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VFI Welcomes District Court Ruling

25-March-2010

The Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) today welcomed the decision by the District Court in Limerick to award a special exemption to its Limerick City based members to open for business on Good Friday. Welcoming the decision, Limerick City Chairman, Jerry O'Dea commented:

"We are pleased with the successful application by our members in getting an Area Exemption. But our members saw this as a last resort having previously consulted both the Magners League and the respective teams with a view to playing the game on either the Thursday or the Saturday.

"We see this decision as a victory for common sense and we feel that the majority of the public supported our members in their application".

VFI National Executive Member, David Hickey, added:

"We welcome this decision by the District Court. The festival atmosphere this game creates in Limerick, Cork or Dublin can not be replicated by any other domestic rugby fixture.

"It would be churlish to say that it is only that - it is of course a huge opportunity for the hosting area to capitalise on the revenue generated by the influx of fans that the games attract.

"As we saw on Monday with the publication of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland report, publicans and indeed other small businesses are struggling right now. For the city to have lost up to €6 million in trade would have been scandalous.

"This really is a welcome fillip for local businesses in Limerick and indeed for both Munster and Leinster fans."