A drinks price war between two cousins in Donegal has been condemned by campaigners against alcohol abuse.
Last week, Mr Seanie McEniff declared that all drinks, including pints and spirits with mixers, would be €2.50 at his Fast Eddy's pub and the adjoining Pacino's nightclub in the seaside resort of Bundoran.
Meanwhile his first cousin, Mr Conor McEniff, has said that from Friday next he will sell shorts with dashes of mixers for just €2 at his Bootleggers Saloon and connected Sundance Club in the same town. The mixers will be free and he says he will match the €2.50 his cousin charges for pints and bottles of beer.
Mr McEniff said he and his cousin Seanie hadn't fallen out and that the development was "purely business."
He estimated that his staff served 6,000 customers in the first three nights of the promotion and said he could make a profit with a large turnover.
Yesterday the price war was condemned by Mayo GP and former GAA president, Dr Mick Loftus.
"I think this is crazy. It's just unbelievable that they would try this," he said.
"When drink is cheap, people drink more. It's been proven. And naturally young people have less money, so they will drink more when they get the chance."
Dr Loftus said he saw the effects of alcohol abuse every week in his surgery. The earlier people started abusing drink, the more likely they were to develop an alcohol addiction.
Dr Joe Barry, a public health specialist and a senior lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, said the price war was obviously an attempt to get people to drink more.
"Normally we would welcome price drops but this highlights the need for some regulation in the sector. We already have a major problem with young people and alcohol abuse and dropping the price of drink is not the way to go.
"The obvious implication is that they want people to drink more. It's certainly not recommended," Dr Barry said.
Concern has also been expressed by Meas, the drinks industry initiative which promotes sensible drinking.
"Meas is concerned about any promotional practices that would encourage excessive and rapid consumption of alcohol," said Ms Fionnuala Sheehan, Meas chief executive.
She said the association had already been in contact with Mr Seanie McEniff.
"It is our understanding that this pub is charging a fixed price for a measure of alcohol, all day, every day.
"We cannot take issue with price per se. If the fixed price results in below cost selling, it is open to the Director of Consumer Affairs to take action," she said.
"If, however, it is associated with promotions that would encourage rapid and excessive consumption, it would fall within the remit of the Meas code of practice."
If a complaint is made under this code, it will be referred for adjudication to the Meas independent complaints panel.
Mr Conor McEniff said he could just about keep his business afloat with the rock-bottom prices.
He said he had no alternative if he was to win back customers but admitted that the low-price battle for customers could not be sustained over a long period.
However, Mr Seanie McEniff is so confident of success he is planning to open a chain of similar pubs in Sligo, Castlebar and Galway.
The cousins are members of a prominent tourism and sports family in the north-west with a chain of hotels across the region and in Dublin.