Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not want anyone to accuse me of not declaring an interest so I was very privileged and lucky to have been elected last year, and one of my nominating bodies was the Licensed Vintners Association of Dublin, the Dublin publicans. Some of its representatives, including the chair and chief executive are in the Public Gallery along with the chair of the Vintners Federation of Ireland. I welcome them all to the Chamber.

There are so many things to say about this issue. Fianna Fáil is supporting the Bill which will allow licensed premises to serve alcohol on Good Friday. I commend Senator Lawless and his colleagues for putting forward this Intoxicating Liquor (Amendment) Bill 2017. It is very important that we acknowledge, as previous speakers have, that publicans all over the country have been calling for the licensing laws to be amended to permit all premises that are licensed to sell alcohol on Good Friday. I know it is not Senator Lawless's intention to prioritise pubs over restaurants, off-licence outlets or supermarkets.

Senator Craughwell alluded to the fact that Good Friday is not a bank holiday. It is a bank holiday but it is not a public holiday. The banks do close on Good Friday but only the banks. If one looks at our experience with Sunday trading over the years, it was quite restricted and now it is completely normal and no one thinks twice about it. I am sure that if any major retailer was asked if Sunday was one of its busiest days, it would say that it is far busier than a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.