Aisling Curtis | Staff Writer
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has announced its decision to withdraw support from the Drinkaware.ie initiative, expressing concern over the campaign’s links with the alcohol industry and, in particular, its muted response regarding the popular Arthur’s Day festival.
“Encouraging students to drink responsibly is still an encouragement for students to drink – regardless of how it’s qualified.”
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In a letter to Fionnuala Sheehan, chief executive of the Moderate Enjoyment of Alcohol (MEAS) group behind Drinkaware.ie, USI stated that it would “not be working with Drinkaware in the future”. The decision was made following a motion passed at USI’s National Council in November.
Joe O’Connor, President of USI, cited “the continued promotion of the Arthur’s Day festival by Diageo” as one of the primary catalysts for the move. Furthermore, the campaign’s manifesto regarding responsible drinking is at odds with USI’s aims to “tackle the enormous alcohol abuse” prevalent in Ireland. O’Connor stated that “encouraging students to drink responsibly is still an encouragement for students to drink – regardless of how it’s qualified”.
Drinkaware.ie was established in 2006 by MEAS, and is funded by drinks-industry bodies such as Diageo, the producers of Guinness and promoters of the Arthur’s Day festival, and other alcoholic products. It is behind a number of campaigns to promote more responsible drinking attitudes among Irish young people.
MEAS aims to “challenge and change some of the harmful cultural ways in which Irish people have, for generations, used alcohol”.
In a response to USI’s announcement, Ms. Sheehan claimed that Drinkaware.ie is an “alcohol social responsibility organisation”, and is not campaigning for alcohol prohibition. The campaign’s target audience consists of 18-24 year-olds, 87% of whom drink. Ms. Sheehan stated that extensive research proved that a “do not drink” approach is ineffective to target irresponsible drinking, and that MEAS simply aims to “challenge and change some of the harmful cultural ways in which Irish people have, for generations, used alcohol”.
The country’s main counselling organisation for victims of rape and sexual assault , the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI), issued a statement following USI’s announcement, supporting the decision to cut all ties with Drinkaware. RCNI stated that, according to a 2009 report, 77% of individuals suspected of rape were found to have consumed alcohol prior to the offence. The promotion of alcohol consumption by Drinkaware is considered by RCNI to constitute a normalising influence which strongly targets young people.
Ms. Neary further said that USI’s leadership in this area is “vital”, given the resources available to the drinks industry for resisting social change. Joe O’Connor stated that USI intends to “develop a student alcohol awareness campaign” separately of MEAS, and in future endeavours will work only with bodies that are not funded by a “self-regulating drinks industry”.
