pubs without drinking

Go to a pub and not drink - is this some type of new voyeurism!!
Unfortunately, I've seen it often enough at pubs where music is on - either a paid band or a session.

Last time was at Applecross in Scotland where lots of nice middle-class English families from the campsite decided to bring their kids in to the pub to sample the wonderful Scottish culture in the shape of a young lass on the fiddle and her guitarist boyfriend. They took up all the seats and nobody thought to tell one of the brats to get up and give a seat to the crotchety old grumps (me & mrs) who'd come in to escape the midges.

But really, if the pub isn't very full, nobody's going to bother too much about you taking up space and not drinking or eating anything (it certainly doesn't have to be alcoholic). It won't kill you to buy an orange juice every now and then.

Most good session pubs tend to be small and get very crowded though, and you'll be quite conspicuous if you're occupying space but not contributing

As others say, you need to buy something, but it can be a soft drink, or other non-alcoholic drink.

Part of the allure of Ireland is its incredible beauty but a pint Guinness is heaven after a long day on a bike. Pubs are a central part of life in Ireland spending a Sunday afternoon drinking pints enjoying some music is an Irish tradition. You know the old saying when in Rome do what the Romans do. So have a pint it wont disappoint.

Some good answers here, from people with a solid understanding of Irish social norms.

You most certainly do not have to drink alcohol, but don't buy one soft drink and sit there all night like a cheapskate.

Once upon a time in Ireland when barstaff did apprenticeships and bartending was a respected trade, the staff of a pub would never whip an empty glass off your table until you had another full one in front of you. This was to avoid pressuring a patron into buying another drink before they were ready, and to ensure they didn't look 'cheap', sitting in a pub with no drink. This etiquette seems to be dying out now, especially in Dublin city centre pubs but it gives you an idea of how things work.

Just to say, if you don't drink then you don't drink. It's not really an 'ah, go on' negotiable kind of thing.
ipkaren, you will be welcome in any pub as long as you buy something! (and keep buying it, to be fair)
In fact the pub will probably be making more from the markup on soft drinks or 'minerals' than on alcoholic drinks.
Most Irish people are absolutely fine with people who don't drink - the ones who do have a problem are actually just showing that they have issues.
You'll have a great time cycling around and listening to Irish music!

Thank you to those of you who gave helpful answers - I especially appreciated kateindublin's response. Obviously some chose to see a title and not bother reading the question - thus giving rude and unhelpful responses. We have no intention of not buying something, just didn't know what options are available in Ireland and whether it is seen as really odd not to "have a pint." Thanks again to those who chose to be helpful.

From the opening post on the UK & Ireland FAQ Thread :-

You'll find that whilst people can appear flippant and/or sarcastic on this branch, it's only part of the unique British sense of humour so don't take it personally.

(Any news on the cricket, Fawlty.?)

Ditto mason!

I've just read back through this post and have found that 90% of the posts contained usefull comments. In fact there is only one post that was possibly being a little too sarcastic. OP if you take offense this easily, you might have a problem in Ireland....

actually, as a non-drinking foreigner living here the last 15 years it is very interesting to see how some people are threatened and/or defensive when the issue of alcohol comes up - this is not just an Irish thing by the way, it happened in Australia too (another country with a big drink culture though - maybe that's it) Most people here are fine though and couldn't care less whether you drink or not. When drinking is not part of your life it is really odd when people start getting tetchy about it! I don't think the some of the responses on this post were just flippant or sarcastic - and since when are the Irish happy to be described as British?! Going a bit off topic, I'd really prefer if Ireland was in a separate forum to the UK - I don't want to have to wade through posts about London to get to something about Ireland. Maybe that's just me?

It's just you.
The rest of us use the drop down menu at the top that allows you to select only posts relating to Scotland/Ireland/England/Wales - choose one.