Happy hour again at local pubs as courts approve lapsed licences

Happy hour again at local pubs as courts approve lapsed licences

12 March 2014

ITS back to business as usual for local pubs that were forced to close weeks ago due to a crackdown on overdue licences.

Relieved landlords of The Ramery Inn in Ballynahinch, The Dufferin Arms in Killyleagh, The Kings Inn in Castlewellan and the Corner Inn in Crossgar are among who appeared in court on Friday to secure new liquor licences for their premises.

They were forced to close after it emerged their licences had expired due to administrative oversights.

The local publicans admitted they only checked the status of their own licences after publicity over the National Trust owned Crown Bar in Belfast, which was forced to suddenly close in January due to a licensing issue.

They were shocked to discover their licences had also expired, meaning they needed to close immediately with dozens of staff put temporarily out of work.

The oversight led to them appealing for a change in the licensing system, which currently does not alert landlords about the imminent expiration of licences.

Kieran McGoran, from The Ramery Inn, said he hoped reminders would be sent out in the future to prevent similar oversights although he said he would not personally need one as June 2017, which is when his new licence expires, is now etched in his mind.

He said he feels the “weight of the world” has been lifted off his shoulders since his licence was reinstated at a court hearing in Newtownards on Friday.

“It has been a stressful time as this is a family pub and the closure affected us all,” he said.

“We were delighted to be able to open again as soon as we got the news on Friday afternoon.

“This will never happen again. June 2017 is etched in my mind as that is when the new licence will expire.”

John King, from The Stables Bar in Castlewellan, also spoke of his relief about being able to re-employ his many staff when he too was given the green light to reopen his premises on Friday.

“It is such a relief to have this over and done with,” he said.

“We had music on Friday and Saturday night and are delighted to be able to celebrate being up and running again.

“This will definitely not happen again.”

Austin McCullough, from The Dufferin Arms, who previously spoke about the stress of having to inform his staff that he would be forced to close, joked that he was considering tattooing the new expiry date on his arm to prevent any future oversights.

“We are definitely relieved but we are sure this will not happen again,” he said.

“A lot of tough lessons have been learned.”