David

Much of the information you require (in respect of Scottish liquor licensing at any rate) is in chapter 1 of the 2003 Nicholson Report.  You can download an electronic copy from our (Scottish Addiction Studies) online library at:

http://www.drugslibrary.stir.ac.uk/

You can also find a brief history of the alcohol legislation in a chapter which Gill McIvor and I wrote for a 2003 book (attached).  The full reference is:

Yates, R. and McIvor, G. (2003) Alcohol and the criminal justice system in Scotland.  In: S. Kilcommins and I. O'Donnell (eds.) Alcohol, Society and Law, Chichester: Barry Rose Law Publishers.

Hope that is of some help.  For information on Irish legislation, your best source would probably be Shane Butler at Trinity College.



Rowdy Yates
Senior Research Fellow
Scottish Addiction Studies
School of Applied Social Science
University of Stirling
Scotland

T: +44 (0) 1786-467737
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W: http://www.dass.stir.ac.uk/sections/showsection.php?id=4  (home)
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________________________________________
From: Alcohol and Drugs History Society [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Fahey [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 30 May 2011 17:12
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sunday Closing in Scotland and Ireland

It can be frustratingly difficult to learn basic facts about the sale
of alcoholic beverages.  May I ask for help about the end of Sunday
Closing in Scotland and Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Irish
Republic)?  In Scotland local authorities obtained the right to allow
the sale of alcoholic drink on Sundays in the 1970s.  I assume that
today Sunday Closing has disappeared entirely in Scotland.  Does
anybody have the date?  What about Sunday Closing in Ireland where in
the late nineteenth century it existed outside the major cities?  I
assume that it has disappeared in the Irish Republic.  Date?  I am
less certain about Northern Ireland.

Sunday Closing for alcoholic drink was mostly a consequence of
sabbatarianism, and sabbatarianism has virtually disappeared.  Growing
up in New York State in the late 1940s, I recall that it then was
difficult to buy an innocuous bottle of milk on Sunday and on holidays
such as today's (Memorial Day).  All the big stores were closed,
whether by law or custom.

David M. Fahey



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