"Alcopops" - those, sweet, garishly coloured, alcoholic fruit juices and colas - were back in the news this week after Mr Tom Kitt, the junior Minister for Consumer Affairs, denounced them as "insidious concoctions cynically aimed at the vulnerability of youth". He said that, together with the Minister for Health, he was examining the need for tougher controls on the marketing and sale of such products; and he published a draft code of practice covering their promotion and merchandising.
It is not difficult to see why alcopops cause concern and alarm. They are naturally attractive to young teenagers used to lemonades and colas - but, with an alcohol content of around 5 per cent - are stronger than most beers. It has not been proven that alcopops are being tried by children who would not otherwise be drinking alcohol at all - but there must be strong suspicions that this is the case. After first appearing on the Irish market about two years ago, they were withdrawn from the shelves of several supermarket chains after protests from parents. The Minister for Health in the last government, Mr Michael Noonan, condemned them as "positively dangerous". The National Parents Council says they encourage young people to start drinking earlier. The Consumer Association of Ireland has called for a ban.
Spokesmen for the drinks industry deny the charges levelled at them and insist that alcopops are designed for adult drinkers, expecially women. But their claims have a hollow ring. However, an outright ban on the products is hardly feasible, and probably the best approach is strictly to control brand names, labels, marketing, promotion and distribution, either by effective voluntary codes or by law.
Mr Kitt's initiative this week is therefore welcome, as far as it goes. But the alcopops controversy must be seen in the wider context of under-age drinking, which has been a serious and worsening problem for many years, and one associated with a complex of other problems such as drug abuse, violence, sexual assaults and unwanted pregnancies. Last month, the British government announced plans to make it illegal for an adult to buy alcohol for a juvenile and said it would support drink industry moves to issue identity cards for younger drinkers to prove they were of legal age. Such measures are worth serious study.
Clearly, an effective education campaign about the use and abuse of alcohol is also essential - for adults as well as teenagers and children. In this area, as in so many, children take their cues from their elders. That old-fashioned concept - good example - springs to mind.