You're not being disagreeable at all! Perfectly valid points.
And yes, I noticed the pm/am mix up myself... The suggested law will cover all late bars and night clubs in the city from Sunday to Thursday. A "late bar" is a bar that serves until 2am, and essentially operates as an alternative to those who do not wish to frequent your traditional night club. A group of which I am a member, as are many others :)
Your assumption that these days would present the pubs and clubs with a "small amount of custom" is one that could be shared by a lot of people. However, it is not the case. Galway is a city that depends hugely on its tourism and entertainment income... For example, each July there are three festivals running in the city. They bring enormous amounts of people to the city, and they bring money to the bars. Cut out one hour of this steady income out of all tills across the city and that amounts to a LOT of money lost. However, it's not just in July.
Galway is a student city. It is home to three third level institutions and from September to May a sizeable percentage of the city's population is comprised of students. And when do students go out? During the week... Thursday night often being the busiest night of the week, the dedicated student night. Again, one hour cut out of every night's income is a lot of money needlessly lost.
As for any proliferation in crime? In a word, no. Galway is a very safe place to go out in, and anybody suggesting cutting the hour is in the interests of safety would be guilty of hype and fear mongering. And as for the extra costs you mentioned - licensing, insurance, security, staff, electric and maintenance - on a busy night the extra hour's business would cover the extra hour's costs. Obviously, on a slow night, costs may not be covered... But at least leave it to the discretion of the premises owner to close if he or she feels it financially sensible. Don't enforce closure with some draconian nonsense!
Hope that cleared some things up for ya :)
(, Wed 15 Aug 2012, 1:34, Reply)
OK, thank you, I do know of certain urbanised areas that do suffer as a result of late night weekday drinking. I do however no little about Galway.
If indeed it's premises have a massive reliance on the tourist, student and entertainment industry it is a given that some jobs will rely upon it. Having lived in major cities, I know that you can always find somewhere for a drink, otherwise you keep some in. I'm not going to sign the petition, but I am not against it. Sorry i'm being a fucking prick and sitting on the fence. I do however find your previous comment alot more convincing than the petitions manifesto, stick it up there. I am probably being a hippocrite here, and coming across as such, but fuck it, I don't have any qualms about what you are doing, can't ratify it in my conciensce though. Good luck.
*KNOW,
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skeltonator Needs some new daps., Wed 15 Aug 2012, 2:05,
Reply)