Pity the poor publicans. Barely a week goes by without them giving out about how hard it is to make a living. As many of them will be quick to tell you, charging up to €7 a pint to gullible tourists in Temple Bar is far from easy.

Just this week, publicans and other colleagues in the drinks industry were up in arms over a new Eurostat study that found Ireland is the most expensive country in the EU in which to buy alcohol. According to Donall O'Keefe of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), the high price of alcohol is directly related to the unfair excise rate, which he claimed is a direct tax on jobs, tourism and consumers.

It’s not all bad news though as the 2016 European Championships are giving those in pubs and off-licences across the land plenty to celebrate as Irish fans back their country by drinking as much as is humanely possible.

According to new figures from AIB, publicans scored well on the day of Ireland's opening game against Sweden as consumers used their debit cards to spend 88 per cent more in bars than on average for most recent working Mondays.

With a packed weekend of sports ahead of us, and with Ireland facing Belgium this afternoon, publicans will have more than enough to raise a glass to.

It’s possible that sports fans will take their seats - if lucky enough to get one - at 1.45pm today and remain in situ in their local pub until 8pm. In that six hour window they will cheer on their respective soccer, rugby and gaelic teams, while being catered with food and drinks by busy bar staff throwing money into burgeoning tills.

No matter how individual teams get on in the coming hours, it looks like publicans are dead certs to emerge as winners.