Pubs in Killarney have been granted a special exemption to open early on Sunday to cater for the crowds arriving for the Cork-Kerry Munster football final.
It is the first ever such application before the court for the day of the Munster final at the Fitzgerald’s Stadium, which opened in 1936.
The application for an area exemption under section 10 of the Intoxicating Liquor Acts was moved at Killarney District Court on Friday morning.
Huge crowds
However, Judge James O’Connor refused to row back the 12.30pm opening time to 10am, as requested by the vintners. He instead set an opening time of 11am. The judge warned gardaí to prosecute anyone opening before this time.
The area exemption application for a special event in which huge crowds were expected, was moved on behalf of McSweeney Arms Hotel at Killarney District Court. There were 23 signatories, and it would cover the town pubs of which there are 40, solicitor Dan O’Connor told the court.
The minor match between Clare and Kerry is at noon, and the senior match is at 2pm; 35,000 people are expected to arrive.
The “reasoning” for the application was because of the earlier than normal start.