Michelle O’Connor | Chief Copy Editor
MEP Sean Kelly issued a statement at the beginning of this week in which he spoke about the need for an end to be put the the ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Naggin’ drinking culture among Irish youth. He said that, “alcohol is too accessible for young people in this country. If there was a minimum alcohol pricing structure it would certainly help limit the amount they could buy and therefore consume.”
While this is true to a certain extent, access to cheap alcohol is not the problem, but Irish culture is. Mr Kelly believes that “Alcohol pricing must be addressed as we try to end alcohol misuse in this country.” He is right, the misuse of alcohol is a serious issue that should be addressed and fought. Irish society is known internationally as one which embraces alcohol consumption to an excessive level. It is not something that is shunned, but rather, it is revered.
It appears that Irish culture strives on alcohol. This leads to a misrepresentation of the drug.
Teenagers and young people are growing up amongst a culture where alcohol is available readily almost anywhere. Petrol stations have off-licenses, as do local newsagents, restaurants, cafés and even art galleries. Dublin was built on the wealth of Arthur Guinness. The Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery are two of the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland. The Arthur Guinness Projects are now sponsoring entrepreneurs. Alcohol is EVERYWHERE in Ireland. Rural villages have more than one pub.
The reason why the youths of Ireland are drinking to excess, cheap naggins aside, is because there is nothing stopping them. Television is awash with people sitting in pubs having the chats and a drink, when there was a suggestion that alcohol companies should end their sponsorship deals with sporting clubs, a report by the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications said such a ban should not be introduced. It is illegal to advertise tobacco-containing products, yet there are billboards advertising alcohol regularly.
James Joyce in Ulysses said, “Good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub.” I have yet to achieve it.
When walking around the city centre in Dublin, there are pubs on every corner and most tours include a “free drink” or a trip to a traditional pub. The only way to combat a binge-drinking culture is to re-educate. When in school, I got a class on the dangers of drugs and we were told how bad it is to smoke. As a smoker, I am told regularly about the damage I am doing to my internal organs by smoking. Yet, there is no such stigma attached to binge-drinking as there is to smoking or even excessive caffeine consumption. And it’s not because it’s kept hush-hush; people regularly post photos on Facebook of piles of empty cans, or photos of themselves bleary-eyed stumbling out of a pub or club; it’s because no one actually stands up and says, “Do you realise when you drink that much you’re damaging your liver and killing your brain cells?”
Okay, fair enough, the smoking-ban came into effect in Ireland in 2004, and a study issued in the first quarter of this year has shown that around 3,726 lives are estimated to have been saved by introducing a smoking ban in Ireland. The sale of tobacco products has also decreased. However, there is still a thriving black market trade of tobacco, even though it’s illegal to smoke in public places. Tobacco products are now sold with graphic images on the cover showing all sorts of smoking-related diseases and damages.
What’s the problem with doing that related to alcohol? There are ads on the TV and radio telling you not to drink and drive, but why not have the same ones showing what can happen if you drink to excess? There is drug education and knowledge everywhere but the crucial problem in Ireland among the youth is excessive alcohol consumption. Limiting the cost of alcohol will only address the cost-issue, or, if they’re desperate enough to get drunk beyond comprehension, it will cause them to drink the same, and be left without Nitelink or taxi fare home. If people want to do something, they will, and there is nothing taboo about blacking out in Ireland on a night out. In fact, if you black out and then drink the next night, then you’re an animal in some circles and more power to you. You might even be bought a drink.
Education is the best policy, and until there is more information readily available about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, it will still be an issue. Creating minimum cost alcohol is the lazy man’s way of tackling the binge drinking culture in Ireland.
