The ban on outdoor drinking has been described as “pretty arbitrary”. 

There is no nationwide ban on outdoor drinking; however, local authorities have the power to curtail the practice. 

Last week in Tuam, councillors voted to ban drinking alcohol in public spaces, following complaints about anti-social behaviour in the Galway town. 

If spotted by a Garda or community warden, people drinking in public will be fined €75. 

On The Hard Shoulder, barrister Brenda Power described outdoor drinking bans as “pretty arbitrary”, adding that it is “not as if we get that many opportunities to drink outdoors in this country”. 

“You can drink and drink around the clock, by the way, in Dublin Airport, while about to get on a plane into a confined space with other people,” she said. 

“You can't have a drink in a park or on a beach in Dublin and the same restrictions apply in Galway, in Waterford, in Kerry.

“During the pandemic, if you remember, when the pubs were closed, there was a lot of outdoor drinking going on.” 

Ms Power continued that if towns and cities relaxed their bans, she did not think that the “sky would come crashing down”. 

Nor did she think it would increase anti-social behaviour. 

“I tend to feel that the people who are more likely to cause social disorder when they've had a few drinks are probably not that cognisant of the local authority regulations, where they can and cannot drink anyway,” she said. 

“And like a lot of laws, they really only affect the law abiding.”

Main image: Women carrying drinks at a polo match. Picture by: Alamy.com.