THE GOVERNMENT has scrapped plans to abolish the country's remaining "early house" pubs, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has announced.
The abolition of the early morning opening hours was one of the major recommendations of the Alcohol Advisory Group last March, though it became immediately unpopular in some quarters.
In the Dáil last night, Mr Ahern said he was "disposed" to allowing the 50 relevant pubs - 15 of them in Dublin - to continue in operation, but no new ones would be created.
The Minister's change of heart came after he held talks last week with Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy about the Intoxicating Liquor Bill, which aims to curb public order problems surrounding excess drinking.
His predecessor in the Department of Justice Brian Lenihan followed through on the recommendations of the advisory group, chaired by Dr Gordon Holmes, in draft legislation published last March.
Mr Ahern also held discussions with the Licensed Vintners' Association and the Irish Vintners' Federation last week, although he gave no hint then that he was going to row back on Mr Lenihan's original design.
Last night, The Windjammer pub in Dublin - one of those to escape losing its early hours licence - welcomed Mr Ahern's decision, with one of the barmen declaring: "It's wonderful news."
Early houses, which can open from 7am, were given official recognition in 1927 and permitted to cater for those attending early markets and fairs, or for those whose "trade or calling" left them in need of refreshment at otherwise unsociable hours.
No new early houses have been added to the list since 1962, and they must return to the District Court to renew their early morning licence, as well as their ordinary public house licence, each year.
A Garda superintendent argued against their reissue in 2005.
Donal O'Keeffe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners' Association, said they had heard "hints" in advance of last night's speech that Mr Ahern had decided not to fol- low the expert group's recommendation.
"There are very few of these pubs. They are not causing trouble. They do not contribute to public order problems. We never believed that they were part of the problem," he said.
The Holmes committee accepted that the early houses did not contribute to public order problems, but claimed that they were sordid, and no longer were required to meet the needs of fishermen, dockers and other early workers.
Meanwhile, Mr Ahern has conceded some ground to supermarket and shop-owners, who had strongly lobbied against plans to force them to separate the off-licence part of their business.