County in Ireland Will Let You Drive Drunk with a Permit

Now I know their is a stereotype that the Irish love to drink, but this new law they are trying to pass is not helping change that stereotype.

The local council for Kerry County in south-west Ireland has approved a measure that would allow police to issue permits to people living in rural areas that would allow them to drive drunk legally. The new rule was proposed by council member Danny Healy-Rae.

Healy-Rae’s unprecedented argument for more drunk driving stems from the fact that some of his older constituents ”are being isolated now at home, and a lot of them falling into depression,” apparently because they can’t drive home a little sauced from the pub. That logic makes total sense.

The BBC reports that Healy-Rae, who had the truly surprising grace and good sense to stop his speech before suggesting that some folks might drive better when they’ve had a couple, brought the motion up for a vote toward the end of a council meeting from which more than a dozen voting members had already departed, and it passed with just five votes for to three against, with the seven remaining members abstaining.It just happens to be a coincidence, surely, that most of the ‘Yea’ votes came from council members who, like Healy-Rae, also just happen to own bars.

I will be now wearing a bubble wrap suit if I ever am in Ireland, if people are allowed to legally drive drunk in some areas.

[The Legal Satyricon]