FOR A COUNTRY whose chief cultural export is its pubs—there are some 7,000 Irish pubs worldwide, and 8,403 on the island itself—Ireland makes it surprisingly difficult to open a drinking establishment. In both Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom, but with many of its own laws) and the Republic, the process is slow, pricey and fraught with uncertainty.
Both use a system familiar to anybody who has ever queued to get into a nightclub: one in, one out. Aspiring landlords must buy licences from those willing to “surrender” theirs. Moreover, buyers must prove local “need” by pointing to a growing population or the closure of nearby pubs. Objections, from existing publicans, say, can cause months of delays. Transfers of licences are approved by courts and dates for disputed cases are hard to come by, says Maura McKay, a lawyer in Belfast.
Getting a licence in Ireland…
