An application by supermarket chain Lidl to lift a morning restriction on the sale of drink from its store on Moore Street, Dublin, was struck out yesterday.
There was no appearance by the company in Dublin District Court where traders and gardaí turned up to object to a proposal to extend the shop's drinks licence which was granted last year.
Stall-holders on the market street claim the greater availability of alcohol, particularly from cut-price stores like Lidl, exacerbates the problem of homeless people congregating in the area to drink.
It is claimed that street traders, many of them elderly women, have to put up with drunk and abusive behaviour, including people urinating under their stalls.
Gardaí also oppose allowing alcohol to be sold from the shop because they believe the area is adequately served with off-licences. Many public order incidents in the Moore Street/Parnell Street area occur during normal shop opening hours.
Lidl argues that it can deal with such problems as it has at other stores.
The then District Court president Peter Smithwick had granted the licence last year, but with a condition that drink should not be sold before 10am. At the beginning of this year's licensing season, Lidl asked for that restriction to be lifted. Since last year Lidl has extended the opening hours of its stores.
The application was due to be heard yesterday, but Judge Mary Collins was told there was no appearance by the company. She struck out the application.