Madam, - President McAleese is to be congratulated for highlighting again the level of alcohol consumption in Ireland which she rightly maintains is causing havoc in society. The President was speaking recently at a ceremony in Athy, Co Kildare to mark the 40th anniversary of Cluan Mhuire, the addiction rehabilitation centre founded by Sr Consilio.
Mrs McAleese said: "For individuals' lives [ alcohol] fuels so many disasters, everything from suicide to foetal abnormalities and we know it plays such havoc in society - the consequences found in our hospitals A&E departments, in the family law courts, on the dole queues and in the morgues".
Alcohol is a drug and a very addictive drug. There is also evidence to show that it is the "gateway" to other drugs such as cocaine, cannabis, tobacco and ecstasy. Recent statistics have shown that drug consumption among Irish youth rose steadily throughout the 1990s and that Ireland currently has one of the most drugs-experienced youth population in the EU.
One of the main reasons for this state of affairs is the amount of money that the drinks industry spends on advertising. We are bombarded with images on TV of young people drinking Guinness, Budweiser, Cider, Vodka, Baileys, etc. Drinking alcohol is perceived as such a cool thing to do. Even MEAS, the soft underbelly of the drinks industry, gets in on the action as well. No wonder everybody is drinking too much.
What is needed to reverse this trend in Irish society is a cultural change to make it "uncool" to drink and be drunk. This will not be an easy task. We have, in effect, no joined-up approach to alcohol and drugs and no single Government department with overall responsibility for the implementation of a national alcohol and drug policy. We need to set one up.
Such a department should be properly resourced and use role models like Seán Óg Ó hAilpin and Derval O'Rourke who would appeal to the young. Will the Government challenge the vested interests of a powerful and well resourced alcohol industry? It should be made an election issue. - Yours, etc,
PAT CAHILL,
Past President, ASTI,
Whitehall Road,
Terenure,
Dublin 12.