THE LAW ALLOWING for the late night opening of nightclubs has been put on the long finger by the new government. 

The legislative programme for the Spring, which sets out legislation due to be pushed over the line in the coming months, fails to include the Intoxicating Liquor Bill on the priority list. 

Instead, the bill is placed on the “all other” list of legislation, which is generally where laws that are put on the shelf are placed. 

The Programme for Government commits to enacting legislation to update Ireland’s licensing laws and promoting the development of a “modern and diverse night-time economy in harmony with increased town centre living”.

Not happening anytime soon 

However, senior sources have said they can’t see the new government progressing the late-night laws any time soon, despite the bill being drafted and ready to go in the Department of Justice. 

Asked about whether the late night opening law has been put on the shelf, the department said:

“The legislation in question will be advanced in keeping with the Programme for Government commitment to updating our licensing laws, with the specific provisions to be considered as part of the Government’s Legislative Programme in due course.” 

It had been expected that the changes, which will allow nightclubs to open until 6am and pubs to open until 12.30am, would be in place before Christmas 2023, but complications with updating the laws significantly delayed the process. 

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Last year, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who was an advocate for the law change, cast doubt over whether reforms to late licensing laws would be introduced in the short term. 

Further hurdles for the legislation became apparent within the Fine Gael party, when pressure was placed on the new party leader Simon Harris to scrap the idea. 

Former backbench TDs Michael Ring and Charlie Flanagan called on Harris to pull the party’s policies back towards what they called its “core values”, including by discarding the proposed late-night licensing laws that have been in development over the last few years.

However, those working in the nightlife industry have said the new opening hours would create new opportunities for the sector.