Continental Style Cafe Bars in Ireland

PaperArchitect

I'm trying to get some information together from 2005 when McDowell tried to put a system in place, whereby cafes would be allowed to sell alcohol. I just came back from Barcelona, and anyone who has been there will agree that if it were not for the cafes open at night time, the atmosphere would not be as lively. This is similar in most continental cities I suppose.

Coming back home, I 've started thinking about how limiting the nightlife is in Ireland. If you want to have fun at night, you have to go to a pub or club, and if you don't want to drink, you'll probably fail and start drinking after a few minutes. What else is there to do in a club?

In terms of dealing with the nations innate abuse of alcohol, opening up cafes that serve alcohol late at night won't serve all our problems. But when you're in a continental city, you rarely see a drunk person walking the streets, partly due to the choice of things to do but also because the clubs and pubs stay open much longer so people aren't rushing themselves to get totally pissed.

English and Irish people are known for being rowdy and inconsiderate abroad. I saw it myself in Barcelona, we can get drink anywhere, and when the opportunity arises we'll have a pint, probably because we rarely have these opportunities at home. It is sad in a way that the Irish government feel the need to close pubs early on a Sunday so people will get up for work the next morning. I think this shows in general that we need to take more responsibility for ourselves, but maybe it's fuelled by the leash they have around our necks. Maybe if we could get drink anwhere we wanted, anytime of the day or night, our drinking problems would be resolved??

I'd appreciate peoples opinions and any information they have on why the proposals didn't go much further. Here's the link to an irish times article from 2005. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/publicans-say-cafe-bar-plan-will-worsen-alcohol-abuse-261822.html