GARDAÍ HAVE objected to the application by publicans in Limerick to open for business on Good Friday. Judge Tom O’Donnell will give his decision tomorrow.
Limerick District Court was told yesterday by the city’s State solicitor, Michael Murray, that a rugby clash between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park on April 2nd did not constitute a “special event”. The Magners League game must be deemed to be one to qualify for a court order allowing bars to open on Good Friday.
The city’s publicans have sought to prove that the match is indeed such an event and so qualifies for an exemption from licensing laws.
The court heard that gardaí had two difficulties with the application, made by Jerry O’Dea, chairman of the Limerick Vintners Federation.
First, the area it covered was wider than had been expected. Second, there was a legal impediment – the absence of a special event. “I think that is the real nub of the matter,” said Mr Murray.
Solicitor for the publicans Gearóid McGann agreed that the nub of the case was whether the rugby game was a special event.
Mr McGann said no legal definition of a special event existed. He quoted case law, referring to historical actions concerning a mart and a dance. He also gave Oxford Dictionary definitions for the words.
Mr Murray said that in order to qualify for an exemption from the licensing laws, an event needed to be not usual or common, and it had to be singular. Magners League matches were usual enough, he said. “The fixture is not so much a special fixture but it’s on a special day.”
Mr O’Dea said 58 pub owners had met and unanimously supported the application. “I would say that it’s a special event because of the large number of people coming to the town,” he said. Later he added: “In my opinion it’s the biggest domestic game of the year.”
His members were shocked by the scheduling of the match on Good Friday and alarmed because they would not be able to facilitate fans. They wrote to the sides involved in the game and also to the Magners League, but it could not be switched.
Publicans wished to open from 6pm until midnight on April 2nd. The times were chosen out of respect for religious ceremonies earlier in the day, he said.
Hotel manager Seán Lally, who is also director of the chamber of commerce and chairman of the city’s co-ordination office – a body set up to promote Limerick – gave evidence for the publicans. He said six English journalists were due in Limerick for the rugby game. His hotel had lost corporate bookings for groups due to spend time there on the day of the match because the hotel could not serve alcohol – except to residents – on Good Friday.
Mr Lally said he was confident the bookings could be retrieved if the court granted the order. Referring to the game, he said: “It is a very, very special event.”
Mark O’Connell from accountants BDO Simpson Xavier also gave evidence supporting the publicans. He said it was estimated the game was worth up to €7.3 million to the city if the pubs were allowed to open.