Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

First they came for the smokers, but I said nothing because I didn't smoke.

Next they came for slabs, but I said nothing because I did not drink cheap lager.

Next they came for (and I am not making this up) the fireplaces but I said nothing because I had central heating in my apartment.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40781157.html

What kind of joyless sh1thole is this country turning into, there is a busybody on every corner to make sure nobody deviates from the path they seek to impose on of all.

What you are missing is the iron law of prohibition, "the harder the drug laws, the harder the drugs", those traveling North will tend to opt for the easiest transportable and storable items particularly those with a large price differential, so for example, own brand vodka is priced in NI at 50% of the price down here, so a couple traveling north and buying a years supply of 30L of vodka would make a saving in excess of 500e.

Yeh the slabs are the biggest hit but at the same time it probably makes most economical sense to be buying them. The issue with the North is the 440ml cans. They don't really do 500ml slabs from what I can see.

There are a few issues here really. One of them being that the prices will just keep rising now. I can guarantee that in a few years another sneaky rise will be brought in. All of a sudden it'll be 2.50 a can and so on. A bit like they have done with the fags.

Another issue is the blatant BS that this will somehow solve the imaginary drink issue Ireland has. It won't. The problem drinkers, like gamblers and other addicts will just cust back elsewhere. Kids won't have heating at home or food on the table. Crime will probably rise as a result. How do we know this? We know this from evidence we have regarding drug addiction and gambling and how addicts feed their habit once it's out of their reach.

If we live in an open single market then I should have the choice to import alcohol from the EU. But I can't. It's bollix.

Water charges, unemployment benefits during covid, reducing pension age down here but increasing it in the north, the list just goes on and on.

This isnt a bash SF post its just proving once again that specific poster is completely incorrect in their claims.

I think you summed it nicely there. It is going to be a non event shortly. The only thing I would demur on is who gets criticised. You are in a very big majority here, with your opposition to MUP. Anyone who suggests that it is not some sort of conspiracy gets savage treatment.

This is what I find weirdest about this thread.

The total and utter belief by many people that this is a great conspiracy to get people back drinking in pubs and that the measure has zero, and I mean zero, basis in health.

And I'm sure as soon as this is posted the reply will be the 2011 FG election promise that will be trotted out as irrefutable proof that it's a conspiracy.

Has anyone who believes this actually looked at pubs and what has been happening to pubs in the past 20 years ?

For the last two decades, even before COVID, the pubs business has been dying.

Very few are going into pubs anymore, rural pubs are particularly hard hit.

Pubs that were open all day 7 days a week were only opening from 8pm at the weekends pre COVID.

In the small town I live in the number of pubs dropped from 7 to 4 in 13 years and post COVID will be down to one.

In bigger towns there are nowhere near the numbers going into pubs and many are empty mid week.

Even in cities it's totally changed.

A few years ago I was in Dublin on a normal October week.

I went to Ranelagh one mid week night to see what it was like.

20+ years a go there would have been a decent crowd in places like McSorley's, but they were empty, a handful of people at the bar, no atmosphere.

Many more pubs have been sold and their sites redeveloped (O' Dwyer's - "Howl at the Mooon" in Mount St. for example)

Loads of pubs all over the country are closed and never coming back.

And the reason for this is changed behaviors/lifestyle choices, drink driving laws and the smoking ban.

So how can so many believe that MUP is the political parties and independent TDs in Ireland (all of them because they all supported it) taking some sort of a moonshot at reviving the already dead industry ?

Think about it.

 If AAI believe that increasing prices tends to reduce alcohol consumption they must also believe that reducing prices increases consumption.

Consider the following, it is extremely easy following an investment of about €600 to make 94% pure ethanol spirit, if you mix the spirit with water in a 40:60 ratio you have (despite what Smirnoff might tell you) the drink called vodka. The entire process from commencing the fermentation of the wash to drinking your first Martini is 7 days. Ironically the IRA ran a very slick counterfeit brand name vodka scheme back in the day.

A small home-still run; generally yields about 7L of vodka which can be then further flavoured or drank straight or mixed. Sugar is used to ferment the wash and each 1KG potentially yields 500gms of alcohol, but most shiners aim for at least 400gm.The costs are as follows, bearing in mind that MUP places a 10c minimum per gram of alcohol.

Grain Bill

Sugar 1KG €1.00

Yeast 12G €0.12

Sub total €1.12

Energy €0.18

Total €1.30

Yield of Ethanol 400gm

Ethanol cost per gram €0.0032

A small time stiller could do a fermentation and a spirit run every day it would take 2 or 3 hours in total and produce about 70×70cl a week and expect to sell at 7-10e a bottle as against 22.50e in a shop.

Since the people in the categories that are meant to be protected by this legislation can mostly get coke/weed/tobacco and pirate Sky by sending a text, it is very likely that hooch will on that menu.

This means that alcohol will be cheaper and available all hours and consumption will increase among vulnerable groups. The official figures will show a drop as people substitute by buying abroad, in NI and from bootleggers but the unrecorded increase in consumption and the diminution in quality will surely lead to increased deaths from alcohol in the coming years.

Great post. When we get to the point where illegal moonshine is killing people, these dickless wonders will make the pikachu faces and wonder how they can stop or reduce it. Everything that happens as a consequence of this, from families of alcoholics going without food to people dying of bad batches of home brewed spirits is on the head of every single TD who supported it, the AAI and every other group that lobbied for it.

This is the exact wording they used, and a paragraph I’m going to print out and use to make every single FG doorstepper squirm when election time comes around:

Supporting Irish Pubs: Fine Gael recognises the importance of the Irish pub for tourism, rural jobs and as a social outlet in communities across the country. We will support the local pub by banning the practice of below cost selling on alcohol, particularly by large supermarkets and the impact this has had on alcohol consumption and the viability of pubs.

Lies lies and lies, we should expect nothing else from the shower of **** parading as a government.

I think it’s time AAI were wound up - at the very least we should be asking serious questions about the funding for this group now that they’ve achieved their aim to make the most expensive country in the EU even more expensive for a drink.

To be fair to AAI, they are doing a great job in terms of what their purpose is. But it should be pointed out often, that it is very easy to regurgitate ideas implemented elsewhere without any pushback from any opposing group. I can't see any pro alcohol charity being set up and funded by the government any time soon.

I think there should be a big push to get all charities off the government funding. I will not let that drop when any politicians call to my door. Ludicrous that these blaggers are taking so much money. They can take it as a compliment if they want with the type of bullcrap that is often spewed out like 'that's how you know it's working'.. But I genuinely believe that any other group could have done a better job than these chancers. They are on the gravy train far too long and have come up with nothing themselves, and what they have pushed is very poor or not suitable for Ireland.

Don’t even refer to the prices we had as “cheap” or anything like that, we were 85% more expensive than the rest of the Eu before this came in - go in to a supermarket in Spain or Germany if you want to see what cheap alcohol is priced at.

The excise tax on alcohol in Scotland isn't nearly as high as it is in Ireland. We already have crazy high prices on alcohol here before MUP and MUP per gram was much higher here than Scotland. You can accuse people of being conspiracy theorists all you like, but it isn't that big a stretch to believe. It's not a major event or law, it is easily slipped in without most of the population even noticing.

Comparing alcohol taxation throughout the European Union

Supermarkets went far too far with below cost selling and this is the result.

It could be equally argued (more effectively imo) that the government went too far in adding taxes to alcohol that caused the push back in the first place.

I can't imagine there will be little or no push back when this hits home. Especially the next holiday season or bank holiday for example, after January.