There was an interesting debate in the Seanad at the end of last week when Joe O'Toole attempted to take the Good out of Good Friday - i.e. he sought, during the Intoxicating Liquor Bill, to allow pubs to open on Good Friday. Despite staunch support from Joe Costello, who said he knew lads who took the train to Killarney on the day so they could drink there and back, O'Toole didn't succeed.
O'Toole said Senator Therese Ridge and others blamed drink for unwanted pregnancies but that was similar to blaming Alfred Nobel for car bombs in Belfast or Mr Daimler for car accidents. Neither prohibition, which the bill tried to impose, nor partial prohibition, worked. Most of those who drank had a drink on Good Friday and the way to tackle any problem was from the demand rather than the supply end. The Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, said he saw no demand for the measure and in any case people could drink all they liked on Good Friday - at home. It would be offensive to many to make it an open day.
Sensing his amendment was getting nowhere, O'Toole said many of those who would vote against it in the Seanad got into pubs on Good Friday by tapping on the window and going round the back: "It is ridiculous - a sham and hypocrisy."
It was a bad day for politics for, as his father used to say, the worst kind of law was that which was unimplementable and the next worst kind was that which was not implemented. People were old enough to buy a drink when they needed it but in his town and in the Minister's town - Caherciveen - they had to go in the back door on Good Friday. Not in his town, they didn't, said the Minister for Justice. Oh yes, they did, insisted O'Toole, who is from across the bay in Dingle. "If the Minister wants me to name a pub in Cahirciveen that was open on Good Friday, I will do it." The chair immediately called the vote and the amendment was declared lost.