I "think" you missed the point, IO.
The CAA staff examiner that told me that instrument rated pilots were night authorised was, very likely, basing that comment on the fact that they must have held a full NQ in order to be able to take the I/R which, unlike the night *rating* does not need to be kept current.
So, by default (in his thinking) anyone holding an IR must already be night qualified - but we can see from this 61.75 stuation how that might not be the case if somebody fell through the cracks in licensing.
It's certainly the current case that TO CARRY PASSENGERS at night you must have done one of your (three) take off and landings at night within the last ninety days....UNLESS you hold an instrument rating (in which case you don't need to).
bose - no, it's happening again. I aim for the minimum amount of time solo during a night qualification course. Maximise the training environment instead.
I used to teach from Liverpool and rather than doing a one hour cross country around the local area both dual and solo, I used to give them dual cross country from LPL to Birmingham International, land, park, coffee (I paid the coffee fees).
Trip both to and back from Brum was no navaids and no radar assistance, map and eyeball only.
A night introduction first, differences, weather etc; a session of spotting places in the dark that they would recognise in daylight, back to the airfield, I would orbit overhead (me flying) whilst they studied the layout and colours of surface lighting at the airfield (last 1000 feet all red, taxiway edge blue, runways white, centrelines green or white etc), then sufficient dual circuits until they could fly three consecutive safe ones with zero prompting.
One full hour of solo circuits (as it used to be mandated then) no matter how many more than the five were done.
Night two (or three) the dual cross country to Brum and back. Hard work. Certainly not 3hrs/2hrs.