They want longer pub hours in a nation with a drink problem?
People seem to think that clinging to long-held beliefs and principles is symptomatic of, as they say, ‘living in the past’, which I have been regularly accused of.
Sorry, maybe accused is the wrong word to use there - it implies the possibility of being guilty of some misdemeanour not becoming of someone like me, and in fairness to my detractors, they imply rather than make any such factual statement.
The word ‘conservative’ with a small c is something I admire, adhere to, and use as a guiding mainstay in my life.
Conservative with a capital C, on the other hand, has so much negativity attached to it because of its association with a certain political party across the water.
In ancient times, King Canute sat by the seashore on a wooden dais and ordered the tide to stop and not come in any further. It made no difference, the tide still came in as it always did and Canute got wet.
Some have interpreted the story as being symbolic of the vanity of King Canute in attempting to hold back the tide - an impossible task. Others see it differently and say it reflects the absolute knowledge the King had that, whilst pomp, power and title can have influence, certain things in nature cannot be tamed, changed or bullied into submission.
Dear reader, take your pick as to which is the correct version of an ancient story.
Look, I know we must have change and we’ve had change in this world since Adam was a boy. Much of this change mightn’t sit easily with me, but I accept that if we as humans or society as a whole don’t embrace change, stagnation can occur.
Traditions and long accepted normalities are dispensed summarily with neither reason nor rhyme or logical explanation given. Take our attitude in this country to alcohol.
I don’t drink, but lads, I love public houses, especially Irish pubs. The atmosphere, banter and craic that goes on where a crowd have gathered in a pub is just mighty.
I’m not talking about the celebrations after winning a big hurling or football match, or the aftermath of a wedding or other such occasion. No, I just appreciate talk and maybe a song or two in good company.
As I say, I don’t drink, but I have absolutely no problem being in the company of those that do. My parents were Pioneers like me, but I was never brow-beaten into abstinence.
No, and at the age of 16, I wasn’t a temple of knowledge or good sense that made me avoid alcohol. Nothing dramatic at all like that.
Do I wonder if I had ‘got a taste for the drink’ would I have liked it? Well, to be honest I don’t lose much sleep perusing that conundrum!
My conservative inclinations often come to the fore in matters pertaining to that love affair that so many Irish people have with drink. As a society, we seem to be sated with alcohol and the idea of abstinence, even occasionally doing without, seems to upset so many people.
Public houses were always closed in Ireland on Good Friday. Then, a few years ago, this changed. Those advocating change cited parched tourists walking sadly in the streets of our cities and towns, gasping for the want of a drink. We were urged to get modern, catch up with the times.
Ireland was, they said, the laughing stock of Europe where drink was available every day.
Could people not do without an alcoholic drink in a pub for one day?
Well, the change was made and so we became modern, hip, fashionable and in keeping with our more sophisticated neighbours.
We fell in line nominally to satisfy the alcoholic cravings of tourists - I often wonder how do visitors manage at all, at all in countries where alcohol is not sold?
Many ‘conservative’ countries have a different attitude to drink and drinking and their economies seem to be able to survive and prosper.
I’m not on a rant against drink or sensible drinkers, but let the first person who thinks we haven’t got an alcohol abuse problem in Ireland raise his or her hand now.
As I say, I love pubs, especially rural public houses, and truly I miss small local village hostelries, many have closed in recent years.
It annoys the hell out of me to see the massive campaign now underway to once more change our Licensing Laws. The hue and cry is to ‘modernise’ our legislation to cater for the so-called ‘Night Time Economy’, especially in bigger town and cities.
With the growth in off-licences in the last 20 years, we have never had more outlets now selling alcohol. Yet those seeking - nay, demanding - change want opening hours extended - in some cases to five or six am.
They say we should be in line with our EU neighbours, but whether we accept it or not, these self same neighbours in France, Portugal, Spain, etc, don’t go out night after night to get drunk. They go out to enjoy a few drinks - so different from this country.
If that was the normal practice in Ireland, I’d have no problem with later opening hours.
Of course, all these ‘artists’ are entitled to make a living whether by night or by day, fair enough, but is Irish society now gone to the sunken depth that entertainment and drink are inseparable? You can’t have one without the other, or so it seems.
The medical experts are blue in the face from telling our politicians and law-makers that alcohol-related illnesses and disease are costing us billions, yes billions, each year.
More than a quarter of all crime in this country has an alcohol-related element and yet we want to sell more drink until all hours of the morning? Is that what being modern, secular and liberal is all about?
People urge me and others to ‘go with the flow’, ‘get real’, and ‘don’t be living in the past’.
I know that even the Ireland I grew up in was no Utopia, but every now and then, wouldn’t it be just grand to leave well enough alone?
Maybe even that’s too much to ask for, but sure, that’s just my opinion and I know I’m a conservative.
App?
