Licensing laws: Late night as MLAs debate plan to extend pub opening times

Proposals to extend opening times for pubs and nightclubs in Northern Ireland have taken another step towards becoming law.

It was a late night at Stormont as MLAs stayed to the early hours of Wednesday debating legislation to modernise NI's 25-year-old licensing laws.

The bill aims to allow pubs and clubs to serve alcohol for an extra hour, until 02:00, almost every weekend.

It also proposes removing restrictions around Easter drinking.

It is thought the legislation could pass its final stage in the assembly by the end of the month, with most of the changes then becoming law from October.

The proposals have been a very long time in the making, with Stormont first putting forward changes eight years ago.

A previous bill to change Northern Ireland's licensing laws began its legislative passage in 2016, but the assembly collapsed in January 2017 amid a bitter row between the DUP and Sinn Féin, who share power together at Stormont.

As the lengthy debate began on Tuesday evening, Speaker Alex Maskey said it may run until the "early hours of the morning and maybe some of us will be driven to drink afterwards".

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey described the proposals as a "great move which brings our drinking laws into the 21st Century".

After debating 63 amendments, the Licensing and Registration of Clubs Bill passed its consideration stage in the early hours of the morning.

Some of assembly members who took part in the debate, including Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong and DUP Chief Whip Joanne Bunting, tweeted photos as they left work after 03:00 BST.

One amendment from independent unionist MLA Claire Sugden suggested extending the definition of a "place of public entertainment" to include cinemas, so they can sell alcohol on their premises.

It is understood Ms Hargey has expressed reservations about that proposal.

Her department has instead said it is preparing to carry out a 12-week public consultation on that specific matter over the summer.

Ms Hargey told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster that the proposals were "fundamental changes" and it was important to consider "what the consequences of those are".

She said no consultation had been done around cinemas, and "there are very few places at which a family can go and enjoy entertainment where there is no alcohol sold".

"I do think that there is a want within the community that that is retained on one hand, that said I am willing to listen as a minister in terms of doing further consultation on this," she added.

"I don't think it is good, at this point of laying legislation, of making a change that would be significant like this without doing the due consultation and seeing the impact.

"I want to make sure on the issue of cinemas and looking at that entertainment, which is very family focused, that we do more consultation on that issue."

Ms Sugden had questioned delaying a proposal that she believed was "inevitable".

She said cinemas in other parts of the UK can already sell alcohol to customers and she hoped MLAs would support her amendment.

"Cinemas have had a really difficult year with the pandemic and anything we can do to support them can only be a good thing," she added.

Other changes in the bill include the extension in "drinking-up time" from half an hour to an hour, meaning venues can operate until 03:00 at weekends.

The law will also be tightened in some areas - supermarkets will face restrictions on where they can place in-store advertising for alcohol.

The current voluntary code of practice for drinks promotions will be replaced with legal requirements.

Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster said that there had been a "number of false dawns" in relation to modernising licensing laws and now change was "tantalisingly close".

"We recognise alcohol is a controlled substance and needs to be treated as such, we haven't come asking for 24-hour drinking like England or deregulation, this is about looking at what the customer wants and actually modernise it.

"They are modest but significant in their impact measures, because people do go out later now, they want to go out and socialise.

"We have to be able to provide that (extended hours) particularly with tourists visiting here as well."

Michael McAdam, managing director of Movie House Cinemas, said adults could already sample alcohol if they were watching an event at theatres in Northern Ireland.

"All we are saying at cinema is please give us a chance to be in line, to serve our customers, to give our customers what they want," he said.

"That is the choice to make an adult decision if they want to have an alcoholic beverage or not."

An amendment that would require the Northern Ireland Executive to review the "surrender principle" in Northern Ireland licensing law was one of those passed at Stormont.

The principle means no new licence can ever be granted unless another one is surrendered.

Licences for selling alcohol on and off premises are also convertible in court, which means that every supermarket or convenience store seeking to add an off sales needs to acquire a licence from somewhere else.

The SDLP's Matthew O'Toole, who proposed the amendment, said that was likely to have contributed to the decline in the number of pubs and made it very difficult for new rural or small town pubs to be created as licences are scarce and expensive assets.

He emphasised that any review would have to carefully consider all the impacts - including on existing licensees.

He said: "My amendment simply requires the department to appoint an independent person to review the licensing system, including the surrender principle.

"Critically the amendment makes clear that the reviewer has to have regard to the interests of existing licence holders, by ensuring they consider options for compensation in the event of reform."

Colin Neill said Hospitality Ulster members were "terrified" by Mr O'Toole's proposal, saying that bar owners were "incredibly vulnerable" following the latest Covid-19 lockdown.

Mr O'Toole is also proposing that the department should publish an annual report on the number of pubs and operational licenses by postcode.

He added: "These amendments are not about rushing into reform - they are about getting robust information to plan for reform."