A chara, - The admission by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, that we now have a serious problem with teenage drinking is to be welcomed. During my presidency of the ASTI I tried to alert the public to the scale of the problem and with this in mind I prevailed upon a receptive Department of Education to issue future Junior Certificate results in midweek rather than at weekends.
Weekend drinking is widely acknowledged to be out of control among young people and teachers across the country regularly complain about the "Monday morning syndrome". Can they be alone in observing that second-level students enjoy easy access to drink in off-licences, pubs and football clubs across the country? Surely not.
Why is this allowed to continue? Who is monitoring the situation? Gardai and parents, whether as individuals or as members of parents' councils, must, as I said in 1994, use their combined energies to object to the renewal of licences for offending establishments. Needless to say, this should also apply to venues used for school events such as the "Debs", many of which have now become overnight events! As a practising teacher it appears to me that too many parents have abdicated their responsibilities and in doing so they have increased the pressure on others to do likewise.
Acknowledgment of the problem, though welcome, is no longer enough. - Yours, etc.,
Sean Higgins, Former President, ASTI, Beabeg, Drogheda, Co Louth.
Sir, - Your editorial of February 15th questions the link between underage drinking and deregulation. From a public health perspective, deregulation of alcohol sales will have an impact on the community as a whole.
We already have about 11,000 outlets where alcohol can be sold. Deregulation would mean a further increase in this number of outlets. The potential is that any grocery shop in Ireland could apply for a licence to sell alcohol. International research clearly shows that increased availability can have a significant effect on consumption and alcohol-related harm. A group of leading experts, in co-operation with the World Health Organisation, examined the scientific literature on alcohol and published its findings in "Alcohol Policy and Public Good" in 1994. In reviewing all the evidence on the role of availability, the researchers concluded that "when alcohol is less available, less convenient to purchase, or less accessible, consumption and alcohol related problems are lowered".
Overall alcohol consumption in Ireland has substantially increased, as have our alcohol-related harm indicators, especially accidents, injuries, violence and deaths. Drinking patterns among teenagers are of particular concern. Research here in Ireland shows that the top three ways that young people access alcohol are from pubs, discos and off-licences.
Deregulation is a free market concept, which is solely concerned with economics and has nothing to do with public health. Alcohol is not an ordinary product. It is a psychoactive drug and as such, economic market rules do not and should not apply. This is why the Minister for Health and Children has made the case for a public health perspective in the debate on alcohol deregulation. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Ann Hope, Advisor on Alcohol Policy, Health Promotion Unit, Department of Health and Children, Hawkins House, Dublin 2.