The Pub trade is dying - Minimum price for Alcohol?

bobbysands81

This is all about to kick off again.

DoesNotCompute

Nyan Cat wrote: »

Im with you on soft drinks! A mixer is WAY too expensive and what about families that used to have a pub lunch. But soft drinks for the kids are too dear. And people who don't drink/designated drivers

Bring yer own coke..... for the kids, like

Rabidlamb

I'm at the stage now where with 2 young kids that the cost of the babysitter €20, plus taxi 2x€15, plus drinks for 2@€80+ make it a non-runner.
About once a month we'd meet up with a few neighbours & have a house session instead.
We were trying to work out when the culture changed from pub drinking to home drinking, the consensus was the night of the millennium.
The publicans were looking to charge people £10-£20 a head cover charge where we'd thrown £1,000's over the counter over the years.
The gouging had gone too far, people organised house parties for the first time since their college days & had fun.
Of course the €5 pint, smoking ban, load music etc. didn't help but we see that as the turning point.

bobbysands81

Rabidlamb wrote: »

About once a month we'd meet up with a few neighbours & have a house session instead.

The cost of that is about to soar as well mate.

shockwave

Still be cheaper than going to the pub though.

Viral Vector

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

I think we should leave the price of alcohol, and instead raise the drinking age.
We still have too many pubs anyway.

Absolutely agree! Was shocked at the amount of 16 year olds in the pub last weekend and how they conveniently went out the back door when the Gardai showed up!

How about a maximum price for mixers? €5 for a Rock Shandy? It's nearly as expensive as a hand shandy!

j_nolan

It's an odd one. The act of drinking your body weight and being proud of it is so embedded in Irish culture that bringing back Happy Hours and cheap drink will probably send rivers of vomit flowing down the streets.

At the same time, what people pay for drink in Ireland - even outside of the cities - is a disgrace when compared to most other European countries. In Germany, for instance, you can buy bottles of beer for €1.50 during Happy Hour, or at normal times, for €2.50.

I understand, though, that Germany has a bigger economy and is, thus, able to offset the 'wasted' revenue incurred by cheap drink. Or is it just a case of our government and pubs getting away with murder, charging way more than they need to be?

I don't know.

BraziliaNZ

Price of pints isn't really much dearer these days than many Eurozone countries from my experience.

France - generally more expensive for a pint
Holland - can be more can be less
Spain - can be hideously expensive or cheap
London - more or less the same
Scandinavia - more expensive
Germany - Munich isn't much difference for beers but I know Berlin etc are cheaper

I have 24hr corner shops all around me here in London that sell booze all night at cheap prices, can't see the streets awash with vomit here and the Brits should love a knees up. It's all Nanny state nonsense, but we always put up with it so we should just shut up about it as none of us are ever going to change anything, we're too conservative n Ireland.

Nothingbetter2d

my list of reasons why pubs are failing

1. Music too loud - People go to a pub to chat with friends not go deaf listening to a ****e DJ playing music with far too much bass.

2. Price of non alcoholics drinks - Since the Gardaí have clamped down on drink driving and taxi fares being dearer than ryanair flights many people prefer to stay at home because noone wants to be designated driver.... soft drinks in pubs are dearer than alcoholic drinks. Bring the price of soft drinks inline with shops and you might see more designated drivers making the effort. Also Muslim people dont drink alcohol so pubs are basically ignoring all of these people too with high prices on soft drinks.

3. Price of alcholic drinks - simply too high in recession ireland, lower prices and you may seem a return of customers but even so dont expect a big return... too many people trying to save their homes from reposession.

4. Arrogant bouncers - during the boom they were pricks and were very picky about who they let in, now its come back to bite them in the ass.

5. Home parties often have nice food at them - pub grub is too overpriced and tastes rubbish in alot of pubs.

If VFI want to bring in customers again take notice of this post.

44leto

Has this being passed,,I bought a box of hino yesterday in Superquinn for 24Euro it was only 20 before xmas.

token101

The pub trade can f**k off! The majority fleeced people during the boom and now want the government to prop up their cartel. The general choice on a Saturday night where decent, reasonably priced late bars aren't available is: Will I queue for 10-20 minutes to pay 10-15 quid in to wade through piss and sick to get to the bar to queue for another 10 minutes to pay 5+ quid for a pint and be unable to talk to anyone because the music is so loud, or will I go back to a house with friends and have a few bottles that might have cost 10 quid for the crate and drink on till I feel like I want to go to bed? There's a toughie. There going to have to double the prices on shop bought alcohol and knock about 25% off pub prices to make pubs seem even remotely attractive.

Rabidlamb

bobbysands81 wrote: »

The cost of that is about to soar as well mate.

It'll only go up for the lads who drink 6 cans of Dutch Gold for a €5.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0127/1224310810349.html
Going with this proposal the same 6 cans would cost a minimum of 6x2(units per can)x50c=€6, a 20% increase on today.

Anyone who buys above bargain basement wont be affected.

token101

Rabidlamb wrote: »

It'll only go up for the lads who drink 6 cans of Dutch Gold for a €5.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0127/1224310810349.html
Going with this proposal the same 6 cans would cost a minimum of 6x2(units per can)x50c=€6, a 20% increase on today.

Anyone who buys above bargain basement wont be affected.

It's still cheaper than two pints!

Capt'n Midnight

Rabidlamb wrote: »

It'll only go up for the lads who drink 6 cans of Dutch Gold for a €5.
...

Anyone who buys above bargain basement wont be affected.

Aldi do 12 cans for €7.99 they would go up 50%

The cost of producing beer is tiny. Most of the cost is in the profit taken by the middlemen and producers. Only in the case of the bargain basement does excise duty match the VAT. Excise duty hasn't gone up since 1994 !


If the bargain basement goes up then the premium brands will go up too, but it won't go into govt. coffers since tax isn't going up.


Simple question, if the price goes up and there isn't a reduction in alcohol related crime will the price go down (no prizes).


Having a drunk tank at each ER would be a good idea. Simple health and safety, the first duty of ER staff is to protect themselves.

Spiritofthekop

Its only until you stay in and go to friends houses for drinks etc or you have drinks at home and go out late for one or two that you really wake up to how much money you save and how much we are/have been ripped off for some poxy boring Heinken/carlesberg pints in most cases in pubs in Ireland.

Poor service and poor beer selection on draught.

****h#### in most cases

snaps

Its gas that they have to penalize everyone for all of this unsocial drinking thats going on. I sometimes go to the pub on a friday afternoon to socialise and wind down after a hard weeks work (Would only have 3 or 4 pints). I then also may have a few cans or other drinks over the weekend at home (I've a family, so cant afford to go out). I enjoy a drink, don't smoke or do drugs. My lifes luxury now is after our son is in bed I can relax with a film/football & have a drink. Im struggling to make ends meet now, so this is my little luxury.

I hear today Ireland has a huge gambling problem, Im waiting for the government to introduce a minimum bet to put people off betting..........!!!!

Well, if people want to drink or gamble their lives away they will, All other responsibilities (Kids, family, food on table etc) will come 2nd best.

I actually thought when the government announced a mimimum price it was to protect the pub trade, but now they seemed to say its to cut down on health bills etc???

Talk about a leopard changing its spots.

TONY DAY

Recent studies have shown that the amount of alcohol people in Ireland are consuming has actually gone down!! So much for the Publicians claim that people will drink more at home in an "unsupervised" environment!!!!
If the Publicians were so concerned about the publics welfare why do they serve drink to known Alcoholics??? The only time i've seem someone refused drink in a pub is when there is a likelihood that the person might cause trouble. Not because the Bar man is concerned about his health!!!
Time for the Publcians to wake up to reality and start dropping their prices.

suicide_circus

TONY DAY wrote: »

Recent studies have shown that the amount of alcohol people in Ireland are consuming has actually gone down!! So much for the Publicians claim that people will drink more at home in an "unsupervised" environment!!!!
If the Publicians were so concerned about the publics welfare why do they serve drink to known Alcoholics??? The only time i've seem someone refused drink in a pub is when there is a likelihood that the person might cause trouble. Not because the Bar man is concerned about his health!!!
Time for the Publcians to wake up to reality and start dropping their prices.

Nail on the head.

Phill Ewinn

Titty bars. Fiver a pint is big money now for alcohol. Bigger the money for a pint, bigger the titties.

Red Silurian

What they should do is increase duty on off sales and decrease it in pubs, a point then costs the same as a can... Tax take will stay the same, more people will be employed in pubs, less on the dole queue... Nobody looses, society wins!

mikemac1

And you've overlooked that about a quarter of the population [reasonable estimate from me ] of this country are within an hours drive of the border

Who do think will be getting extra business and VAT?

gsxr1

All I know is my own case. I go for a piss up with my mates in Dublin city once a month. Its a 60 euro taxi ride. So its a very expensive night. Hence the once per month.

I buy nice quality ale and beer when drinking at home. Quality over quantity. I have one drink per night and 4 per night at the Saturday . Moderate i guess.

I dont mind paying around 2 euro per good bottle.


My brother on the other hand loves to get as much drink into him as he can in one sitting. He buys the **** beer deals for 15 euro. Miller piss water and the like. Gets loaded.
It worries me a little. The price of the beer draws him. Which makes me think, maybe a minimum price would be a good thing??
Im undecided if this is to help bars or help public health.

I would love to see a real figure on the cost of alcohol abuse to the tax payer. Cheap booze is bound to promote binge drinking and alcohol abuse .

Rabidlamb

€3 a pint would get people back in the door.
Diageo have tied publicans hands by not agreeing a reduction during the recession.
How come a pint of larger costs £2.20 in the UK but €4+ here.

Rabidlamb

mikemac1 wrote: »

And you've overlooked that about a quarter of the population [reasonable estimate from me ] of this country are within an hours drive of the border

Who do think will be getting extra business and VAT?

I was up in Newry 2 weeks ago & there was nothing to be saved on beer, more expensive if anything plus the petrol.
Whatever value was there in the past is gone now.

mikom

gsxr1 wrote: »

Cheap booze is bound to promote binge drinking and alcohol abuse .

It doesn't in Spain............. except when the Irish and British arrive.
The government are lying to you as this price increase has an ulterior motive other than to curb drinking.
Education and culture change are the correct way forward.

mikemac1

Rabidlamb wrote: »

€3 a pint would get people back in the door.
Diageo have tied publicans hands by not agreeing a reduction during the recession.

Even if Diageo cut their prices the publicans would not pass it on

Don't you remember the days of Diagio adding ten cent and the publican add some more for himself every time

Bulmers cut their prices and that was not passed on

We had a thread on it a few years back
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055581119

gsxr1

mikom wrote: »

It doesn't in Spain............. except when the Irish and British arrive.
The government are lying to you as this price increase has an ulterior motive other than to curb drinking.
Education and culture change are the correct way forward.

Its hard to imagine that ever happening here.
I also have been away to Europe on many occasions and found myself to be drinking far more than the locals. Maybe it is just in us. We do seem to have more fun when we are out. Drink induced maybe.

Turpentine

Rabidlamb wrote: »

It'll only go up for the lads who drink 6 cans of Dutch Gold for a €5.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0127/1224310810349.html
Going with this proposal the same 6 cans would cost a minimum of 6x2(units per can)x50c=€6, a 20% increase on today.

Anyone who buys above bargain basement wont be affected.

Dutch Gold is already €6.50 for a six pack.

The proposed law would have no effect on Dutch Gold unless you're buying it in a supermarket who are selling it well below cost.

Turpentine

gsxr1 wrote: »

Its hard to imagine that ever happening here.
I also have been away to Europe on many occasions and found myself to be drinking far more than the locals. Maybe it is just in us. We do seem to have more fun when we are out. Drink induced maybe.

Maybe because you're on holidays and they live and work there? Just a suggestion.

Tar.Aldarion

Stop drinking there til they lower the prices, simple as. Go there once or twice a year now.
Pubs should be advertising more deals and being savvy, get people to come in. Like the taxi driver that offered low fare to the airport and was booked out for months etc. People go to where the deals are.