The Green Party has taken up the cause of the intimate "local" pub, which it says is facing extinction because of restrictions on the opening of new pubs.
The party has called for deregulation to save the traditional Irish pub from becoming "an extinct species". Current laws make it very difficult to open a new pub, the party's planning spokesman, Cllr Ciaran Cuffe, said yesterday, and so existing pubs were expanding into superpubs.
In a submission to the Government's Commission on Liquor Licensing the party calls for "a winding up of the cartel that currently operates within the sector, and a return to small-scale pubs that cater for local demand".
The Green Party has thus taken up the argument of the Competition Authority and the OECD that restricting the opening of new pubs is turning existing ones into barn-like drinking emporiums. While the number of pubs is restricted, drinking space is not, resulting in huge premises bringing ever-greater profits to owners.
The problem is most acute in Dublin. Owners, unable to open a new pub, buy an adjoining one or build extensions to cater for a growing customer trade.
Mr Cuffe based his case yesterday on a "quality of life" argument rather than an economic one. He said that as pubs grow in size, "more and more traditional pub interiors are being ripped out and replaced with superpubs. The fault lies with a small group of publicans who are lining their pockets at the customers' expense". The system allowed only millionaires to become pub owners, he said. "We want changes in the interests of the consumer. This means protecting the traditional pub, yet allowing competition."
The commission which is examining aspects of the licensing laws has not yet reported on pub licences. Last April, the Tβnaiste promised pub deregulation within a year, but there is strong resistance from the publicans' lobby.
Earlier this year, the commission recommended large-scale deregulation of the off-licence trade, but with off-licence owners against such a move, it appears the Government will leave in place some substantial barriers to entering the trade.
"In Central Paris it is possible to open a bar with less than £100,000 capital," said Cllr Cuffe. In Dublin it often costs more than 10 times that figure.