Eighteen out of 20 shops served the teenage transition year student on Thursday and Friday, only days after a judge in Dublin District Court ordered the temporary closure of a Spar shop at O'Connell Street in Dublin for selling six cans of beer to a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old.

The girl started her investigation on Thursday afternoon in the Spar off-licence at 131 Upper Leeson Street and was served three cans of Heineken without being asked any questions.

When contacted, a spokesman for the shop said:

"I am very surprised that this happened as we are very stringent about ID and emphasise this in our training. We apologise that this happened."

The 15-year-old then visited Jack Carvill & Sons at Camden Street and bought three cans of Heineken without being questioned about her age.

"All we can do in this shop is ask for a garda age card or a passport, " said a spokesman, when contacted later. "We are more vigilant in the evening times than we would have been on a Thursday afternoon."

At Whelan's off-licence at Wexford Street, the girl bought a large bottle of the alcopop WKD without being asked about her age. Nobody from Whelan's was available for comment on the matter.

The next point of call was Delaney's off-licence at Aungier Street where she was served two cans of Royal Dutch lager without being queried about her age.

"We have been working with the gardai to try and curb the problem of underage drinking", a spokesman for Delaney's said. "I am genuinely disappointed to hear that a 15-year-old was served."

At the Centra shop at Dame Street (at the junction with Georges Street) the schoolgirl was served two cans of Dutch Gold lager without being questioned.

"We are strict about selling alcohol to people who are under 18 and the incident will be investigated, " said a spokesman for Centra. "As part of an employment contract each person who gets a job has to sign a letter of undertaking that they will not sell alcohol or cigarettes to people who are under age."

At the Booze 2 Go shop at Thomas Street, the 15-year-old was served two more cans of Dutch Gold. In this shop the cashier asked the girl what age she was and when she said she was 18, she was told to bring her ID with her the next time she came into the shop.

A spokesman for the offlicence said: "Sometimes girls look older than their age but we do check ID most of the time."

The girl was then sold two cans of Harp in McGruder's off-licence, also at Thomas Street, without being asked about her age. Nobody from McGruder's was available for comment.

At the Londis shop at O'Connell Street (opposite the Savoy cinema) the girl was again served without question when she asked for two cans of Heineken.

A spokesman for Londis said: "The company has strict policies in relation to the sale of alcohol to minors and fully supports the use of age ID cards. It regrets this breach in policy."

The first place to refuse the 15-year-old girl was the Spar shop at O'Connell Street that had been in court for breach of the law earlier in the week. As well as being ordered to close for three days, the shop was fined 400. The closure will commence next month.

At Sean O'Casey's off-licence at Marlborough Street, the girl bought six cans of Heineken and another bottle of WKD.

Nobody was available for comment when contacted by the Sunday Tribune.

Of the ten service stations visited on Friday, only one . . .

Statoil at Templeville Road, Dublin 6 . . . refused to serve the transition year student.

Two Esso stations were visited by the girl on Friday. She was served three cans of Heineken at the station at St Peter's Road in Walkinstown and a bottle of wine at the Belmont Service Station in Ranelagh, without being questioned about her age.

Esso spokesman John Scollard said: "We take something like this exceptionally seriously as we have a full training process in place regarding the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to underage people. We are extremely disappointed that this happened and we are going to conduct an internal investigation into these allegations."

Cashiers in two Statoil stations . . . at Usher's Quay and in Merrion, Dublin 4 . . .

served a bottle of wine each to the girl without any questions.

A spokeswoman for Statoil said: "If it is found following a thorough and fair investigation that an employee of Statoil has sold alcohol to a minor the result will be termination of employment. All employees are made aware of this during training."

A staff member at Cherry Orchard Service Station also served a bottle of wine to the girl. In response to queries, the assistant manager said:

"We usually check ID and don't give drink to young people."

Three Texaco shops . . . at Ballydowd, Lucan, at Upper Churchtown Road, Dublin 14, and at Merrion, Dublin 4 . . . all served the transition year student a bottle of wine each.

"The cashier can remember the girl being in the store, " a spokesman for the Churchtown shop said. "She said she was 18 years old. All we can do is ask the person what age they are and take them at their word. Perhaps everybody, no matter what their age, should have to present ID."

A Texaco spokesman said the company was "concerned about this issue and takes it very seriously. We undertake training on the sale of alcohol at company-operated sites and will address this matter internally".

The 15-year-old was also served a bottle of wine in the Mace shop at the Maxol station at Walkinstown Avenue in Dublin 12. Nobody at the shop was available for comment when contacted.