Updated 22.45pm

IS THE INTRODUCTION of water charges about to put an end to free pints of H2O from the tap?

Jarrod Bromley’s experience today has raised a few eyebrows.

At Dicey’s Bar in the Russell Court Hotel in Dublin this afternoon, he was shocked to find he’d been charged 20 cents for what he confirms was “a plain pint of tap water.”

I asked the guy behind the bar – ‘You are joking, aren’t you?’

He seemed a bit embarrassed by it himself, to be honest.

Good value at @DiceysGarden for a roast meal but 20c for a pint of water?! pic.twitter.com/VnFUnUj72D — Jarrod Bromley (@jarrodbromley) October 29, 2014 Source: thesheepshagger /Twitter

Bromley works close to the Harcourt Street pub and hotel, he told TheJournal.ie, and was there last Thursday, at which time he confirms there was no charge for tap water.

He also confirmed the 20-cent charge wasn’t a mistake or a one-off, but the result of a new policy “by order of management.”

Whatever the explanation, though, the Dublin pub’s new policy is already raising fears that the arrival of water charges may provoke the end of the age-old Irish tradition of free tap water.

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One industry source, however, told TheJournal.ie that this wasn’t a plausible explanation, given that hotels and pubs have paid separate commercial water charges for decades.

TheJournal.ie made several efforts to contact the Russell Court Hotel, but so far they haven’t responded.

First published 16.24pm