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Judging by the furore generated by the abolition of the Good Friday drinking ban, a lot of people were expecting carnage when the day finally came around. The reality, however, was a lot less exciting.

Last Friday was the first time Irish bars were officially permitted to serve alcohol in 91 years and critics of the new amendment to the Liquor Act lamented the casting aside of a longstanding religious tradition. Amidst cries of, “Can we not have one day off the beer a year?” others, myself included, hailed another positive step towards personal freedom. To be honest, I did actually think that a lot of people might go on the lash for “Great Friday”, just for the novelty of it more than anything.

From speaking to local publicans, however, predictions of a new national holiday were wide of the mark. “It was business as usual, really,” said Colm Foley of Charlie Foley’s Bar. “There was a lot of talk that it was going to be the best day ever but there wasn’t too much of a change from a normal Friday.”

I spoke to some tourists over the weekend and they couldn’t believe it when I told them it was the first Good Friday in almost a century that the bars were open. If they couldn’t go to the pub, they said, they would have been stuck in their hotel rooms for the night. For a town so dependent on tourism, the new law is clearly good for business and good for the reputation of Killarney.

So, all in all, the day seemed to go off without incident. Contrary to what certain people might think, maybe we are capable of showing some modicum of restraint. Maybe we are smart enough to make these kinds of decisions on our own, without the help of an outside body. I think the most important thing for a town like ours is that if it’s good for tourism, it’s good for all of us