Connacht Tribune
Deregulation will lead to ‘death of country pubs’
Deregulation of the on-trade licensing system will result in widespread closures of country pubs in County Galway, Vintners’ Federation of Ireland has warned.
And the local representative of VFI has claimed provisions in the new Sale of Alcohol Bill could lead to the ‘homogonisation’ of pubs that remain, leading to the death of the World-renowned Irish bar.
Some elements of Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s proposals were welcomed, but publicans are concerned by plans to abolish ‘extinguishment’ – the licensing system that allows a new pub to open only when another pub permanently closes.
Chair of VFI County Galway, Joe Sheridan told the Connacht Tribune unlimited licenses will kill family-run pubs in small villages across the West of Ireland and Galway towns like Gort, Tuam and Athenry.
“What we have here is a Minister, whose people were in the pub trade, selling this as a way of saving the small, rural pub. It will do the complete opposite. It will extinguish the Irish family pub. It will promote syndication of pubs. What we would’ve known as tied-pubs or franchise pubs in England.
“This is plasticising the Irish pub; it’s making a McDonald’s out of a pub. There will be no variety, and no local connection. It will kill off the one-off family pub,” said Mr Sheridan.
VFI has said that some 1,800 pubs have shut in the past 16 years. The Fianna Fáil County Councillor said this has had real impacts on his own area in North Galway.
“In Dunmore, it means 21 pubs have gone to four and a half – and I’m the half, I open restricted hours. Other pubs open in the evening only. That’s a reaction to modern societal changes, and the way communities are changing. What our minister is trying to do now is proliferate licences to strengthen the provision of pubs in rural and small towns but it will do the complete opposite,” Mr Sheridan said.
The legislation is at the consultative stage, and will progress through the Oireachtas soon.
Mr Sheridan said removing restrictions on who could become a publican could have serious repercussions.
“When you apply for a publican licence, you stand up before a judge – in my case Judge Mary Fahy – and you get quizzed and grilled. Your local Garda station has to confirm you are of good enough character to operate a public house correctly. Within the new legislation, that does not pertain.
Within the new legislation, you won’t need the local fire officer to approve the building. This is going ten steps backwards, in the hope of going one forward,” said Mr Sheridan.
He insisted VFI was not against pubs opening, and licences should transfer to where there is a demand for more pubs.
“But you need to ensure not everyone can get a licence. With the drugs culture now in Ireland, I’d be afraid we’d get poorer quality publicans out of this process change.
“If you have a business that is generationally attached, they’re committed to the business, and the community. This change upsets that balance. We’re seven generations here in North Galway. Other families I know are over 200 years in the game. And you could let fly-by-night, of unscrupulous background to hold a licence?”
Mr Sheridan said the Minister should focus on tightening off-licences and the availability of cheap alcohol instead of de-regulating pub licences.
“Ireland is famous for having pubs, not bakeries or barbers. What are we going to do, mess around and make a balls of it? We are going to make a plastic pub out of Irish pubs. You’ll have Irish people travelling abroad to go to an authentic Irish pub because they won’t be available at home,” he added.
VFI Chief Executive Paul Clancy said the principle of Extinguishment is accepted as a legitimate practice in the Bill where it will remain for new off licences and he asked the same principle is applied to the on-trade.
“Deregulation will precipitate the closure of many pubs as the owners decide to exit the business in the face of unsustainable competition. While the adage ‘the market will find its level’ is strictly true, it fails to take into account the cultural and community value of the existing pubs,” he added.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
