The Licensed Vintners' Association has called on the Government to lift the ban on selling alcohol on Good Friday in 2016, as Ireland host Switzerland in the Aviva Stadium on that day.
Good Friday falls on 25 March next year, and LVA chief Donall O’Keeffe said the ban will affect tourism and Irish soccer fans on the day.
"Every Good Friday we have tens of thousands of tourists wandering around Dublin asking why they can’t go into a pub for a drink. There is less than four months to go to Easter, there is no real opposition to this measure and we have the Easter 2016 celebrations," he said in a testament released by the Association.
"It looks like a no brainer but to date the Government has been dragging its heels on the issue."
O'Keeffe went on to say that the Easter 2016 celebrations are a prime time for celebrations and tourism in the city and it would be "ridiculous if the entire hospitality sector was again forced to close on Good Friday".
The law has been in place since 1927 and has only been repealed once - the so-called 'Good Friday Disagreement' - in 2010 when Limerick publicans fought to keep pubs open for a match between Munster and Leinster on Good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.
