The sale of alcohol on St Patrick's Day could be severely curtailed following new support from the Minister for Justice for extra local authority licensing powers.
In a letter sent to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Michael Conaghan, yesterday, Mr McDowell said he would be "very receptive" to proposals to allow local authorities to implement "special bylaws" to control the sale of drink in conjunction with public events.
"That would include the St Patrick's Day holiday," he said.
The Minister's letter follows unsuccessful attempts by Cllr Conaghan to stop the sale of alcohol before 6pm last St Patrick's day.
Cllr Conaghan had asked off-licence owners to voluntarily keep their businesses closed during the St Patrick's Day parade. However, their representative group, the National Off Licences' Association, said they would not issue such advice to members, adding that they were under no legal obligation to close.
This new support from Mr McDowell could force drinks bodies to reverse this decision, by giving local authorities legal powers to control drink sales on specific days.
Mr McDowell's letter was received just hours before the council was to debate its response to the recently published Intoxicating Liquor Bill, which is currently undergoing a public consultation process.
The Sinn Féin group on the council said it would not be supporting the Bill and specifically criticised proposals for cafe bar licences.
"They are certainly not going to curtail alcohol consumption in any shape or form and, if anything, might have the opposite effect, "said Sinn Féin's Christy Burke said.
Fianna Fáil's Deirdre Heney said she was not yet convinced of the merits of cafe bars. The measure was supported by a number of councillors from all parties except Sinn Féin.
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