So good (mostly) Catholics of Ireland, I’m intrigued – how will you be spending Good Friday? It’s an argument that will be thrashed out all across the airwaves this week and leads me to wonder is the idea of being locked out of the pubs for a day utterly defunct in the face of a massive increase in drinking at home? And do we still care?
For example, two years ago I readily partook in the festivities at Thomond Park, during which Limerick vintners happily served up pint after pint (or glass of vino in my case) to their jersey-wearing customers. Munster rugby is worth an awful lot of money to a city which has been hit badly by the recession with the closure of Dell and many other large employers. It was deemed financially sensible to avail of an opportunity to cater for the crowds and keep some hospitality jobs safe for a little bit longer.
Another year I spent Good Friday at a lovely dinner cooked by a very good friend of mine. Five of us girls sat around sipping wine, chatting about boyfriends and generally relaxing on a rare day off. Our host served up a delicious chicken dish, which most of us tucked into readily while some of the group declined, as they had decided not to eat meat that day, out of deference and respect for the Catholic tradition.
I very much admire those friends for choosing to follow their beliefs, but it did bring into sharp focus the difficulty of reconciling strict Catholic rules with modern life, given that back then most of us were co-habiting, pill-popping, mass-dodgers supping happily on a glass of Pinot.
I’ve noticed some restaurants working around the law with innovative ideas. Ouzos in Dubin, for example, is open with a BYOB policy and one floating restaurant, La Peniche in Dublin, is able to side-step the rules. The uber-popular Tannery Dungarven, having consulting with An Garda Siochana about the matter, have decided to open, but will be serving a selection of soft-drinks with their much lauded meals.
I will be in France this Friday night and as a result I can pretty much assure you I will be nestled with a book and a glass of good Minervois red in front of the stove, but I’m interested in finding out what’ll you be up to?
Do you think we should observe the rules for this – just one – day every year? Or are you going to hell in a handcart with me and a glass of Chardonnay? 