NSW Pub Unfairly Blacklisted: Liquor Accord

By Ian Neubauer

The Lismore Liquor Accord (LLA) is up in arms after a pub that has been at forefront of the battle against alcohol-related crime in the northern NSW city was blacklisted by the Premier’s office last week.

Mary Gilhooley’s Irish Pub is among the 50-odd licensed venues singled out as a ‘hot-spots’ and which will face strict new licensing conditions effective December 1.

The decision was made based on data collected by the NSW police and compiled by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR).

It ranked Mary Gilhooley’s as 48th on a list of venues with the highest rates of alcohol-related crime, with 19 assaults recorded between July 2007 and June 2208.

But LLA chairperson, Rebekka Battista, said the decision was disappointing given the venue’s standing in the community.

“Mary Gilhooley’s former manager started the liquor accord and the new guys have been so proactive and been leading the way with changing things in the last three years. We are very disappointed,” she said.

Battista said most of the new conditions Mary Gilhooley's will be subject to — including the banning of glasses after midnight and a 2:00am lockout — have already been voluntarily enacted by the pub.

Nonetheless she described it as a slap in the face for Mary Gilhooley's, Lismore and the LLA, adding that the LLA would meet later this week to discuss their response. 

“Our question to the premier is ‘why did you not inform us of what you were going to do?’ It would have been nice if we had got the information first instead of watching it on the 6:00pm news,” she said.
 
To comment on this story, click here.
 

[Wed 05/11/2008 03:47:18]