Minister for Justice unsure when law permitting later closures for nightclubs will be introduced

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee could not give an exact date for when proposed extensions to licensing laws, which would allow nightclubs to open until 6am, might be passed.

Night-time industry members said they are “concerned” the proposed changes won't be passed in time for this summer, the night-time sector’s busiest time of the year.

The Government signed off on a draft of the Sale of Alcohol Bill two years ago, which would allow pubs to open until 12.30am and nightclubs serve alcohol until 5am.

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the law would be introduced by summer 2024, having previously promised that the reform would come into effect last summer.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said last month that it was “unlikely” that the legislation would be ready for the summer.

Speaking to The Journal yesterday, Minister McEntee said: “This is quite a large change that I’ve been working on and there are a lot of measures that need to be legislated for, and we’ve been working on that in my department.”

“And what I hope to do is bring forward some of those measures in the near future, but acknowledging that there’s a huge amount of change that’s needed and required across quite a number of different systems,” she said. “But what I hope to do is bring forward a number of those changes in the near future.”

When pressed by reporters on when these changes would come into play, the minister replied: “As soon as I possibly can.”

Former Fine Gael Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan told The Irish Sun that he has pressed within the party to drop the proposed time extensions for serving alcohol.

He has concerns about the potential impact that “all night drinking” would have on the health system, and he said there was “no demand” from the public for it.

However, Minister McEntee said in a legislative debate in the Dáil last week that following a public consultation, including an online survey, webinar and panel discussion run by the department in 2022, that “there is a strong demand for reform and modernisation of the law in this area.”