Response to Social Development Minister

23 August 2010

In response to the announcement by Social Development Minister Alex Attwood of his plans to introduce proposals that will challenge the irresponsible sale of alcohol, Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Pubs of Ulster said:

�The responsible retailing of alcohol is of paramount importance to Pubs of Ulster and our members and the licensed trade in Northern Ireland is amongst the most proactive and successful in providing self regulation. We do accept however that there is a small minority of pubs which push the boundaries on drinks promotions and while this is not representative of the pub industry as a whole in Northern Ireland, we welcome the Ministers� announcement which will reinforce the methods of self regulation Pubs of Ulster is already driving forward. We are also encouraged that the Minister has added his support to proposals to introduce minimum pricing following the recent commitment to ban below cost selling of alcohol announced by UK Government. This is an issue which has been at the forefront of our agenda over the last number of years and Pubs of Ulster has actively campaigned in favour of and we now hope to see legislation introduced in the near future to tackle the issue.�