Dublin Pubs To Introduce 5c Per Ice-Cube Charge

FOLLOWING the decision by a Dublin pub to charge customers 20c for a pint of tap water, many more premises have opted to follow suit, with some establishments going so far as to charge customers 5c for every ice-cube.

Diceys Bar on Harcourt Street were yesterday outed as the first in the country to customers to pay for tap water, with the 20c price tag representing a 7143% mark-up on the cost from Irish Water.

A spokesman for the popular hotspot described how the bar was forced to introduce the charge in order to avoid going out of business, as giving away water for free was no longer economically viable.

The new charges are expected to cause a drop in the number of people drinking a pint of water between alcoholic beverages in pubs, a common tactic in lessening the harmful effects of drinking. The 5c charge per ice-cube has prompted many customers to start drinking their spirits neat, in an effort to avoid the extra expense.

“I used to finish every night with a swift pint of water to avoid hangovers, but that’s all gone now, ” said one punter we interviewed on Harcourt Street. “I don’t mind paying my way in life, but if they’re going to start charging me for tap water I’ll nip into the jacks and fill a pint glass in the sink instead”.

Other drinkers told us of plans to avoid charges by drinking water at home for free before they came into town, and many of the younger girls we spoke to showed us handbags full of bottles of water that they intended to smuggle into nightclubs later that night.