Newton Emerson

There was no sign this Easter of a rising in Northern Ireland’s licensed trade. Pubs and clubs complained about restrictive Easter opening hours, several publicity stunts were staged over the holiday weekend and a lobbying effort has been launched calling on Stormont for reform - but both the letter and spirit of the law were obeyed. Alas, untying the swings in these parts often takes a bit more gumption. The flowering of Belfast’s nightlife from the mid-1990s was driven by entrepreneurs exploiting loopholes in alcohol, entertainment and restaurant regulation - until the PSNI ov[...]