Hospitality Ulster secures cross party written commitment to guarantee licensing law reform

31 May 2019

Hospitality Ulster secures cross party written commitment to guarantee licensing law reform with return of Stormont.

The welcome news comes as the leading hospitality body removed its objection on a number of small amendments to licensing legislation that would only benefit big one-off events such as The British Open in Portrush this July.

Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster said:

“With recent developments - namely the consultation on special events from the Department for Communities - it has brought the lack of modernisation of liquor licensing into sharp focus, particularly with our main political parties. Our previous objection to these departmental amendments were based on the fact that they did not benefit the wider hospitality industry. In the period since the consultation has closed, we have now received written confirmation from the five main political parties that legislation will be a priority on the restoration of the Assembly. We also have to remember that the Bill to push forward the reforms had already been introduced to the last Assembly prior to its collapse, so much of the heavy lifting in terms of drafting had already been carried out.”

“This has been a win-win situation for both the implementation of the recommendations from the special events consultation, and more importantly for the wholesale reform of liquor licensing in Northern Ireland.”

“The political parties are now on record with their commitment and we look forward to swift and effective legislative progress. It remains in our interest that Stormont gets back up and running and assists a sector that drives the economy to the tune of £1.2billion per annum and promotes our international reputation.”


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For further information or to set up an interview with Colin Neill, please contact:

Chris Brown
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