Pubs in Dublin and Cork have confirmed they wouldn’t ever consider a ban on solo drinkers as they noted the ‘beauty’ of Irish pubs is a group of strangers befriending each other over a quick pint.
It comes after a cocktail bar in Greater Manchester faced backlash for their long-standing rule of no solo drinkers after 9 pm.
Carl Peters, owner of Alibi in Altrincham, explained that the policy was to prevent incidents happening at the late-night bar.
"If someone is on their own, if something happens to them, it’s an absolute nightmare for us to deal with," he said, adding that there can be a disruption of the atmosphere when solo drinkers approach groups.
Speaking to Extra.ie, Nathy Towey, bar manager of Dublin’s Darkey Kelly’s, confirmed they "wouldn’t be looking to do something like that."
He explained: "There’s a lot of lads that come in for half an hour on their own, scroll through the phone and have a quick pint before they’re heading home.
"We’d never envisage doing it."
Asked about solo drinkers being more disruptive, Mr. Towey responded: "A lot of the guys, if they had someone going over annoying the group, I’m sure someone in the group would be quick enough to tell them to leave them alone anyway. It’s not something we experience an awful lot here."
The bar manager added that bar staff would be quick to police if issues arised.
Mr. Towey told Extra.ie that, like every bar in the capital, they would be mindful of people’s drink and would have a "quiet word before it gets to the stage that he wouldn’t be able to walk out the door."
"You wouldn’t let it get to that stage."
The same sentiments were felt down in the south, with Cork pub Costigans stating they would "definitely not" ban solo drinkers.
Manager Brian told us incidents arise only "once in the blue moon" and "wouldn’t be a big thing."
He said: "I think it’s kinda the beauty of an Irish pub is that it’s a group of strangers sitting at a counter and they all start chatting to each other.
"A group of lads that go in on their own, read the paper and end up being best buddies."
Brian added that in the case of tourists the "number one thing they want to do is go to an Irish pub."
"The beauty of it is that everybody is chatting away to each other, whether they know each other or not, everybody’s friends at the bar."
The topic was discussed on Reddit, following a social media post by Alibi defending their stance.
Some defending solo patrons confirmed they enjoyed a solo pint without causing disruption, while others confirmed similar practices did exist elsewhere.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.