Max HeyraudLeo Varadkar sparked controversy on Sunday by confirming that extended opening hours for nightclubs and pubs would not be in affect until 2024. Sunil Sharpe was quoted saying “I know he’s trying to be honest but talking about next summer, why do that? It just muddies the water.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed that licensing reform for nightclubs and clubs will not be in place by Christmas. The Taoiseach was quoted saying “I think it unlikely it will be the case for Christmas. That would mean getting the legislation published and enacted before Christmas. Even when it is enacted, there’s a whole licensing system that has to be gone through.”
Controversy surrounds the Taoiseach’s speculative comments surrounding the reopening date“I can say it will not be the case that those laws will be in place for this Christmas.”
Sunil Sharpe spoke with Cian McCormack from Morning Ireland about the Taoiseach’s comments. “It was a pretty unhelpful statement from the Taoiseach and I’m still not really sure what the purpose of it was. He’s speculating about the legislation but the timeline appears even more uncertain now.”
“We’re waiting a long time already on this bill and Minister Mcentee gave an update on this a couple of weeks ago, the Taoiseach is essentially moving in to pour cold water on that”
“We were told that worst case scenario it would take two years, that was a conservative estimate but the hope it would be shorter than that. Now there’s an extra year and a half year being put on top of that. It really does feel like we’re being strung along here.”
For more information on extended trading for nightclubs and pubs follow The Give Us The Night campaign.
