Proposed changes to licensing laws are threatening the future of traditional Irish pubs and could have a detrimental impact on the industry.
That is according to rural publicans, who the changes were supposed to help.
The plan would remove the limit on the number of alcohol licenses someone can have.
Paul Clancy, Chief Executive of the Vintner's Federation of Ireland is not in favour of Justice Minister Helen McEntee's plans for deregulating the industry.
He told The Pat Kenny Show that such a move would be "counter-productive" as it would create competition that small and family-owned businesses couldn't win.
"New ventures would be less likely to succeed through the lack of generational expertise", he said.
"We feel we'd lose that tradition that we have in Ireland and rural pubs and that they could potentially be put at risk."
Family businesses
The federation's primary concern is with the affect of the new laws on families who have run their businesses for generations but may now have to leave the industry.
"That element of the culture of Irish society could exit the market and new entries coming into it may not be familiar with our business sector, particularly in rural villages", Mr Clancy explained.
"We know that pubs are currently struggling to survive."
The number of pubs in Ireland has reduced by 20% in the last 17 years.
Many rural pubs only open five days per week or less and, coupled with the affect of the pandemic, these licensing laws "would certainly not help the case for its longevity".
'Natural growth'
Despite a challenging few years for the sector, Mr Clancy said that there has been a return to the rural pub post-COVID.
This "bounce back" has been the result of pubs altering their business model to increase footfall.
"I think in general the public have seen the value of having their local pub in their local communities", he said.
"We don't need more pubs. What we need to do is make the existing pubs more sustainable."
Main image shows taps in a bar. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie
