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THE RESTAURANTS LOBBY claims Ireland’s Good Friday alcohol bans hurt the country’s image abroad – as well as harming its industry.
Restaurants Association of Ireland chief executive Adrian Cummins said it was “archaic” to have the restrictions in place on religious grounds in the “multi-cultural and multi-religious society that Ireland has become”.
“This law affects more than just the diners who want a drink, it affects thousands of restaurant employees on a busy weekend when restaurants simply won’t open,” he said.
Aside from the law showing a 19th-century image of Ireland to incoming tourists, many restaurants decide to close their doors on Good Friday.”
According to the last census, just over 84% of Irish people still defined themselves as Roman Catholic – although this figure had dropped from 87% five years earlier.
Meanwhile several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, have some restrictions on the sale of alcohol at certain times of the day or to those not eating in pubs or restaurants.
But Cummins said Ireland had to be the only country which chose to close some of its best-known tourist attractions – pubs and restaurants – on a bank holiday weekend.
The Good Friday restrictions include some exemptions for those travelling on planes, trains and ferries, people attending certain events, theatres and hotel guests – as long as they are only given alcohol with a meal.
Some 58% of the respondents to today’s TheJournal.ie poll (so far) said they didn’t agree with banning alcohol on Good Friday.
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Imagine gettin married at 14, I was only just gettin a bit of tit in the convent disco through a big wolly jumper when I was that age!
No smelly fingers at 14?
you love her at 14 then meet 20 year later at school reunion and see you really dodged a bullet there :)
@Ted….you’re an Irish bear then…yes?
@Stewie – who let you in to the school re-union?
The only thing I wanted to marry when I was 14 was my playstation. Love at first byte it was.
Jesus I can’t believe the ages were that low to start with! Crazy!!
Holy sh*t! 13? How can that be legal in any European state?
You don’t know your arse from your elbow at 14, it’s mad a child can make that type of decision! 16 is even too young!
Good of them! Wonder how many 14 & 15 yr olds got married over the last 10 yrs? Surely they must have been arranged marriages?
My cousin got married at 16 the marriage lasted 21 years, they divorced last year. they started dating when she was 15 and he was in his late 20s
That is so sick. The pedophiles must thank that government. How does a child know what they want for life at such a young age.
14! Jesus wept. That’s asking for trouble. “She looked 14 to meeeee Senior”.
Pavee point will be moving all their operations to Spain to campaign on behalf of an ethnic minority who agree with marriage at 13.
Marriage and sex are for adults, not for children.
A wise revision of the law. These age limits stem from ancient times when life was very short by today’s standards. Childhood is now a lengthy process (I’m still not grown up) and these laws reflect a much harsher past.
It is a good idea. If the new Pope abolishes celibacy, but not chastity, the Roman Catholic priests will be marrying 14 year olds.
Why the red thumbs, I wonder?
Oh don’t worry about it bro, people always hit the downvote by mistake when they’re scrolling to get away from a shit comment.
@P Richardson. Red thumbs indicate, generally, your comment is nonsensical. That you’re an attention-seeker, hoping to glean a molecule of self-esteem and hope by being a half wit.
@ RP Murphy, thank you for the explanation! I admit to being opposed to child raping priests.
But I accept your need to defend the church and the priesthood. God washes away all sins and evil, is that not right?
Trolls Peter…just trolls
They can’t handle the truth.
14!!!!
Was it always 39 in this country??
Its really just the spanish gypsies that marry at 14. Not the regular spaniards
13?
No wonder there is a low rate of paedophilia here. They’re all in Spain. Age of consent 13. What took them so long to realise that it needs to be changed?
So let me get this straight. Some sleazy middle aged man could somehow seduce a 13 year old child into consensual sex and not be regarded as a peadofile?????? Can we have the facts on our other European neighbours also please because all this needs to be shut down immediately!!!
Or sleazy woman! Equality for all ya know!
Tom,
as far as I know it’s not legal for a middle aged man to have sex with a 13 year old girl. It’s only legal for the 13 year old to have sex with someone of a similar age (under 16 maybe).
That’s what I heard, I’ll try to find some references since that pretty important piece of info is missing from this article.
Sorry,
I was confused with Italy, where a 13yr old can have sex as long as the partner is no more than three years older.
best I could find:
Article 182.1 of Spanish Penal Code says:
“He who, by means of deceit, commits sexual acts with a person between the ages of 13 and 16 will be punished with a prison sentence of one to two years, or a fine equivalent to twelve to twenty four months”
Looks like it’s ok as long as there’s no deceit?
http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Penal/lo10-1995.l2t8.html#a182
Dead right Ken. Obviously
Thanks Casey, crazy stuff. Although that makes a little better reading I just can’t see how a perpetrator could be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Muddy waters to say the least
14 is still the marrying age in the Vatican City/Holy See. Why no mention of this?
16 must be a typo? surely 61?
I completely agree with raising the age of marriage and consent in Spain, but the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy is a hypocrite. When he was in opposition he criticised the government for concerning itself about gay marriage when the economy was so unstable. At the time, I didn’t agree with him that important social issues should be put aside to focus on the economy, and apparently now, neither does he agree with his past self.
This is just a great example of distraction politics , 25 per cent unemployment , deep recession , people loosing homes , but they find a couple of billion to tackle the age of the consent , rope in a debate about paedos and the media go off on a tangent ….disgraceful .
Passos
For thousands of years in almost all over the world in almost all cultures since time immemorial – from prairie Indians of North America, the Amazon Indians in South America, the Negroes in Central Africa, the Arabs in the Middle East, to the Asians in the Far East and to Australia’s indigenous natives and in Europe until the nineteenth century – the girls had sexual intercourse at an age so early that it is contrary to the changes in the criminal laws that were made in the Western world in the late nineteenth century, and since 1946 the United Nations have been trying to revolutionize the world with that standard.
Read more at: http://i-was-not-abused.blogspot.com
The age of consent should be 13 here too, make sure free contraception is easily available to cut the crazy rate of teen pregnancy we have. Keep it illegal for anyone 2 yrs older to have sex with anyone 16 and under
Gary Glitter tours to Spain have just gone bust!
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