Publicans fail to halt prices directive

A DECISION by Limerick publicans yesterday to comply with a request from the Minister of State for Commerce, Science and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, to reduce the price of alcoholic drinks, came too late to prevent the imposition of a prices order.

The decision by the publicans was welcomed by Mr Rabbitte, who said he regretted they had not done it earlier. The prices order comes into effect today. Under the terms of the order all pubs outside the greater Dublin area must sell alcoholic drinks at the prices advertised in their pubs on November 4th last.

The order will affect the prices of the drinks for which prices are normally displayed draught and bottled stout, lager and beer, and whiskey, vodka and gin.

The Limerick publicans were told last week to agree to reduce their prices by Thursday. On Friday the Minister announced he would be making the order.

Advertisements informing the public of the order's terms are carried in today's newspapers.

A spokesman for Mr Rabbitte said the Minister did not propose to rescind the order "yet". The decision of the Limerick publicans would be "validated" by inspectors from his Department and from the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs. The order would "in due course be reviewed".

After a lengthy meeting attended by 130 publicans, the Limerick publicans unanimously accepted the Minister's directive to lower drink prices. They agreed the price of the pint in Limerick will drop by 5p to £1.90, the price being charged in November last.

Mr Rabbitte had requested the Vintners' Federation of Ireland to ask their members to follow the example of Dublin, where publicans reduced their prices following public protests.

Members elsewhere complied with Mr Rabbitte's request but Limerick publicans resisted.

Mr David Hickey, a former national chairman of the VFI and Limerick national executive delegate, said Limerick publicans had reluctantly agreed to the Minister's request.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow and after a lot of soul searching, we decided to reduce the price of the pint. We did it against the grain, but we felt we had no option as the Minister was threatening to impose a maximum prices order".

It is understood the publicans will be seeking a meeting with Mr Rabbitte to discuss what they claim is their strong case for an increase because of rising overheads. They say their prices are lower than in Dublin and other major urban areas.

The Limerick publicans felt disappointed, alleging their prices were fixed at a ceiling which was about 10p below the rest of the State and as much as 30p below Dublin prices.

The Minister's spokesman said Mr Rabbitte would consider meeting the Limerick publicans "in due course". He said that if the decision had been made by them prior to 5.30 p.m. on Thursday last, the prices order would not have been imposed on all non Dublin publicans.