I hope the Government have not made up their minds as regards the hours proposed in this Bill. It they have, it is the end of it, but I hope they will be agreeable and that in the end, we shall get an agreed Bill. I think that on a matter of national importance, and this is a matter of national importance, we should get agreement. The fixing of the hours for the closing of public houses is of major importance.
This country, for a number of years, had a bad name for people who drank too much or who were not able to hold their drink. However, money values have changed and that change has had the result that we do not see many drunken people now. Of course, there may be a minority of people in this country, as there are in every other country, who drink more than they should, but the majority of people want to see the law enforced. I hope that when the Bill is passed, the law will be enforced in justice to everybody.
The principal matter we want to uphold is the preservation of family life. Any of us who come from country areas know to what extent family life has been destroyed by people drinking in public houses after closing time and spending the money that belongs to their wives and children. We find misery in many homes because a man or a boy stays out late in a public house and spends more money than he should. That happened because the law was too lax. In bringing in a law like this, we should regard it as permanent legislation. I do not like measures being brought in here and then changed every other year. In the case of the licensing laws, there should be no need for much change from one year to another. We should take an example from the North of Ireland. We claim to be a more Christian people than they are and yet we find that they have 10 o'clock closing the whole year round and that the law is strictly enforced. Is there any reason why we cannot do the same thing here?
I think a closing hour of 11.30 p.m. is too late. We must cater for the Irish people first and you will find that if you enforce your own laws, you will get respect for them from the foreigner. We should make Irish laws for the Irish people and make the stranger abide by those laws. A closing hour of 10.30 p.m. the whole year round would be reasonable. If a man leaves a public house at that hour, it will take him another hour to get home and by the time he is in bed, it will be 12 o'clock. This nation needs more production and you will not get more production if you have the people staying up until after the midnight hour and waking up with sore heads.
These are the things that should be considered. When you bring in a Bill to deal with a matter like this, it should be a good Bill and one that will meet the wishes of the majority of the people. A very large number of people are concerned about this Bill. No matter where you go, the first question you are asked is: "What way are you going to vote on this question of hours?" It is not a case of the Pioneers trying to shove this matter down our throats. It is the talk of fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters all over the country.
This country, being a Christian country, ought to have Christian laws and the first thing to be considered is family life. If you have late drinking hours, you are making family life very hard. I know many good homes which are in misery because of a lounger of a father or a son who holds on to the weekly wage instead of giving it to his family. The result is that the children are almost hungry. They are sad, too, because they see their mother unable to buy the necessaries of life. You have this big lounger having a royal time of it because we allow late drinking hours.
I believe 10.30 p.m. is late enough. It is time for anybody to be in bed. We think 10.30 very late when we come out of here at night and we see the streets almost empty. The Government should think twice before trying to force through a Bill with the late hour of 11.30 p.m. They are just trying to imitate the stranger, whereas they should be considering the ordinary people of Ireland. They should be trying to bring back our people to Christian habits.
There was a time when our people had a bad name for drinking. When drink was cheap, we made proper fools of ourselves. If drink were cheap in the morning, our people would make proper fools of themselves again. It is not that we are "goody-goodies" today; it is simply that drink is dear and money scarce. A sober Ireland will always be a free Ireland and, therefore, we should adopt reasonable drinking hours. You will get the blessings of everybody— the wives, the children, the clergymen —if you are manly enough to stand for what is right.
The Government should be honest with the country and should re-establish the noble traditions of the Irish race. We should have a sober Ireland of which we can be proud and which will observe decent licensing laws. But when the law has to be enforced, it should be enforced. We do not want the position we had for the past five or six years when you could walk out the front door of a public house and go in by the back door—when the Guard leaving the barracks may be told by the publican on the phone: "I will be ready in five minutes. The boys have gone out." If we have decent laws, they should be observed. We are sick and tired of all that went on. The law was not being enforced because it was as crooked and as rotten as it could be. If we do not amend the law now, we are not worth our salt.
We should be able to get agreement on the hours in this measure. We should be able to show the country that we can get agreement on something. If we got that agreement, I believe the country would accept it. But there are about 100 different points of view. The publicans have their point of view; so have the city Deputies; and so have the people down the country. But we should cater for the majority. There will always be a small minority out to break the law and have a royal time. But we should cater for those worth catering for: the children who are the fathers and mothers of tomorrow, and the old parents at home waiting for a drunken son to come home, perhaps to kick up a row, and knock down the dresser if there is not a good plate of meat set in front of him. We should cater for the simple Irish people who want to live decent lives. The Government should fix an hour that will be reasonable, and 10.30 p.m. would be reasonable the whole year around. Enforce that and you will have the blessings of the whole country.