Re Doyle

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: High Court
• Judgment Date: 22 January 1946
• Date: 22 January 1946

In re Doyle's Application.

In the Matter of the Licensing (Ireland) Act

1902

GEORGE J. DOYLE

Applicant.

Licensing Acts - New licence - Hotel premises - Licensing (Ir.) Act, 1902 (2 Edw. 7 c. 18), s. 2, sub-s. 2 - Application for new licence - Matters to be considered by the Court.

The applicant applied to the Circuit Court for a new licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor in respect of a hotel in the city of Dublin for which no licence had previously been granted. The Circuit Court Judge refused the application, holding:—

1. That he was bound, by virtue of s. 4 of the Licensing (Ir.) Act, 1833, to take into account, in considering the application, the number of previously licensed houses, including public-houses, in the neighbourhood.

2. That the granting of the licence might lead to a large number of similar applications being made on behalf of other hotels.

3. That it was clear, on the evidence, that the hotel in respect of which the licence was sought was running so successfully without a licence that a refusal to grant the licence would not interfere with the success of the hotel.

On appeal to the High Court:—

Held, that the order of the Circuit Court should be reversed, and the application for a new licence granted, the Court not being satisfied that the granting of the licence would unduly increase the facilities for the sale of intoxicating liquor in the neighbourhood, and, furthermore, being of opinion that a hotel caters for a somewhat different type of customer from that catered for by an ordinary public-house.

Appeal from the Circuit Court.

The applicant, George J. Doyle, was the secretary and a director of the Regent Hotel, Co., Ltd., proprietors of a hotel, known as the Regent Hotel, situate at Nos. 3, 4 and 5 D'Olier Street in the city of Dublin.

He applied to the Circuit Court for a new licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor in the Regent Hotel, but the Circuit Court Judge (Judge McCarthy) refused the application.

The facts are stated in the judgment of the Circuit Court Judge refusing the application. It was as follows:—

This is an application by Mr. George J. Doyle for a hotel licence under s. 2 of the Licensing (Ireland) Act, 1902, for the premises, the Regent Hotel, owned by the Regent Hotel Co. of which Mr. Doyle is a director and secretary. The other member of the company is Mr. Coleman White.

The Regent Hotel is situate at 3, 4 and 5 D'Olier Street. It is held under a lease, dated the 5th October, 1945, from Messrs Kennedy and McSharry, at the yearly rent of £550. It was opened as a hotel within the past twenty years and conducted by the representatives of the...