Why do the offies close at 10?

P_1

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

How can "we" stop it? I'm assuming you know the answer.

And that man knew for a while that he would be having drinks at home on NYE, he knew the office-licence closes at 10pm. How it's not his fault for being late that he couldn't buy drink is beyond me...

Semi serious answer...

Presumably by making it an issue when politicos knock on the doors, getting it into the press that a majority aren't happy about it etc...

I'd imagine its too well ingrained at this stage though, hasn't it been that way for about 6/7 years now?

Tin Foil Hat

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

How can "we" stop it? I'm assuming you know the answer.

And that man knew for a while that he would be having drinks at home on NYE, he knew the office-licence closes at 10pm. How it's not his fault for being late that he couldn't buy drink is beyond me...

This kind of nonsense can be used to justify almost anything. "Here are the pointlessly restrictive opening times and, if you can't work around them, then you're an idiot and the rule is therefore justified".
There is absolutely no reason why a grown man shouldn't be allowed to buy alcohol at 10.05 from an offie - especially when he is allowed to buy it from the pub next door.

anncoates

renegademaster wrote: »

I goaded him that he should be ashamed of himself trying to buy a drink at 1 minute past 10 on new years eve, what the hell was he thinking and that he should just go home, jump into bed and prepare for the 52 weeks of work and paying taxes ahead of him!!

The whole shop were in stitches but stopped when i pointed out that they're really laughing at themselves cos we afforded the government the scope to close the off-licences an hour earlier

Did he give you a slap?

I presume he was tempted.

renegademaster

anncoates wrote: »

Did he give you a slap?

I presume he was tempted.

why would he ffs? it was a bit of craic, the whole place was laughing, including him but the irony was that we are all to blame for the stupid closing timers

renegademaster

kneemos wrote: »

What protests have you organised and how many showed up?

ah this old chestnut, i've organised plenty but fcuk all have showed up, this is why the government have and will continue to do what suits them and the people be damned

anncoates

renegademaster wrote: »

but the irony was that we are all to blame for the stupid closing timers

including yourself ?

renegademaster

anncoates wrote: »

including yourself ?

I said we didn't i!! I have protested on many issues including club closing times so it's not like i just blindly accept every government decision but i can laugh at myself

SpaceTime

simple : publicans in Ireland hold huge sway over political parties. FF "The Publican Party" in particular.

end of the road

Cyber Ghost wrote: »

i remember they closed at 11 and a few years ago then changed it to 10pm?

What on earth for?
It's bloody annoying.

apparently it was to "curb binge drinking" for which it has been a fantastic success, oh wait no, come to think of it, it has been a failure

kneemos

renegademaster wrote: »

ah this old chestnut, i've organised plenty but fcuk all have showed up, this is why the government have and will continue to do what suits them and the people be damned

We get the politicians we deserve I suppose.
What to do?

Whaat to do?

renegademaster

kneemos wrote: »

We get the politicians we deserve I suppose.
What to do?

Whaat to do?

damn all we can do when the majority just roll over again and again

kneemos

renegademaster wrote: »

damn all we can do when the majority just roll over again and again

Still haven't seen your solution or even a suggestion.

Mint Aero

8:00pm Buys six pack
9:30pm Starts 5th can
9:45pm Sh*t, I've only 1 left.

*mental arithmetic*

*times 11, carry the 1*

9:49pm Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!

*Ten euro times pi divided by six times two*

9:51pm *Runs to offie, buys 8 cans and a naggin*

10:01pm *Returns home, says 3 hail marys it's enough*

darkpagandeath

Ahh good old government telling us were the biggest drinkers in the EU and cheap drink is killing us.

When in actual fact (posted in other threads actual links to this)

1. Were in the middle for alcohol consumption drinking year on year has gone down. (recession price would have something to do with that but not all)

2. Were the 2nd most expensive country in the EU to buy alcohol/tobacco

So I'm guessing it's the publican lobby/politicians

end of the road

regress wrote: »

Yes you can, but if they were not available to purchase after 10pm how many of us would gave an issue with it.

The fact that so many have an issue with being unable to purchase alcohol conveniently after 10:00pm is indicitative of a difficultly that many of those people have with buying in advance and storing alcohol at home.
For those people it may aid self control and remove temptation.
I am generalizing of course but restricting hours to 10:00pm rather than 11:00pm may assist certain people with alcohol problems.

all industries should be able to trade when they wish, the restrictions in relation to alcohol such as closing the off licences at 10 pm don't work and are a waste of time

Tin Foil Hat

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Ahh good old government telling us were the biggest drinkers in the EU and cheap drink is killing us.

When in actual fact (posted in other threads actual links to this)

1. Were in the middle for alcohol consumption drinking year on year has gone down. (recession price would have something to do with that but not all)

2. Were the 2nd most expensive country in the EU to buy alcohol/tobacco

So I'm guessing it's the publican lobby/politicians

I have to restrain my fists when I hear the term 'cheap alcohol' thrown around. What a load of crap.

We have:-

1) Expensive alcohol - low end wines and beers in an offie,
2) Really expensive alcohol - offie agin, but for beer that isn't mass produced fizzy yellow piss, wine that won't double as drain unblocker, and spirits
3) Ridiculously expensive alcohol - back to sh1t and piss again, but this time from a pub

harry Bailey esq

surprised nobody has mentioned black market drink sold from houses,theres two or three such houses pretty close to where i live and they are all coining it in.People are gonna drink one way or another.I don't often gamble but im a member of two casinos in town.Reason being?if i happen to be out in a late bar till kicking out time i can walk into either casino,chip up a small amount €30 maybe,mess around the tables and get served unlimited complimentary alcohol till 6am.Now,if all the drink in the late bar and the casino havnt quenched my thirst,ill find an early cafe,have some food and walk to an earlyhouse right in time for 7.30 AM,where i could pick up where i left off at the casino and theoretically drink there until closing time and then back to the casino.... well,you get the idea.makes no sense at all having them closed,at any time.The Spaniards have the right idea with those beer vending machines

Satriale

What we need is more off licence owners to run for the dail, that will sort it...

systemicrisk

partyatmygaff wrote: »

To annoy you.

or
The TDs and their publican buddies did it.

or
Nanny state rabble rabble

or
I'm an adult, I can buy whatever I want when I want.

or
Country X lets you do Y. We're so backward and stupid.

or
Unless you've a drinking problem, it's not the biggest problem in the world, just get over it.

or
Just buy in advance, like you'd buy anything other than drink from any other shop that closes at or before 10pm.


Think i've got most of the post types covered, take your pick.

If you could just do this for every thread it would save us a lot of time and bullshiit.

poundapunnet

I don't think Ireland has a problem with the amount of alcohol that's consumed so much as the manner in which it's consumed and the social acceptability of being langered drunk in public. And a lot of that has to do with restrictive opening times for pubs and clubs.

The Examiner article someone quoted mentioned that in conjunction with the reduced opening hours the other method of reducing problem drinking would be a zero tolerance policy in regard to enforcing laws around intoxication in a public place: ME HOLE. But how are the gards reasonably expected to enforce that when every night of the week at the exact same time, every club closes simultaneously. So people who've been rushing to get the last drinks of the night in (not like they can take their time or pick more up on the way home) are all fecked out onto the street with no supervision. It's stupid.

I rarely go out, never go clubbing, and still the closing hours manage to be a big pain for me, because I can't walk through the city centre on my own and feel safe for about an hour after closing time.

Menas

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

If they wanted to stop underage drinking, you would think they would close them the same time as school finishes.

In May?

Sierra 117

Weren't some publicans trying to get the government to increase the price of alcohol sold in off licenses last year?

Dravokivich

Sierra 117 wrote: »

Weren't some publicans trying to get the government to increase the price of alcohol sold in off licenses last year?

Yeah the crazy bastards. Its like carsalesmen depicting taxi fares. We'd all tell'em to stuff it. But alcohol is a problem*.


*disclaimer: may not be a problem in pubs.

Paddy Cow

If someone gets in the queue with a bottle of wine at 21.55 but don't get served until 22.01, are they still allowed buy the wine or do they have to put it back?

Dravokivich

Paddy Cow wrote: »

If someone gets in the queue with a bottle of wine at 21.55 but don't get served until 22.01, are they still allowed buy the wine or do they have to put it back?

Most registers these days would block the transaction due to the time. Preventing the shop from being able to process the sale.

Paddy Cow

Dravokivich wrote: »

Most registers these days would block the transaction due to the time. Preventing the shop from being able to process the sale.

I wouldn't like to be the cashier having to tell them to put it back.

Femme_Fatale

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

This kind of nonsense can be used to justify almost anything.

No it can't.

"Here are the pointlessly restrictive opening times and, if you can't work around them, then you're an idiot and the rule is therefore justified".
There is absolutely no reason why a grown man shouldn't be allowed to buy alcohol at 10.05 from an offie - especially when he is allowed to buy it from the pub next door.

There is: the off-licence being closed. The till might be shut, the ledger will have a record of the sale time if not, which would be a record of a breach. I think closing at 10pm is absolutely ridiculous too, but a shop that sells anything closes at a particular time; it doesn't start to close at that time, it is closed. If you head to the off-licence so late that you won't be there until around 10pm, that is your fault, not the fault of the staff. Don't blame the staff/owner, the stupid rule is not their fault. And they should not feel duty-bound to breach the regulations of their job/premises because someone can't be bothered getting there for less than 10 minutes earlier.

renegademaster wrote: »

why would he ffs? it was a bit of craic, the whole place was laughing, including him but the irony was that we are all to blame for the stupid closing timers

Well the last thing you said seemed pretty smug. This stuff about "we are to blame for the government" is really annoying - it's so "divide and conquer" which some politicians would only love. What would be fair enough would be coming up with alternatives, but all this moaning about the rest of the electorate is completely unhelpful.

chrissb8

Opening from 10am to 10pm. Half a day to get whatever drink you want. I work in an off license and the rush you can sometimes get in at 21:55 is ridiculous. Just get your drink earlier! Unless you've been otherwise busy there's no excuse. Half a day everyday to buy it and still people complain. Coming in ruining my great stocking and saying "made it just in time eh!" Organize yourself!

Paddy Cow

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

There is: the off-licence being closed. The till might be shut, the ledger will have a record of the sale time if not, which would be a record of a breach. I think closing at 10pm is absolutely ridiculous too, but a shop that sells anything closes at a particular time; it doesn't start to close at that time, it is closed. If you head to the off-licence so late that you won't be there until around 10pm, that is your fault, not the fault of the staff. Don't blame the staff/owner, the stupid rule is not their fault. And they should not feel duty-bound to breach the regulations of their job/premises because someone can't be bothered getting there for less than 10 minutes earlier.

I used to have a job where I finished at 10pm. The odd time if I had a sh!tty day at work I would decide on the way home I fancied a beer (dealing with the public will do that to you at times). When they were open till 11.30 it wasn't a problem but it was so annoying when they changed their times to 10pm. I know it's not the offies fault (I can't see anyone owning an off license who would actively seek to reduce opening hours) but it was annoying not being able to buy a beer on the way home from work.

I don't understand their mentality that it would curb binge drinking. People who want to save money drink at home before going to a club. I have never known anyone to go to the off license at 11, skull a load of drink and then go clubbing/hang about the streets being a nuisance. People buying drink at that hour are on their way home. Their excuse is a joke.

I've often been in a situation of being p*ssed off at this law when I wanted to pick up some booze in the offy.

Then woken up in the morning with a fresh head and being thankful for this law

Dravokivich

Blue Crystal wrote: »

Then again, if the irish had some self control it wouldnt be necessary

The problem isnt with self control. Its stereotypes.

Tin Foil Hat

Blue Crystal wrote: »

Its not stereotypes, its the irish being drunken fools

Lazy brained, racist cretin.

hatrickpatrick

Like most things in Ireland, it's a bit of half baked appeasement of a couple of different lobby groups under the guise of protecting public health.

A huge number of policy decisions in Ireland turns out to be more or less the same thing, FYI. Appeasement of a particularly vocal lobby group using some incredibly flawed and obviously bullsh!t excuse.

JumpShivers

In Budapest aswell, they close at 10.

Annoying as it can be at times, surely people know well that if they intend to drink, they'd stock up?

EyeSight

chrissb8 wrote: »

Opening from 10am to 10pm. Half a day to get whatever drink you want. I work in an off license and the rush you can sometimes get in at 21:55 is ridiculous. Just get your drink earlier! Unless you've been otherwise busy there's no excuse. Half a day everyday to buy it and still people complain. Coming in ruining my great stocking and saying "made it just in time eh!" Organize yourself!

not everyone makes plans 12 hours in advance.
There's been plenty of times i've been invited to a party or out at around 10 only to realise i can't buy some beer.

I guess the solution would be to stock my apartment with alcohol? Surely that's worse

partyatmygaff

EyeSight wrote: »

not everyone makes plans 12 hours in advance.
There's been plenty of times i've been invited to a party or out at around 10 only to realise i can't buy some beer.

I guess the solution would be to stock my apartment with alcohol? Surely that's worse

You stock your apartment with food and other provisions in advance of needing them... why not alcohol? It's not convenient/possible to buy whatever you need as soon as you need it.

Unless you've no self-control, and i'm not implying you don't, having alcohol in your house isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Cyber Ghost

JumpShivers wrote: »

In Budapest aswell, they close at 10.

Annoying as it can be at times, surely people know well that if they intend to drink, they'd stock up?

Since when?

I lived for a while in Budapest just around the corner from a 24 hour shop and they served me beer at any time.

JumpShivers

Cyber Ghost wrote: »

Since when?

I lived for a while in Budapest just around the corner from a 24 hour shop and they served me beer at any time.

I was there during the summer, they had signs up in some shops saying last purchases for alcohol is 10pm. Maybe it varied between shops, I'm not sure..

Chris The Hacker

JumpShivers wrote: »

I was there during the summer, they had signs up in some shops saying last purchases for alcohol is 10pm. Maybe it varied between shops, I'm not sure..

http://app.frommers.com/destinations/budapest/729030

Drinking Laws -- The legal drinking age in Hungary is 18. Beer, wine, and hard alcohol are sold everywhere including grocery stores, nonstop convenience stores, and even some discount stores. A few neighborhoods within different districts have started to stop the sales of alcohol at 11pm for nonstop stores, which are the only outlets open at that hour, aside from bars and clubs. This is a district-regulated law and is not city-wide; sometimes it is only within a particular neighborhood within a district. Bars do not have legally mandated closing times, but they may have to close outside seating in warm weather and move patrons inside to keep the noise down. Don't be surprised if a bar is still open at 5am.

Although it is not uncommon to see people drinking alcohol on public transportation in the late evenings, it is illegal if caught. Drinking on the street is also, but that is totally ignored, unless someone is causing a disturbance. Don't carry open containers of alcohol in your vehicle. Don't even think about driving after having had a drink -- Hungary has a zero-tolerance law for drunk drivers and this is strictly enforced if you're stopped.