Laois publican happy to keep closing on Good Friday

A Laois publican says he is happy to hold on to tradition and keep his pub closed on Good Friday. 

John Edward Moloney believes the tradition is worth keeping and he noted that there are only two days in the year when pubs had traditionally closed, Good Friday and Christmas Day. 

He said just because there’s no law against opening it doesn’t mean you should open. He pointed out that it was a day off not just for publicans but for their staff as well.  

“If they turned around and said are you going to open on Christmas Day, are you going to open?” he asked.

“I have a lot of messages from people I don’t know saying, fair play to you for staying closed,” he revealed. 

“It is a holy day, do you really want the pub open?” he asked.  

John runs the Moloney's Gaelic Bar on Patrick Street in Mountmellick. The son of former Fianna Fail Junior Minister, John Moloney, John has run the pub on his own for the past 12 years and has recently invested substantial sums in developing an outdoor venue. 

“I came here 12 years ago, renovated the pub and I have been updating it bit by bit,” John explained. 

He said the pub had just three taps and one television before he renovated the property. In the past week he has had to move customers from bar to lounge while a new €60,000 beer line system was installed. 

The pub is now home to live music every weekend and John has built an outdoor venue to the rear of the pub with seating for 100 people. “We are constantly investing in it,” John said.

He is delighted to be able to have live music to Mountmellick and said the venue is attracting big acts. He said the outdoor music venue has allowed bigger acts like Transmitter to perform at the pub and he was looking forward to their return on May 18.  

The ban on pubs opening on Good Friday was overturned by the government in 2018.