Sir, - The recent move to extend pub opening hours is inadequate. I propose that pubs, like restaurants and shops, should be allowed to open and close whenever they wish.
Why should publicans have to keep their business premises open at times when there is no public demand while a restaurateur can open for lunch, close and reopen for dinner? As it is, many pubs are empty during the day while the owner must still provide staff and overheads. If there is customer demand for a pub to be open at a particular time during the day or night, the publican should have the choice to open at this time.
Why should a drinking law dictate what is a suitable time to go out socialising? What about the entitlement of the public who sleep during the day and work at night? Imagine a law which banned the sale of cigarettes after 11.30 p.m. or forced all shops to open at 10.30 a.m. and close at 11.30 p.m. It would be ridiculous.
Drinking hours were brought in during the first World War to help the war effort and have been here so long that nobody questions them any more. England has brought in 24-hour opening for pubs, which has been welcomed by the English police on the basis that it will reduce antisocial drunken behaviour. When we see how well it works over there, maybe we too will change this nonsensical law. - Yours, etc.,
Nian Barr, Killiney, Co Dublin.