A major brewry said this morning it would not be increasing the price of its stout and beers until next year at the earliest.
Beamish & Crawford said it would freeze the price of its draught beer price for the remainder of the year. The products include Beamish, Miller, Foster's, Kronenbourg 1664, Carling and Beamish Red Ale.
The price of a pint of Guinness looks set to rise by around 10 cent from next month as Diageo announced earlier this month that it would be upping its price to publicans by 4 cent.
Traditionally, when the breweries put up their prices, the retailers follow. With VAT, the rise is likely to be 10 cent.
Donal O'Keeffe, Chief Executive of the Licensed Vintners' Association (LVA) welcomed the announcement. "We believe this to be in the best interest of the pub trade and the consumer", he said.
Seamus O'Donoghue, President of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI), said: "The VFI has been on record in recent months asking for such a price freeze from our suppliers, given the continuing and significant downturn in the pub trade," he said.
Fianna Fáil TD, Martin Brady, also welcomed the decision, adding it was in "stark contrast to the actions of Diageo which will up the price of Guinness in the coming weeks."
"I will be urging drinkers to be extra vigilant as the Guinness increase hits bars and ensure that they are not being ripped off," he added.