Sale of Alcohol Bill delayed despite lobbying over Good Friday ban

The Sale of Alcohol Bill has been indefinitely delayed “due to other priorities”, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said.

The bill updates and streamlines the law relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol, repealing the Licensing Acts 1833–2011 and Registration of Clubs Acts 1904–2008, and replacing them with provisions “more suited to modern conditions”.

The Government has come under pressure from the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and Labour leader Brendan Howlin to use the legislation to lift a long-standing ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, The Times reports.

However, in response to a parliamentary question by Mr Howlin, Ms Fitzgerald said there was no timescale for introducing the bill.

Ms Fitzgerald told TDs: “Drafting of that complex bill has been delayed due to other priorities and I am not in a position to say at present when it will be published.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Howlin told The Times: “This bill is supposed to modernise and streamline licensing law, to reduce alcohol-related harm, to improve compliance, and to strengthen the role of local authorities in licensing matters.

“We have been repeatedly told that the sale of alcohol on Good Friday will be considered as part of this legislation.

“However, in response to a parliamentary question I recently tabled, it has become clear that this legislation has now been moth-balled, with the tanaiste unable to even confirm when the bill will be published, let alone when it might become law.

“With progress continuing on the Public Health Alcohol Bill, but the Sale of Alcohol Bill kicked to touch, we have discovered yet another example of this government utterly failing to show any semblance of joined-up thinking.”