Bias Against The Big Mac

No golden arches and no love from Temple Bar residents

You can drink until 2:30 in the morning if you do your drinking in Temple Bar. There are plenty of establishments open late, providing enough alcohol to ensure that you are thoroughly inebriated before you head off in search of something greasy to soak up some of that booze.

A Big Mac from McDonald's would do wonders for your head. Stave off the hangover and have a good gastric purge. That's just the cure for a long night of indulgence, but the Dublin City Council won't let you have that small measure of relief.

Clearly, they have a strong bias against McDonald's.

McDonald's sought permission to extend their opening time to 3:00 am, to provide the necessary junk food to those who have spent the night in the various pubs and nightclubs that make Temple Bar such an attraction. The members of the council, however, are of the opinion that there are already too many places that are open all hours and the people who live in the area have enough to put up with without adding another late venue. Spewing is a big issue for those walking along the streets the morning after.

Except that McDonald's does not serve liquor. The American fast-food icon serves food that is high in fat. Would a late-night craving for burgers and chips really be that disruptive? I mean, have you been to Temple Bar after midnight?

McDonald's has taken their case to An Bord Pleanala, citing a few other spots that are open late. Places like Supermacs, which is not an American-owned takeaway outlet, is churning out burgers until the wee hours. Why not add McDonald's to the selection of food offerings available to those who are stumbling out the doors of all those bars?

A few local residents complained when McDonald's asked permission. Are they displeased with yet one more spot open late, or are they stockholders in Supermacs or any of the other spots that serve junk food and stay open late? Is this really a case of citizen outrage, or just blatant discrimination against a foreign invader?

An Bord Pleanala will have to answer that question of fairness. After all, if you let others do something, can you really deny that same status to the next one coming in for permission to keep the grills hot for a few more hours?

And if not, then by what right do the others get to do it?

It's not fair, to deprive the drunks of that secret sauce and the slices of cheese-like yellow product that resembles the real thing if you've had about ten pints in the span of two hours and you can't see clearly, let alone taste anything.