I don't think the law actually changes to allow more off-licences.
What happened a few years ago was that licences were allowed to be transferred from any civil parish to any other civil parish.
Before that, a licence could only stay within the same civil parish.
So if a pub closed in Galway cith centre, the licence could only be transferred to a new pub or off-licence in Galway city centre.
But now, if a pub shuts anywhere, then the licence can be transferred to areas that are "under-pubbed". I think this makes sense.
Also, a licence from an old pub can be transferred to a new off-licence anywhere.