AROUND 2,000 licensed premises across Northern Ireland have been contacted this week and urged to review their risk assessments in the wake of the Cookstown tragedy.
They have also been asked to look at their emergency action plans and ID checks for events that might attract under-18s.
Letters, emails and texts have been sent to 1,216 pubs, 156 hotels, 554 restaurants and other venues by their representative body Hospitality Ulster in the past three days.
Chief executive Colin Neill said the organisation had also written to the chief executive officers of all the councils.
Mr Neill said what happened in Cookstown had been a "tragedy for the whole industry" and that from early Monday morning he had taken calls from Secretary of State Karen Bradley, trade bodies in Britain and the Republic and numerous people in the local hospitality industry.
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He said "some had been moved to tears and others lost for words" at the tragic deaths of three young people in an incident connected to their industry.
In the letter, he asked businesses to revisit their risk assessments and emergency action plans, with particular consideration to how access routes, outside areas and approach roads and paths are accessed.
He added: "I would also ask that you please consider how effective your ID checks are, particularly for events that might attract persons under 18 years old."
Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Neill said that premises in Northern Ireland are some of the safest in the world thanks to licensing regulations and council enforcement, which made incidents such as Cookstown "thankfully rare".
But he said that "we must also continue to strive for an even safer environment and even safer venues".
Mr Neill said while it was essential to await the outcome of the official investigation, it would have been remiss of the industry not to review current procedures in the interim period.
The victims:
- Morgan Barnard's father describes the family's devastation
- Connor Currie was 'much loved'
- Lauren Bullock remembered as 'a shining light'
