Cathal Barry
The President of the Pioneers Total Abstinence Association has insisted that the ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday should remain in place.
James Shevlin told The Irish Catholic he would “very much oppose” reversing the ban because “it is an acknowledgment that the country wants to hold onto some of its Christian values”.
“The Pioneer Association, while it is a temperance movement, is also a movement that has a Church grounding.
“From a Catholic point of view it is known that Good Friday is the solemn day of the year. That was acknowledged and very much taken into account when the ban was introduced in legislation back in the 1920s and we feel that acknowledgment should still be there,” he said.
Mr Shevlin’s remarks come after the launch of a new campaign against the Good Friday ban by the Vintners’ Association of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintner’ Association (LVA).
‘No-brainer’
Citing the 1916 commemorations and Ireland’s soccer clash with Switzerland as reasons to allow pubs to open on Good Friday this year, both the VFI and the LVA claimed changing the law was a “no-brainer” for the Government.
Mr Shevlin, however, insisted that the licensing laws in Ireland are already “very generous” and provide “ample opportunities” for alcohol to be sold throughout the year.
“I can see no good reason why this particular ban should be lifted. This is just one day in the year. The year is well legislated for in terms of licencing hours and we feel that it is sending a message that we are a country that wants to hold onto some of the Christian values,” Mr Shevlin said, adding that those who played a part in the 1916 Rising “fought for a higher ideal than opening pub doors on Good Friday”.
Darren Butler, the National Coordinator of the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative (IBDI), said he supported the ban as an “opportunity for people to take a break from drinking alcohol and to spend more time with family or doing something more active”.
Common good
Bishop Eamon Walsh, vice-chair of the IBDI, said it “is a matter for the civil authorities to decide on the context and content of legislation, and this should serve the common good”.
“The sale of alcohol on Good Friday is an issue on which Christians can make up their own minds based on an informed conscience and on the content of proposed legislation,” he said.