The price of the pint? The short answer is just under 50p. That's all a pint of Guinness costs before the Exchequer and publican add on their share. At least three quarters of what the consumer pays goes into their pockets.

For bottled beer and soft drinks the margins are even greater. In the case of a glass of mineral water costing £1.10, the publican takes as much as 80p.

And they wonder why people get so wound up over the issue.

"The publican's share has gone up in recent years," admits Mr Frank Fell chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association which represents 650 publicans in the greater Dublin area. "But it is necessary, number one, because of increased labour costs and, number two, because of the cost of refurbishment."

Labour costs now account for between 18 and 23 per cent of the price of a pint, he says, adding: "We have to invest more in refurbishment because that is what the punters want. There is a very high level of expectation nowadays. Pubs are competing not so much with each other but with other players in the leisure industry."

Mr Paul O'Grady, president of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, which represents more than 6,000 publicans outside Dublin, attributes price levels to the same reasons. "If the punter wants more in terms of service and comfort there's no point in him crying fowl when prices go up."

But it is not price increases which irks consumers so much. It is the way in which they seem to be implemented arbitrarily and are out of line with inflation.

In the past decade, the average price of a pint of Guinness has risen by almost 50 per cent from £1.41 to £2.05. Between 1992 and 1997, retail prices increased by roughly 6 per cent over and above the intervening inflation rate.

In the same period, the publican's share of the price of a pint rose from 35 per cent to 40 per cent, while the Exchequer's share fell by the same margin.

The recent increases led to an eight-month, Government-imposed price freeze, which ended last October. Since then the offices of the LVA have been raided by Competition Authority officials, believed to be investigating allegations of price fixing in the industry. The claims are vehemently denied by publicans.

"It's an absolute myth that there's no difference in pub prices," says Mr Fell of the LVA. "If you walk half a mile from Summerhill to the Quays to Grafton Street, you'll find 45p in the difference between pubs. There is an enormous range in price compared to other products like petrol or butter."

In addition, he says the capital compares favourably on price with other European cities. An LVA study, the results of which will be published before the end of the month, found that Dublin was by far the cheapest of seven cities surveyed in Europe. "In comparison to other places, we're practically giving it away," says Mr Fell.

An Irish Times straw poll of Dublin pubs supports his assertion that large price differences can be found in the city. Prices among pubs surveyed ranged from £1.83 to £2.65 for a pint of Guinness, a difference of 82p.

Furthermore, price similarities tended to be limited to localities, giving credence to the claim that it is competition not price-fixing which determines the rate the customer pays.

In Summerhill, for instance, strong competition has pushed down the average price of a pint of Guinness to £2 and a pint of larger to £2.25. Prices in pubs in other parts of the cities, like James's Street and Stoneybatter, shadow each other in a similar manner.

One alarming finding, however, especially for non-drinkers, is that within localities price competition tends to be much fiercer for draught beer than for non-alcoholic drinks or bottled beer. In one Ringsend pub, for instance, where OAPs can have a pint of Guinness for £1.65, up to 40p cheaper than in nearby pubs, a mineral water will set you back £1.10.

This reflects the higher price share which publicans take on such drinks, on average 50 per cent in the case of a longneck beer and 60 per cent in the case of soft drinks.

Mr O'Grady of the VFI says the higher margins are simply a consequence of "the laws of supply and demand. Minerals don't shift as well from the shelves. They take up valuable space and they take the same manpower to serve them in terms of getting a glass, and ice and lemon and then cleaning the glass."

He says soft drinks account for only 5 per cent of the publican's turnover compared to 60 per cent in the case of draught beer and stout. "Longneck beers, however, are the worst value," says Mr O'Grady. "You're paying the same price if not more for 330 ml of beer instead of 560 ml, just to be able to drink it out of a bottle."

That differential is exaggerated in late-night bars, which are exempt from normal closing-time requirements and where longneck beers costing about £1.20 to the publican sell for as much as £3.

On where the best value can be found, Mr O'Grady says the north-west and the Border area are among the cheapest regions. The smaller turnover at such pubs puts a downward pressure on price.

"Where you have a large population there is no limit on what you can charge, but in small villages where people know the cost of labour it's very hard to raise the price."

This trend is mirrored on a national basis, where there are striking differences in turnover between country pubs and those in the capital.

A recent VFI survey showed that 15 per cent of Dublin pubs have a turnover exceeding £1 million, compared to 0.5 per cent of country pubs. Furthermore, it found more than 76 per cent of country pubs have a turnover of less than £150,000 compared to just 12 per cent of Dublin pubs. Despite this fact, the average price of a pint in Dublin is 10p more than outside the city.