Ireland should follow Australia with ban on shots after 2am, says Councillor

Muireann Duffy

A ban on the sale of shots after 2am should be put in place to target late-night anti-social behaviour, according to a Dublin City councillor.

Councillor Mannix Flynn argued the rule would help to crack down on drunken behaviour on Dublin's streets.

A similar move has been made in the Australian city of Adelaide in an effort to clamp down on late-night drunkenness.

New licencing laws here, which are yet to take effect, will see pubs and bars allowed to remain open until 2.30am each night, while nightclubs will be permitted to operate until 6am.

However, Cllr Flynn told Newstalk the nightlife industry needs proper regulation.

"We've already got late-night bars in the likes of Harcourt Street, and indeed Camden Street can be a terrible mess.

"If you drive up those areas at two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning, it's absolutely sad to see the amount of people inebriated, drunk, out of their minds, twisted, locked, falling from one end of the place to the next," Cllr Flynn said.

On the wider issue of the changes to licencing laws, Alcohol Action Ireland's chief executive Shiela Gilheany said the matter needs to be looked at again.

"What really needs to be done is a health impact assessment, as was recommended by the Oireachtas justice committee on this Sale of Alcohol Bill."

"In other words, before progressing any further with proposals to extend licencing laws, we should carry out that health impact assessment.

"We should look at what are the additional costs going to be on our [emergency departments], on our Gardaí, on street cleaning, on public transport," Ms Gilheany added.