Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Currently, an 18-year old with €10 can buy ten cans of beer on Holy Thursday to keep for the next day, but cannot walk into a pub and meet friends where he or she might buy two or three drinks with the same money. Keeping pubs closed on Good Friday actively incentivises binge drinking where people - particularly students - gather all day in arranged premises, and bring cans of beer and bottles of vodka and spend the day fuelling themselves in an uncontrolled environment, simply because the 90-year old rule has remained stubbornly unremoved from our legislation.

It is no secret that I am a publican and restaurateur. That is my trade, but I am also a father and a grandfather and I have seen the real damage alcohol abuse does to families and to young people. There are clear economic benefits to licensed premises opening on Good Friday, where it has been estimated that local businesses lose between €30 million and €40 million as a result of the closure. Tourists amble around the streets looking for the world famous Irish pub atmosphere, which they have spent hundreds of euro to enjoy in some cases, to be turned away on arrival. These are strong reasons to end the 90-year rule, but they are not the only reasons.

I believe there are few in this country, which is a hugely tolerant nation, that believe their values or their beliefs are being harmed or weakened as a result of changing these laws. If anything, much like Ash Wednesday has become a secular day to encourage people to stop smoking, there is no reason Good Friday could not take on similar manifestations regarding alcohol abuse once the prohibition has been lifted.