Alcohol promotions - what is the legal position

[Mpsox]

Aw come on, I know youre username is Complainer but seriously - going to the gardai over "cheap" drink promotions is a bit OCD. For example, €4 for vodka/dash is what it should cost in reality anyway, similar for bottles of Corona etc which are sold for as much as €6 even though they can be gotten for under a euro in off license.
These types of nights were the best nights out back when I in college, to be honest you sound like a bit of a kill joy. It really is getting to nanny state levels when Joe Public is now complaining about stuff like this.

I'll remember that the next time I have to clean vomit off my car and brush broken glass up from outside my house on a Sunday morning after someone spent the night before out "enjoying" themselves. I'm just being a killjoy in wishing they wouldn't do that

 

[DB74]

Did the person involved drink cheap drink which was on special offer in the pub?

Just because some people can't handle their drink doesn't mean that others can't handle it responsibly

 

[Mpsox]

Did the person involved drink cheap drink which was on special offer in the pub?

Just because some people can't handle their drink doesn't mean that others can't handle it responsibly

Absolutely agree, but cheap drink makes it easier for peeople to act in an irresponsible manner. There have been studies done in the UK for example that indicate that 70% of cases in A&E at the weekend are alcohol related.
There are some very scary stats relating to alcohol in Ireland here
http://alcoholireland.ie/alcohol-facts/alcohol-related-harm-facts-and-statistics/

I'm not a teetotaler (2 very nice pints last Sunday on my way back from a hurling match) or a killjoy and remember plenty of good nights when I was
younger when I got "polluted". However I don't believe anyone should be encouraging excessive drinking and to me, the ad in the OP's original post does that

 

[JoeB]

This source
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/man-died-after-10shot-party-trick-2637879.html

makes clear that the barman filled ten shots into a single glass, knowing the purpose, and only then checked with his manager, who ok'ed it.

The man fell off his chair, totally drunk, and rather than calling a doctor, they put him in the conference room, where he was found dead hours later.

The barmen have no responsibility for that?, even for not calling a doctor when someone collaspes on your licensed premises?

As I say, criminal in my view, and the charge should have been upheld. Was the case in the circuit court? Are court records available? I'd like to read this case in full.

 

[Complainer]

Not according to the source I earlier linked where the barmen claimed they thought the person was going to share it with his friends.

Ah come on, that's a 'dog eat my homework' excuse. Is it in any way realistic that he would have asked for it in a pint glass if he was going to share it?

Anyway, even if the person IS going to drink it in one go - how is that the responsibility of anyone else bar the fool who decides to endanger their own health in that way? This is an adult who has decided to do something dangerous. If the barmen didnt serve him the booze he could have gone to an off licence, a supermarket, even a spar shop and gotten more alcohol and poured it down his throat in whatever manner he chose.

Again, all theoretically true but completely unrealistic. The drinker's objective was not to drink a pint of spirits. The drinker's objective was to impress his meets and show off about what a big man he was by drinking a pint of spirits. He wouldn't have been able to achieve this objective if he had to run off to the SPAR shop to buy booze. In fact, he probably wouldn't have been able to find the SPAR shop. The actions of the barmen enabled his behaviour, and he died.

Course there is a downside to binge drinking, but making barmen responsible for manslaughter isnt the way to fix it. Educating people on the dangers of alcohol, on the notion of personal responsibility and changing the binge drinking culture in this country is the correct way to stop these dreadful deaths from happening.

You cannot legislate for every downright stupid action that a supposedly responsible adult will take - nor should a state have to.

So just for curiousity's sake, would you support eliminating the restriction on paracetemol? And indeed the restrictions on all prescription drugs? And indeed the restrictions on all non-prescription drugs? People should take personal responsibility - right?

 

[Boyd]

I'll remember that the next time I have to clean vomit off my car and brush broken glass up from outside my house on a Sunday morning after someone spent the night before out "enjoying" themselves. I'm just being a killjoy in wishing they wouldn't do that

This will still happen without any promotions or "cheap" drinks. I fail to see how being able to get vodka and mixer in a pub for €4 is causing this, considering you can get a full bottle from an off-license and do the same thing.

 

[Firefly]

The Boardwalk pub in Cork has a sign outside that says Coctails are a fiver between 5-7pm on some night..surely this is illegal too?

 

[elcato]

Absolutely agree, but cheap drink makes it easier for peeople to act in an irresponsible manner. There have been studies done in the UK for example that indicate that 70% of cases in A&E at the weekend are alcohol related.
There are some very scary stats relating to alcohol in Ireland here

But that in itself does not prove that cheaper drink was the sole cause of this. When we were teenagers we simply went to off-licenses rather than pubs cos we got more bang per buck. This can be said nowadays of anyone as they can buy cheaper drink in a supermarket. Do people go out with the sole intention of spending x amount on drink rather than drinking x amount of pints ?

 

[Boyd]

Fair enough, so. I won't bother. I guess there is no possible downside of binge drinking;
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1104/murphyg.html
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]

Those three stories all relate to people drinking home. My point is that IMO €4 is an appropriate price for a vodka and dash in a pub and would not cause people to double or triple the number of them they would buy in one night

 

[Firefly]

These types of nights were the best nights out back when I in college, to be honest you sound like a bit of a kill joy. It really is getting to nanny state levels when Joe Public is now complaining about stuff like this.

A friend of mine works for a university and says the levels of drinking have increased dramatically in the past few years. In the past we used to have some wine before heading out to the pub and a few pints did the trick. Today it's a lot of spirits before heading out and more spirits when they are out so it's not really comparing like with like. They were good days though weren't they?

 

[Complainer]

This will still happen without any promotions or "cheap" drinks. I fail to see how being able to get vodka and mixer in a pub for €4 is causing this, considering you can get a full bottle from an off-license and do the same thing.

Those three stories all relate to people drinking home. My point is that IMO €4 is an appropriate price for a vodka and dash in a pub and would not cause people to double or triple the number of them they would buy in one night

And would you put

€10, 3 Jaeger Bombs
€10, 5 shots

in the same 'business as usual' category? Why do you think TramCo limit this offer to start late at night?

 

[Mpsox]

Those three stories all relate to people drinking home. My point is that IMO €4 is an appropriate price for a vodka and dash in a pub and would not cause people to double or triple the number of them they would buy in one night

The why is the pub having a promotion?

The price paid in a supermarket is not relevant to pub prices, supermarkets don't provide you with a place to sit down and drink it

 

[truthseeker]

Ah come on, that's a 'dog eat my homework' excuse. Is it in any way realistic that he would have asked for it in a pint glass if he was going to share it?

I dont know - theyre not my words, theyre from a source I quoted.

The drinker's objective was not to drink a pint of spirits. The drinker's objective was to impress his meets and show off about what a big man he was by drinking a pint of spirits.

How do you know what his objective was - were you there with him?

So just for curiousity's sake, would you support eliminating the restriction on paracetemol? And indeed the restrictions on all prescription drugs? And indeed the restrictions on all non-prescription drugs? People should take personal responsibility - right?

Yes, yes, yes, and absolutely yes!

 

[truthseeker]

The man fell off his chair, totally drunk, and rather than calling a doctor, they put him in the conference room, where he was found dead hours later.

The barmen have no responsibility for that?, even for not calling a doctor when someone collaspes on your licensed premises?

I didnt know that Joe - they should have called an ambulance.

I still dont think they should be held responsible for manslaughter for serving him the drink though.

 

[michaelm]

Somebody please think of the children ....... The pub is selling selected cheaper drinks than some other pubs. Big deal. It should be encouraged for competition reasons.

Yes, think of the children. My new year's resolution is to try this binge drinking and tax evasion that's so popular these days.

 

[Boyd]

The why is the pub having a promotion?

The price paid in a supermarket is not relevant to pub prices, supermarkets don't provide you with a place to sit down and drink it

Obviously to tempt people buy alcohol, im not disputing that, its advertising. Cheaper drink will let people drink more, but if they want to do so they will find a way anyway e.g. from supermarket as I said.

Conversely, as it was national fish and chips day yesterday, I bought some, specifically due to the price. I didnt stuff my face with 10 rounds of it though. Why arent people complaining about this blatant advertising, considering obesity is such a problem these days?

 

[z107]

During my (fun) binge drinking days, my capacity was the limiting factor, not how cheap the drink was.

When I started to feel sick, I generally stopped boozing.

Following complainer's logic, maybe we should just ban fags and booze and board up the pubs?

 

[losttheplot]

"What about the headache tablets? Tesco have a policy of limiting sales.. they don't just willy nilly sell someone ten packs of barbituates. .and watch them go off to kill themselves. Why is this?, why do they take responsibility?"

Paracetamol sales were regulated as the governments response to suicide (easier than tackling the root cause). So the cashier in Tesco will prevent you buying Panadol, Lemsip and Calpol together, but will sell you vodka, whiskey, bleach and a lot more that would kill you if you drank it.

Perhaps the pub should share respnsibilty for public order offences or contribute more to cleaning up the streets after saturday nights.