Publicans have announced a one-year freeze on drink prices with immediate effect.
The announcement was made by the Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners' Federation of Ireland.
Publicans say they have already absorbed the VAT increase which came into effect today and deny the price freeze is just a publicity stunt.
The two organisations said 2009 is going to be a challenging year for the drinks industry and the move was made to provide value for money to customers at a difficult time.
The VFI represents 5,000 publicans outside Dublin while the LVA represents 700 publicans in Dublin.
