This Galway pub will give you a free drink…if you lock away your phone!

We've all been there… you're out for a meal or a drink when suddenly you look up and everyone in your group (including you) is scrolling through Facebook on their phones. Awkward.

A barman in Whiskey Joe's pub in Loughrea, Co. Galway is offering a free drink to any punter who agrees to lock his and his friend's phones away at the bar for just 30 minutes this weekend.

The promotion will run from 8pm to closing time this Saturday night, in an attempt to encourage people to socialise with one another rather than getting lost in their Twitter feed.

In a post on the bar's Facebook page, Whiskey Joe's say they are "taking action over this epidemic of over usage" of smartphones in bars and restaurants.

The idea kicked off when one of the barmen noticed one girl sitting in silence with her drink as her three friends sat scrolling through their phones. "To me 3 of the 4 girls had missed the point in going out to the bar to socialise and to interact with not alone with their friends but also with the rest of the customers," said the barman.

What do you think – could your group of friends go without their phones for half an hour?