Northern Ireland’s liquor licensing system just got another chance at reform.. and chose Guinness over everyone else. Douglas’ Bar in Limavady closed and its licence went straight to Tesco, while award-winning breweries like Lacada are stuck opening 4-10pm on select days, beer only, no exceptions. The minister looked at a £478,000 independent review recommending actual reform and said nah, we’re grand. Hospitality Ulster, the trade body that’s supposed to represent hospitality, welcomed keeping things exactly as they are. One rural pub closes every 2.7 days. The surrender principle means licences cost £150k-£400k just for the paper. And the system that’s been bleeding community pubs dry while supermarkets accumulate their licences? That continues unchanged. If that’s stability, you can keep it.