The Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022 promised the biggest change to Irish licensing in a century: standard pub hours of 10:30am to 12:30am seven days a week, annual late-bar permits to 2:30am, nightclub permits to 6am, and an end to the need to buy an existing licence to open a new pub.

What happened

The Bill was split in two in 2024, with the first part renamed the Intoxicating Liquor Bill. In February 2025 that Bill was left off the Government's spring priority list. In October 2026 a nightlife campaign event in Dublin heard that the legislation has made almost no progress in the Oireachtas, and that the number of active nightclubs in Ireland has fallen from 522 in the 2000s to 83.

What it means for you

  • Late trading still needs a Special Exemption Order from the District Court, with the costs that go with it.
  • The Licensed Vintners Association reports late-night openings in late bars and nightclubs continue to decline, and has warned that ending the licence-purchase rule would reduce the value of existing licences, which many publicans treat as a pension.
  • Nothing in the Bill is law. Plan on current rules for 2027.

We'll update this piece when the Bill moves. The LVA, VFI and Give Us The Night are the sources to watch.