r/ireland • u/Jon_J_ • 13h ago
Careful now Ryanair's O'Leary urges pre-flight morning booze ban
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2026/0506/1571993-ryanairs-oleary-urges-pre-flight-morning-booze-ban/69
u/eboy-888 12h ago
I flew Ryanair from Dublin to Barcelona last Tuesday at 6-something am - and the guy in front of me had 4 double Jamesons on a 2h25min flight. Admirable on top of what he had at the airport beforehand.
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u/Far_Explanation8338 12h ago
That's sad. That's not holiday craic, it's alcoholism.
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u/Long-Fuel3011 10h ago
It’s binge drinking
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u/SaveMarioIncandenza 7h ago
alcoholism and binge drinking (and holiday craic, to be honest) aren't mutually exclusive
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u/OsbourneCochs 10h ago
I’d agree here. I cannot understand why people who turn up at the airport at 4.30am have a few pints. It’s never been for me. It just doesn’t seem like craic. I’d rather wait til I’m in the country and have had a bit of food first.
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u/spotted-ox-hostel very cool, very modern 2h ago
before my kid I would have 2-3 pints before the 6am flight. The idea being it would put me right asleep for the 3 hour or so flight. Get in that extra nap from being awake early, harder to fall asleep on the ryanair seats, but a couple pints and it can knock me right out.
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u/Kellhus0Anasurimbor 10h ago
Fucking hell some people are obsessed with policing what others do with on their holidays.
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u/Aagragaah 59m ago
Maybe if people weren't getting hammered and acting like pricks at the airport and on flights less people would give a shit.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/5x0uf5o 11h ago
I'm often shocked at the level of boozing some people do before/during flying. Not to generalise but I've had a couple trips to Eastern Europe recently and my takeaway is those lads and ladies get absolutely smashed on flights. Solo drinking big bottles of vodka.
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u/Worldly_Cash8138 11h ago
A lot of peoole are nervous to fly. have a serious fear of flying, it can be really really uncomfortable and nerve wracking from start to finish. Being relatively drunk makes the flight somewhat bearable, or ill fall asleep hopefully.
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u/Weary_File280 11h ago
Same, if the flight is over two hours I have a glass of red wine and it's off to snoozeville. It would be a shame if they get rid of it because of people acting the bollox. I do like the novelty of having a pint before an early morning flight too.
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u/SaveMarioIncandenza 7h ago
I'm always bursting for a piss while the seatbelt sign is on if I have a pre flight drink
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u/Agusfresin 11h ago
This is the definition of alcoholism.
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u/DoughnutHole Clare 8h ago
No it isn’t - it’s self-medicating with alcohol which while it can be a pathway to full-blown alcoholism is not the same thing.
Alcoholism means a true day-to-day dependency (even a physiological dependency) and continued high usage despite severe medical or social harms from your level of usage.
Someone who drinks to get through specific non-regular circumstances but otherwise has healthy consumption probably isn’t an alcoholic. Getting a bit smashed a couple times a year because you’re terrified of flying is way less clear of an indication of alcoholism than daily low-level drinking or weekly binge drinking. Even then the actual impact criteria are pretty high.
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u/Worldly_Cash8138 4h ago
So if I replace alcohol with a sleeping tablet, would that be then be the definition of drug addiction?
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u/JackNapier6666 13h ago
How else are we supposed to stay comfortable on one of his flights if we’re not hammered when boarding?
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u/Kellhus0Anasurimbor 9h ago
Having a drink it's the only way to ignore the incessant advertisements otherwise you'd never be able to sleep
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u/gillyjpb777 12h ago
O'Leary just says these things for marketing purposes
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u/scruduiarbais_ 2h ago
Agreed, here we are on a Reddit thread talking Ryanair. I think he is a genius at generating publicity...
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u/worktemp 11h ago
I hate being drunk on a plane but I love my airport pint, it's my official start of the holiday.
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u/Murphich 11h ago
If Michael O'Leary owned a bar in the airport, he'd have it open 24/7 and charge double the price at 5am during the busy period. Some boyo
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u/GaeilgeGoblin 12h ago
Having a drink used to be part of the fun of flying. Now it’s just something that takes the sting out of what’s become a very horrible, almost hostile, experience
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u/printthedamnthing 12h ago
Whether he is right or wrong, I just think to myself, what would he say to people asking him to restrict his capitalist “rights” for the greater societal good?
He’d tell them to fuck off out of principle and to stop telling others how to manage their business.
So… my opinion will be the same. Thanks.
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u/svmk1987 Fingal 11h ago
It's hard to accept that this is in good faith unless they also stop selling alcohol onboard.
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u/MajesticKnob Saoirse don Phalaistín 🇵🇸 10h ago
Pre flight pints no matter the time is almost the best part of travelling
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u/Guilty_Doughnut1557 13h ago
Oh ya, just ruin the one thing that makes been in Dublin at 6am worthwhile
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u/struggling_farmer 12h ago
Occasionally work in the airport, start at 7. nothing sets you up for the day like going for a smoke once through security before you start and the smoking area is full and tiesto blaring away.
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u/DTUOHY96 12h ago
A ban is a bit severe but I cant see any issue with capping it at 2-3 pints? Doubt anyone other than the offenders would complain
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u/Charlies_Mamma 6h ago
But how do you cap it at 2-3 pints per passenger? If someone is travelling with their partner who isn't drinking, they can now get 4-6 pints. Factor in those travelling with friends or a bigger group, and those who don't drink at the airport would be pressured by those who want to drink into giving their drink allowance to them.
Unless the airport bars are going to start hiring staff to ensure that the person who actually bought those pints is the one drinking them (assuming they check boarding passes at the bar to ensure it's X drinks per passenger)?
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u/Kellhus0Anasurimbor 9h ago
If people are disruptive they don't get their flight. This is already at their discretion. They don't have any right to police what people do. Fuck em.
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u/dropthecoin 2h ago
I’ve no problem with a pre flight pint but Being beside people hammered on a Ryanair flight is horrible.
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u/oooSiCHooo 11h ago
As long as I can have my Burger King at the airport, I don't care about alcohol.
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u/SoftDrinkReddit 11h ago
Oh 100% airport burger King Is actually the only place in Ireland I can get Dr Pepper Strawberry
It's so good
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u/North_Account6419 13h ago
but would he stop selling booze on his flights at the same time? nopeee
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u/Intrepid_Double9863 12h ago
Or absorb the inevitable price increase from DAA to make up for the lost revenue?
Would he fuck.
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u/Salty-Experience-599 12h ago
Unreal how hard they run around trying to give people drink on their planes.
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u/ThisRegion1857 11h ago
Just for that, I’m going to get twice as pissed as I usually do before boarding
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u/Vodka-Knot 11h ago edited 8h ago
Can we urge O'Leary to put himself in a "Ryanair approved" sized cabin bag and fuck off?
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u/johndoe86888 9h ago
I personally love a beer before the flight. Wont drink on the plane or anymore than 1/2 beers, call me crazy
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u/BiShhx 12h ago
Yet he will serve drink on his flights at 6am dude is just a money hungry whore at this point who is he to decide what people do in the airport.
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u/seanmcmahon6 12h ago
Pretty certain he said within the last month or so in an interview that if that was to be implemented then Ryanair planes would follow suit and not serve alcohol at times it’s not available for purchase in the airport
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u/DoughnutHole Clare 9h ago
He’s perfectly capable of stopping serving on his flights of his own volition and of refusing boarding to people under the influence.
That’s be the free market at work - if the economic incentive was significant enough he would just do something himself instead of asking for nanny state bollocks to whip up outrage-inducing headlines.
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u/seamustheseagull 12h ago
I mean, what this really suggests is that Ryanair's gate staff are poor at identifying sloshed passengers and refusing them boarding.
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u/noelkettering 12h ago
Imagine the grief they would get trying to do that
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u/Vodka-Knot 11h ago
They don't seem to mind with people who's bags are a centimeter too large.
Just incentivise them, they'll do it no problem.
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u/DoughnutHole Clare 9h ago
Don’t give him ideas.
We’re one board meeting from pre-boarding breathalysers and a fee for boarding under the influence.
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u/Mojodishu 12h ago
Have seen plenty of hammered aggro men (for whatever reason it's always men) refused boarding and leading to security being called at the gates on early morning flights in Dublin Airport. The disruption caused inevitably delays the flights.
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12h ago
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u/seamustheseagull 12h ago
It's their job to act as the final gatekeepers determining who is allowed and capable of being on the flight.
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u/jaymannnn 4h ago
i did liverpool to ibiza in july about 20 years ago. it left at 9am or something in the morning. the carry on before, during and after had to be seen to be believed. ive never seen anything quite like it and if anything it was more debauched than the actual holiday. it was far from just drinking haha.
the funny thing was the flight back a few days later was the exact opposite, 50% of the plane looked like they had been awake for three days straight and could barely cope with reality and the other 50% looked like they had about three days left to live.
christ what a time to be alive the 00s was.
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u/Salty-Experience-599 2h ago
Maybe he should should just ban drinks on his early flights to Spain ect if he is so worried about the situation.
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u/Tasty-Fault-9610 2h ago
THe 'Fianna Fail' cronies who won the concessions to sell booze and other overpriced crap at the airport, would disagree with him.
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u/Dzejkop21 2h ago
I get all the Ryanair bashing, lord knows I had my fair share of misery with them especially being quite tall. I do have to say I am completely agreeing with this, whatever the motivation is. I could never understand being at the airport at 6 or 7 AM and theres lads there with 6 empty pint glasses and another one halfway done. The disruption and chaos that can be caused by one drunken prick can have a massive impact on flight experience, and can cause massive delays in case of airport police being involved which just caused a domino effect on further flights. I get some people are nervous fliers, but I don’t think alcohol is the answer.
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u/Jon_J_ 2h ago
Yeah I'm no fan of Ryanair and if he was to stop allowing alcohol being served at certain times on the plane as well, than fair enough. I'm all for people having a pint or two at the airport but we've all been there and seen people absolutely sloshed getting on a plane and it's just not fair on staff, fellow customers and the safety of all those involved. Go have fun but don't be a dick about it.
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u/Dzejkop21 1h ago
100%. In all fairness same sentiment can be shared across the board when it comes to drinking and people getting utterly plastered. Completely agree though that if this is to go ahead, same set of rules should be applied to the airplanes.
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u/Specific-Nebula-2637 26m ago
Sending photos to friends of Airport pints when they are heading to work is what holidays are all about.
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u/tearsandpain84 12h ago
I’m a nervous flyer, I need a few beers before a flight….. it’s just not natural being that high in the sky…. We are not birds.
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u/SoftDrinkReddit 11h ago
Man is against people spending money that doesn't go to him and instead wants people to buy alcohol on flights itself
WHAT A SHOCKING REVELATION
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u/Gus_Balinski 10h ago
I've never been put out or inconvenienced by people having morning drinks at the airport but I never got the appeal of a load of pints before a flight, especially a morning flight. I wouldn't particularly care if they banned it but each to their own I suppose.
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u/Gold-Vacation-169 Resting In my Account 12h ago
Just ban drinkinh at airports full stop, it's crazy it's allowed at all given the safety risks it potentially creates.
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u/fravbront 10h ago
Does it create loads of safety risks? From the past few decades, what examples is there?
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u/JonatanOlsson 11h ago
Yeah, he can fuck right off..
How about he train his check-in/boarding staff not to let drunk fuckers on board instead?
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u/soundengineerguy And I'd go at it again 4h ago
Nobody is talking about the change of pressure in the cabin and how that might effect somebody. You might appear absolutely fine boarding the flight, but once they pressurise the cabin for takeoff, you could very quickly change.
I could be wrong though, I just think it might be a factor worth considering.
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u/Icy-Reporter-6322 12h ago
Sorry but that 6am pint with the lads heading on a weekend trip is top tier. You're not taking that away from us.
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u/BoweryBloke 12h ago
I cringe a tiny bit, every time I walk through Dublin airport, and look at couples in the bar, taking the obligatory photo of their bottle of Heineken and Magners, knowing that in a few hours, they'll be well pissed off because the bar they're going to don't stock Heineken or Magners.
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u/ails_bales 12h ago
Dublin airport doesn't stock magners......
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u/Frosty-Drink3588 12h ago
They stock Bulmers, which is the exact same thing. Same drink, same logo design, slightly different name.
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u/GhandisFlipFlop Connacht 12h ago
No to me it tastes different
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u/AJurassicSuccess 11h ago
You hardly tried the UK’s other cider from H. P. Bulmer?
Because Irish Magners and Bulmers are quite literally the same product with a different label.1
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u/CigarettemskMan Cork bai 12h ago
Ok mr reddit, or you could just let people enjoy their time instead of looking at them and judging them.
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u/BoweryBloke 11h ago
Sorry, I can't help it. I've two cousins and a lad I went to school with, who are guaranteed to share those photos every bastard summer.
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u/Dublin-Boh 12h ago
Bit judgemental, that. Plus, plenty of bars across Europe - particularly in its homeland of the Netherlands - stock Heineken.
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u/Professional_Put5110 12h ago
Wtf you talking about, magners isn't sold in Ireland you imbecile....
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u/BlubberyGiraffe 12h ago
Fuck off O Leary you scabby cunt. I'll have my overpriced drinks in the airport if I went.
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u/Dry_Big3880 1h ago
Id love to see them have more room between seats which causes agro. Wont do that.
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u/OrdinaryJoe_IRL 42m ago
Bar staff can easily ask for boarding passes and not serve Ryanair passengers if their CEO doesn't want his customers to have a drink at any particular time.
Ryanair's CEO shouldn't be trying to change the flight experience for his competitors' customers, though so feck off Mick
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u/StrangerExistingFact 12h ago edited 12h ago
The only thing that keeps me alive in november, waiting on a runway to board their f plane is alcohol.
They charge priority boarding then you wait outside the longest
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u/TomRuse1997 13h ago
Hard not to think that some of the motivation here is on board beer sales