Undercover Pub Crawls

Police in Ireland are cracking down on certain businesses and they’re using teenagers to do it.

Faced with one of Europe’s worst binge drinking cases police in Ireland plan to send test teenagers from pub to pub to see if landlords sell alcohol to minors. In Ireland the legal drinking age is 18 but pubs are neglecting the ID check in favor of the extra business. So starting October 1st police will be able to train teenagers between the ages of 15-17 and send them to licensed pubs. If any alcohol is sold to these undercover minors the establishment will be prosecuted, face fines and could be temporarily closed.

But the test teens can’t intentionally deceive pub owners. If they are asked for their age or for identification they must answer truthfully. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says the program’s objective is to find out whether a business is complying with the law, not to trap anyone into committing an offense. Ahern says police will have to obtain the parent’s permission of any teens they use and the test will be canceled if their safety is compromised in any way. Business might be bad but getting shut down would be even worse.