Sir, – Your columnist Una Mullally makes a good point about pub licensing ("Celtic Tiger 2.0? Why Dublin's nightlife is disintegrating", Opinion & Analysis, July 30th).
I had to attend the District Court recently and almost the whole of the first hour of business was taken up by solicitors and barristers on behalf of their publican clients seeking licence extensions over the following weekend. It required a Garda officer to be present, and he had to respond to each request, although there were no objections. The judge gave clearance in all cases, having checked with the Garda officer. Surely this process could be circumvented by not requiring a publican to have to apply to the court unless there is an objection lodged with the Garda Síochána beforehand. It ties up valuable court time and is an antiquated system. – Yours, etc,
JOHN ROCHE,
Cork.