Is your drink worth €100 to you?
Galway is renowned for being a great place to have a pint, and during the summer months when the weather has been known to get sunny on an occasion, people will inevitably spill out into the streets in search of that elusive sunshine with their pint in hand.
However, this could be a thing of the past though as a new bye-law has been published which gives the Gardaí and community wardens the power to search people suspected of having a container with alcohol and confiscate it.
Currently, a loophole in the law prevents Gardaí from confiscating alcohol being consumed in public and this new bye-law will replace the current unenforceable ban on public drinking.
When the bye-law is brought into effect in two months’ time, Gardai will be able to issue an on-the-spot one of €100 for public drinking, which increases to €200 if not paid within 21 days.
Finally, if it remains unpaid for 56 days, the matter goes to court where you could end up being charged €1,500 for the offence.
Quite a price to pay for a sneaky bottle in the street or on the beach.
However, there’s no need to panic too much, the Chief Executive can ‘relax’ the bye-law during festivals or special events such as the Galway Races or the Galway Film Festival.
Hat tip to the Connacht Tribune.
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