Madam, - The abuse of alcohol,particularly by young people, and the resultant carnage on our roads, public drunkenness, violence and disorder, public urinating, etc - and the consequent burden placed on our health services and courts - is a problem that we seem to expect the Garda to solve. However other countries have found a quicker solution to this problem.
In California, where I lived for many years, public drunkenness - or even possession of an open container of alcohol - is illegal, as it is in Ireland. However authorities in the US nip these offences in the bud at a much earlier stage by targeting the suppliers. Any bar in California found to have served alcohol to an inebriated person, or which allows anyone to become drunk on its premises, can and does face instant loss of its licence. This can be put into effect by any police officer finding an offence has been committed simply by posting a closure notice on the door of the bar or club.
The owner is then forced to go through an appeal process to regain the licence (not always successfully). The result? In all the the years I spent working as a musician in the clubs and bars of California the number of drunks I saw could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and these were dealt with immediately and effectively, and their car keys were usually confiscated.
Admittedly, publicans in the US don't have the political clout of their Irish counterparts. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT J. BOLTON,
Aungier Street,
Dublin 2.