RoI licensing reform sparks trade worries for the north

The Irish government looks likely to approve legislation which will end the State’s 90-year ban on Good Friday alcohol sales.

The Intoxicating Liquor (Amendment) Bill 2017 also contains provisions that would allow micro-breweries and distilleries in the Republic to install tap-rooms at their premises and offer touring guests the chance to sample their products for the first time ever.

Both provisions are now likely to be incorporated into the Irish government’s own Sale of Alcohol Bill which should come before the Dail later this year.

However, Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, has expressed fears that the trade in Northern Ireland will be left “lagging behind” by developments in the south.

His organisation has already claimed that restrictions imposed on the sale of alcohol north of the border over the Easter period cost the industry here around £16m in lost revenue.

And he believes that once the law which bans the sale of alcohol in the Republic on Good Friday is repealed, Northern drinkers may well head south in their droves at Easter:

“That’s already happening will buses running to Carlingford over the Easter weekend,” he told LCN.

“Critics will say that this is only one weekend in the year, but it is 25 per cent of the month and some of our guys are working on margins of 20 per cent, so that’s their profit for that month lost,” he added.

The right to install tap-rooms in breweries and distillers has also been a key demand of the north’s burgeoning craft beer industry. These facilities are widely perceived as key to the success of the growing tourist trade in both parts of the island, but Colin Neill sees other problems too:

“You need to bear in mind that if producers in the south have more money in their pockets as a result of this, then they will be better able to come and market their products in the north.

“We also have the Good Food Show coming back this year and again, craft brewers who are there will not be able to sell their product to visitors. This is an expensive event to go to, particularly if you can’t sell your product to people when you’re there.”

And he added:

“We just need to get our finger out here in the north and if we can’t get the Assembly back up and running, then Westminster needs to make alcohol licensing an absolute priority because this has been sitting like this for far too long.”