Galway vintners have hit out at the new restrictions on the sale of alcohol, which were unveiled by Minister Brian Lenihan earlier this month.

The new laws are expected to be introduced by this summer and curtail the sale of alcohol in off-licenses as well as clamping down on the sale of alcohol to minors. Under the new bill, alcohol must only be sold in off-licenses between the hours of 10.30am and 10pm rather than the existing times of 7.30am and 12.30am.

Supermarkets will also be forced to display alcohol in an area structurally separate from the rest of their produce or behind a counter. Gardaí are also to receive increased powers under the new legislation, allowing them to object to late licenses on public order grounds and test pubs and other outlets by sending in underage people to try to buy drink, in order to expose breaches of the law.

While the measures have broadly received a positive response from those in the industry, Val Hanley of the Vintners Federation of Ireland has slammed the undercover nature of the Gardaí in testing the sale of alcohol to minors.

"This is a difficult situation as alcohol is much too easily accessible everywhere. The Minister has a tough job to do and I think that he has made a great start with these regulations. Fifty-two per cent of alcohol is sold outside of pubs, yet we are still getting the blame for the associated anti-social behaviour. In my opinion, it is completely unfair to bring young teenagers into pubs in a once-off situation in order to judge whether pubs will sell them alcohol or not. It is a horrible away to go about things," he said.

"Instead, they should introduce a mandatory age card for over 18s. Then it would be simple: no card, no alcohol. It is a big step and would involve substantial funding, but I don't think that we should be afraid to get serious about the situation. With alcohol abuse such a bane on society, we shouldn't shy away from it," he added.

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