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IT MAY HAVE slipped your mind to make a visit to the off licence yesterday.
Unless you are willing to take some creative measures – like taking a long train journey somewhere – it looks like you’re not going to have an easy time finding alcohol on Good Friday.
This is thanks to laws that date back to 1927 that prohibit its sale.
Well, while other countries might not come down as hard, there are quite a few places where it isn’t the free for all that it might be on any other Friday in the year.
Here are a few other countries that are feeling the pain today…
Our brethren in ‘Norn Iron’ aren’t exactly facing a shut out – but there are a number of restrictions in place. Today, pubs and restaurants have a six-hour window between 5pm and 11pm in which they are able to serve alcohol.
Bars are also compelled to stop serving at 12am on Easter Thursday and Saturday and 10pm on Easter Sunday.
These laws have come in for some criticism previously and business owners have described them as “archaic”.
It might not be such a ‘g’day’, depending on what your plans for later on are. The land of Neighbours, kangaroos and Shane Warne also takes something of a restrictive view towards boozing on ‘Good Dryday’, but once again, it isn’t quite a closed shop.
In Queensland, pubs are prevented from selling spirits and ‘bottle shops’ are closed. Patrons of restaurants are restricted to boozing for one hour before and after dining.
In New South Wales the pubs open at noon and close again at 10pm.
One place that takes things pretty seriously when it comes to putting a lid on the sauce bottle for one day a year is the US Virgin Islands – an island nation in the Caribbean. Laws are in place that prohibit the sale of alcohol between 9am and 4pm.
And while that might not seem too harsh – breaking the law could land you in jail or with a fine (to be fair they probably don’t hand out too many prison sentences).
You can’t buy alcohol in these countries on any other day of the year because they’re dry States, ergo, you’re not going to be able to buy it today either.
Been anywhere else with Easter related alcohol laws? Let us know in the comments.
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It’s just one day that the pubs are closed. You would swear that they were never going to open again. I hate all this sh**e talk every year.
Totally agree, it’s utter clickbait for news sites tho and that’s why they keep re-hashing it, year in, year out
I don’t believe in the religion, why should the option to go for a drink be taken away from me? If you don’t want to drink then by all means don’t, but this shouldn’t be a law of the land. It’ll continue to make news until it’s repealed and becomes another historical curiosity of Catholic Ireland.
@c dav. I’ve no religious beliefs either, but every other day of the year the state decides where and when I can buy alcohol. They also want to dictate how much I can buy it for. That for me is a much bigger issue. Interestingly I never see any calls for pubs to open on Christmas day the only other day when they close – also on religious grounds.
Yeah, I’d have no problem with xmas and the time limitations can certainly be looked at – but I’d say we should start with what we can accomplish – Good Friday is clearly inappropriate for this law, it’s not even a real holiday!
South Africa’s alcohol laws on Good Friday are the same as Ireland.
There are or at least used to be restrictions in parts of Germany eg Berlin (incredible) as it may sound considering the rest of the year you can drink around the clock.
dry day in India yesterday and today.. helps you be prepared! Stay high, not dry!
So we are not the only backwards country living in the dark ages. Sure we might as well sacrifice a goat or maybe one of our sons. Religion is obsolete and has no relavance in modern society, that goes for all of them.
First of all, at this stage everybody should be allowed make up their own mind whether they want to have alcohol today or not.
Second of all, oh my God it’s just ONE day of not drinking. Most people giving out would probably not drink during the week anyway but it’s just because it’s not allowed.
An observer it’s more about the Catholic Church imposing it’s crazy rules on the country, why should they decided what can be sold on good Friday, or what I like to call Friday!
then lets move it to a bon religious friday. no alcohol the last friday of april then.
non
Time this stupid law was scrapped, its not 1927 now!
But at the same time Richard, why can’t some people just do without alcohol for one day,regardless of religion? The uproar that is caused is unbelievable. It’s one day. I don’t see many people giving out about no alcohol being sold on Christmas Day,though I suppose there is the whole ‘knock knock’ on the side door of the pub culture going on there.
FYI: “Easter Thursday”, as in “the Thursday of Easter” is next week. Yesterday was “Holy Thursday”.
The train to work this morning is almost empty. It appears there are plenty of agnostics and atheists quite happy to take the day off. Why aren’t they protesting against THIS imposition of a Catholic tradition? Or St. Patrick’s Day, or Christmas for that matter.
If you’re going to moan about the lack of drink on ONE day, go back to work and don’t be a whinging hypocrite.
Thursday = Thor’s Day
If it’s hypocritical that non-christians take time off at Christmas, easter and St. Patrick’s day, is it not blasphemy that Christians celebrate Holy Thor’s Day?
It is hard to go to work when one’s employer does not operate on a given day.
“Saudi Arabia,Kuwait,Pakistan,Iran etc ” who are the etc back to college journalism boy ! Happy good Friday
“etc.” bad writing indeed! Should be a daily edge article too….it’s hardly news!
Ah boys cheer up its Friday.Ye really do have little to worry about
It really is time that the State recognised the failings, evil and controlling motivations of the Catholic Church and told them to go run their irritating cult quietly in a dark corner somewhere far away…..
Your comment is pretty ironic considering your pseudonom.
Why is it ironic? Maybe he’s Jewish? Or one of the many Protestant faiths. Or Baptist. Or Mormon. Or a Jehovah’s Witness. Or Coptic. Catholicism doesn’t have a monopoly on the Old Testament.
Or maybe it is just genuinely this guy’s name.
Northern Ireland is not a country, it’s a province and two thirds of one at best…….
Almost half the population of two thirds of that province oppose it’s very existence to refer to Northern Ireland as a country is a joke
The same predictable articles from the Journal. Next we’ll see the one telling us where we can buy booze in Ireland today.
Still can’t figure out why they call it Good Friday when he was killed?
isnit really worth all the time spent moaning about it.
2 days a year alcohol cannot be served.
maybe we ahould actually reduce the availability.
why do we need pubs serving alcohol at 10 am on a tuesday morning?
who is that desperate?
lets move the start of serving time to 2pm everyday.
closing back to 10pm sundays.
and allow opening good friday
Just a tip, Simon. If you’re going to troll, don’t post a reasonable comment supporting the other side of the argument a little further up the page. Stay in character, it’s more convincing.
Of course, maybe the other comment is the troll, and you’ve done the old troll switcheroo. In which case, well played.
Simon,
Ever though about those working nights, who might enjoy a drink after work. It was the reason for early licences most, if not all, of which can be found near markets and docks or at least where they used to be.
Absolutely hanging for a pint, just because!!
There are restrictions on alcohol sales every day, 11.30pm to 10.30am/12.30pm, funny how this causes such uproar from the militant atheist lobby.
have your say