One expert suggests the government should only allow people without licenses to sell alcohol between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to crack down on the parties

A LEADING expert has suggested that the Government should allow unlicensed people to only sell alcohol for two hours each morning.

Chris Luke, an emergency medicine consultant, said the drink could be sold between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to help control house parties and “chaotic crowds.”

3

3

3

He told Pat Kenny in Newstalk: “We need to think about these things – my own tuppenceworth would be to cut down on leave hours.

“Maybe you only have unlicensed sales between 9 and 11 in the morning, for example, and try to push people towards regulated socialization,

“We have to think about collaborating with license sales, they certainly shouldn’t be open late at night, especially in the vicinity of universities.

“If we are really concerned about house parties and chaotic crowds, we have to collaborate and close the unlicensed sales in this area.”

‘REGULATED SOCIALIZATION’

Dr. Luke suggested that “regulated socialization” such as “mini beer parties” be introduced in universities.

H said: “When it comes to alcohol, we have to take a very careful course between prohibition and disinhibition and an example of disinhibition is what happens when you have those chaotic crowds of students in the city center in Galway and Cork and so on.

“I have advocated for what I call regulated socialization – for example, the universities themselves could organize mini-beer festivals a la Munich, at the Electric Picnic, at the Oxegyn, on campus.

“So they have their tents, their butlers, they have people at the tables and just waitress instead of assuming that the students will just stay home, play cards in their rooms.”

ALCOHOL ‘BIG PART OF THE PROBLEM’

Government Minister Patrick O’Donovan also confirmed this morning that the government was considering limiting off-license opening hours to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

He told Claire Byrne on RTE Radio 1 that opening hours and purchase amounts needed to be examined as “alcohol consumption is a big part of the problem with the transmission of the virus.”

He said: “If such measures were implemented, people would get the message about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.”

He added, “When you see slabs of cans being brought home, you know they are not taking them home for an after-dinner snack.”

However, the National Off-License Association (NOffLA) cautioned against reducing license hours for smaller licenses and instead urged the immediate initiation of the minimum unit price.

PRICE CALLS FOR MINIMUM UNIT

NOffLA’s Director of Government Affairs told the Irish Sun: “The National Off-License Association would warn against any changes in the opening hours of the small family businesses our association represents.

“Instead, we are again calling for the immediate start of the Minimum Unit Price (MUP), which has been available to the government as an option to restrict the sale of ultra-cheap alcohol since 2018.

“As small independent, unlicensed businesses, we typically don’t see bulk alcohol purchases as we would at large mixed-media retailers / supermarkets.

“On the contrary, our customers would buy in smaller volumes, often looking for a more premium product for special occasions.

“However, with the new restrictions on family / social gatherings, we are seeing sales volumes gradually decrease for these types of purchases as well.

“Most of the off-trade licenses are in the hands of supermarkets, gas stations and convenience stores; The small independent licenses that NOffLA represents represent only about a third of the overall industry.

“However, we agree that there should be more control over the sale, and in particular the price of alcohol, so that we can eliminate dangerous or irresponsible consumption.

“MUP has been shown in Scotland to reduce ultra-cheap alcohol consumption and therefore we call for its immediate start.”