality."
