In the Western Cape, the vine has been cultivated for centuries. On February 2nd 1659, Jan Van Riebeeck, the Dutch East India Company's governor in the area, wrote in his diary: "Today, praise be to God, wine was pressed from Cape grapes for the first time."

The arrival of French Huguenots later in the 17th century brought additional savoir faire which enhanced the quality of the product. Today the Western Cape region produces wines ranging from very decent vins de table to stunning reds such as Meerlust Rubicon, Meerlust Merlot Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon and a growing number of others.

All of these can be found by locals and tourists as they stroll through central Dublin or other cities in Ireland on any Sunday of the year. The same cannot be said, however, for the homeland of these wonderful products. At present, it is illegal to buy alcohol here on Sundays.

The law makes it difficult to purchase drink on other days of the week as well, so it is in fact easier to purchase South African wines in Ireland than in South Africa. It is too easy to jump to the conclusion that the Cape's Calvinist heritage is to blame for this. There are other more serious reasons.

In the Wellington region, for example, about 5 per cent of almost 1,000 children screened in 1997 suffered from "foetal alcohol syndrome". This has generally resulted from the "dop" system by which workers on vineyards were paid in wine. Alcoholism became rampant and was passed on from mother to child.

Now a green paper has been published by the regional government of the Western Cape which will make it easier to buy wine. Absent-minded people invited to dinner on Saturday and Sunday may be able to buy a last-minute bottle for their hosts. At present, every minute from 4 p.m. on Saturday until the supermarkets open on Monday is as dry as the desert lands of the Karoo further to the north.

The new green paper is, not surprisingly, a dinner-party topic. It will, after all, remove the last remaining excuse open to the tight-fisted guest.

Also legalised will be the informal and unlicensed drinking shops known in South Africa by the familiar and extremely Irish term of "shebeen". The new law will, of course, be accompanied by high-minded phrases designed to fit in with the Calvinist ethos.

The legislation, according to the regional minister for finance, business promotion and tourism, Leon Markovitz, will emphasise "the social accountability the Western Cape government has towards its citizens".

I'll drink to that.