T

The passing of the new intoxicating liquor bill, which will allow bars to sell alcohol on Good Friday for the first time since 1927, has (perhaps unsurprisingly) been met with fierce opposition in certain circles.

Some see it as yet another example of modern society carelessly discarding a long-standing tradition. There’s an element of truth to that, but just because a custom has been there forever doesn’t make it right. Ireland in 2018 is a very different place to the Ireland of 1927 so surely it makes sense that the laws governing its people should evolve at a similar pace.

This was a devoutly Catholic country 90 years ago so banning the sale of alcohol on the day of Jesus’ death, as well as on the day of his birth and St Patrick’s Day, may well have been an appropriate measure at the time. But times change. Even by 1960, people had successfully campaigned for the St Patrick’s Day ban to be lifted. Similar rules, such as not being allowed to eat meat on Friday, have also largely disappeared.

Religion simply isn’t as relevant to Irish people’s lives as it once was. Why should non-believers, or those of a different faith, or even Catholics who simply don’t agree with this particular tradition, be forced to live with a law that is explicitly Catholic in its nature?

Personally I’d be of the opinion that religion should have no influence whatsoever on our legal system. Thankfully most Irish people, certainly amongst my generation, seem to agree, as evidenced by the outcome of the marriage equality referendum in 2015. Although this current debate is more trivial, I can see very distinct parallels between the two.

Then as now those of a religious persuasion saw the law change as an attack on their personal beliefs. But the laws in question don’t actually affect them on a personal level. At the time of the marriage referendum, gay rights activists said, “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married”. The same logic can be applied to the removal of the drinking ban. If you don’t like drinking on Good Friday, don’t drink on Good Friday.

The new bill doesn’t state that every Irish citizen is now required to go on the lash on Good Friday, just as the legalisation of gay marriage hasn’t forced people unwillingly into gay marriages.

We’re talking about personal choices that affect the people making them on a strictly personal level. Let’s treat them as such.