Publicans in Waterford City and County have welcomed the news that no further bylaws are being put in place following a meeting of the Strategic Policy Committee held yesterday.
The local authority were considering whether any controls should be put on outdoor dining areas and beer gardens to limit noise disturbances for nearby residents.
It follows proposed changes to opening hours as part of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022, which may see late-night venues open until 6AM.
John McGrath owns Downeys Bar in Dungarvan, and has welcomed the outcome.
"The Council may be trying to introduce bylaws on the assumption that licensing laws are going to change this year", said McGrath. "But to date, we do not know that the Sale of Alcohol bill will go through the door. No publican is really in favour of opening until 6 am. It's hard enough at the moment to get bar staff to work to close, let alone have it open until 6am. The Council and the members, they've already have remedies for addressing individual issues as they arise, the laws are already there, so I don't think we need any further laws on this."
"People's habits have changed. So a lot of the time, the people are still staying at home and not going back to the pub. So we didn't need anything further to prevent them or to stop them."
John believes many publicans will be relieved by the outcome, and hopes the concerns of vintners are finally being taken on board.
"The pub is still the number one attraction for tourists to visit, an Irish pub. Irish pubs are always associated with Irish music, trad music, and rock music, so anything that would have restricted that entertainment in a pub would have affected us big time. The vintners are getting stronger."
"I think maybe we were taken for granted for a number of years in the sense that people always said, oh, the publicans, you know, they're this, that, and the other. I think in the last couple of years we have come on stronger and we are being taken up and being noticed. In the last couple of years, governments have seen the value of tourists. You can see that in Dungarvan yourself. There are tourists here all year round."
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