Representatives from the Licensed Vintner Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland are pressuring government ministers to change the law that bans them from selling alcoholic in pubs on Good Friday.
Donal O'Keefe of the LVA described a meeting the groups had with Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald as "very positive".
O'Keefe explained that the Minister will consider the proposal and will decide in the next couple of weeks. He added that the change "can be done in time for Easter 2015 and we're hopeful that the Minister will see her way through to doing that."
The groups are adamant to push the law through for this year as Leinster takes on Bath in the European Champions Cup quarter-final in the Aviva Stadium on Good Friday, April 3 and they believe the loss to business as a result of the ban would be "disaster".
The groups have also argued that it would affect tourism next year if the pubs were closed during the Easter Rising centenary commemorations.
The law has been in place since 1927 and has only been repealed once - the so-called 'Good Friday Disagreement' - in 2010 when Limerick publicans fought to keep pubs open for a match between Munster and Leinster on Good Friday that year. Pubs were allowed to open (although only in Limerick) by special exemption.
