Pub hits out at €4 pint ban
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The Portobello Bar said its € 4 pint deal helped bring in extra business.
A well-known Dublin pub has condemned a law preventing it from selling cheaper pints to regular customers during the afternoon.
The Portobello Bar, on Richmond Street South, was ordered to scrap its €4-a-pint deal between 3pm and 7pm because it breached rules outlawing happy hours.
The drinks industry’s own watchdog MEAS upheld a complaint from a member of the public against the bar, but threw out a separate complaint against Dublin’s Burn Beach Club, which had offered all drinks for €2 on Saturdays throughout May.
Paul Slevin, manager of The Portobello, said the ruling was ridiculous and made a mockery of the alcohol promotion laws brought in to curb binge drinking.
“We are just trying to keep our business afloat – people can see for themselves how many businesses are going bust now.
“We’re just trying to get a few extra bodies in the door, keep people in jobs and just keep the business going,” he said.
The ruling came as the Vintners Federation of Ireland said 4,800 pub workers had fallen victim to the recession and called for Government measures to offset a decline in the pub trade. The organisation said 80pc of pubs experienced a fall in profits of at least 10pc this summer and half had to let staff go.
It is asking the Government to cut VAT rates to 15pc in order to keep publicans in business.
Mr Slevin said The Portobello’s afternoon deal was popular with pensioners living nearby, locals and city workers.
“Nightclubs are running promotions Friday, Saturday and Sunday where all drinks are €2,” he said. “To me that’s an offer to get people in, get them drunk and send them home – that’s more irresponsible.”
MEAS rejected the complaint against the Burn Beach Club in Stillorgan because the offer ran all day and, therefore, the watchdog claimed, it did not constitute a happy hour.
There was no legal requirement for the nightclub owners to carry a responsible drinking message on its promotional advertisements, MEAS also ruled.
Mr Slevin said that the laws needed tweaking to allow regular pubs to drum up trade, particularly during the recession and at a time when supermarkets and off-licences were offering massive cut-price promotions on alcoholic drinks.
