It emerged earlier today that the Government is considering putting an end to the Good Friday ban on alcohol sales, with Minister Frances Fitzgerald meeting with industry representatives to explore the issue. With pub owners revealing that they are "very confident" that prohibition will soon be a thing of the past, Marie Madden reveals why she thinks opening the bar is a step in the right direction...

---

Like our accents and ability to ‘have the craic’, alcohol consumption is something that is inextricably linked to the global perception of the Irish people. While we may bemoan such generalised assumptions, our reaction to the annual ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday certainly doesn’t do anything to dispel this notion. Without fail, photos circulate of lengthy queues in the local supermarkets as people stock up on their poison of choice, while others tirelessly brag about how they’re ‘rebelling against the system’ by throwing a house party. For a nation of supposedly mature and worldly adults, it’s nothing short of pathetic that the prospect of 24 sober hours is greeted with a sense of hysteria that would be more suited to an Ebola outbreak. But of course, that’s not really the point. The ban on alcohol sales on Good Friday is just another hangover from another Ireland. An Ireland where an unexpected pregnancy was rewarded with incarceration, people could be imprisoned for kissing the one they loved and a priest’s reputation was more important than the safety of a child. While it could (and should) be argued that the Government have bigger issues to be worrying about than whether tourists can taste a pint of Guinness on Good Friday, putting an end to one of our many draconian laws can only be a good thing. The reality is that the law was introduced to honour a Catholic holiday in a Catholic country but times have changed and you’d be doing well to find many under 30 who still follow the rules they were taught by Fr O’Brien back in primary school. These days, most of us eat fish on a Friday, have sex before marriage, check our work emails on the mandated ‘day of rest’ and put ham in our Ash Wednesday sandwiches so why on Earth should a grown adult be asked to stay at home with a cup of tea because an antiquated law says so? If a devout Catholic (or lapsed one!) decides that they want to honour the holy day and abstain, they are still more than capable of doing it if The Banner Arms is open down the road. Vintners’ associations have been shouting for years about the law’s impact on tourism and damage to the hospitality industry but there’s only one reason really needed for the Government to take action… it’s called free will.