Pair accepts end to liquor law row

By Tania Martin
TWO former Monbulk licensees’ have been stripped of the right to serve alcohol for a combined 25 years.
It follows a three-year battle between Monbulk police, Lisa Vincent and John Nicholas of Blarneys Bar and Restaurant in Olinda-Monbulk Road.
The restaurant has now closed.
The pair settled out of court with Liquor Licensing Victoria before they were due to appear at a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) hearing at the end of April.
Liquor Licensing Victoria had brought the case to have their liquor licence revoked.
Ms Vincent accepted a 10-year ban while Mr Nicholas accepted a 15-year ban.
Monbulk’s Sergeant Alan Fincher said police had responded to a string of incidents including a number of breaches of licensing conditions.
“We had a lot of concerns how the premises was being run,” Sgt Fincher said.
Sgt Fincher said there had been numerous complaints from nearby residents over noise and drunken patrons.
“It’s taken a long time to come to a head,” he said.
Sgt Fincher said the concept of Blarneys had always been problematic.
“They where running on a restaurant licence but in a tavern style,” he said.
Sgt Fincher said it also had karaoke functions, 18th and 21st birthday parties, creating havoc with locals.
He said it was especially concerning as a number of occasion saw teens being served alcohol.
Sgt Fincher said Blarneys had several chances to clean up its act to no avail.
“There where various steps along the way with the licensing inspector working with Blarneys to work out the problems,” he said.
“VCAT was the last resort but in the end common sense prevailed… it was a long and frustrating process to close the place down.”
But Sgt Fincher said in the end it was worth all the hard work.
He said from both a police and the public’s point of view it was good to finally see the saga draw to a close.
Sgt Fincher said this case was a warning to other licensees to do run their establishments properly.
The Mail attempted to contact Ms Vincent and Mr Nicholas but was unable to get a response before going to print.