President rails against drink culture

President Mary McAleese has said she is concerned about the level of alcohol consumption in Ireland which, she maintains, is causing havoc in society.

Speaking at a ceremony on Saturday in Athy, Co Kildare to mark the 40th anniversary of Cuan Mhúire, the addiction rehabilitation centre, Mrs McAleese said that it was time for the country to adopt a sensible balance in relation to drinking habits.

She urged that the nation should take stock of, and take responsibility for, the excessive levels of drinking witnessed in Irish society.

"If we want what every parent wants - a better future for our children - is it then appropriate that we continue to link inextricably, alcohol with almost every life event, whether a Christening, First Communion, wedding or funeral?" she said.

She asked whether in sport it was appropriate that part of the celebrations or commiserations - following weekly matches, be they under six or under 16s - involved the pint in the clubhouse or the pub.

Mrs McAleese said that alcohol left a trail of wasted lives and of tragic and heart-breaking damage.

She said that regrettably in the more affluent Ireland of today, the levels of alcohol consumption in every age group had sharply increased.

The President pointed to the developing trend towards increased home drinking as suggested by the dramatic increase in wine sales.

She noted that the consequences of irresponsible drinking were the tragedies that it generated.

"For individual lives it 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, in the morgues and in the safe havens such as Cuan Mhúire - safe havens that perhaps for too long we have depended on."

Mrs McAleese asked whether it was appropriate that it was left to people such as Sr Consilio, the founder of Cuan Mhúire, "to pick up the pieces . . . in an Ireland which collectively displays ever-increasing evidence of that same dependance".

"What is it about us now that explains why alcohol-related illnesses over the previous 10 years should have increased by almost two-thirds?" she asked.

She said that the report of a forum for young people on alcohol held at Áras an Úachtaráin a year ago had been both informative and worrying in many respects.

"It was worrying, not least, because drinking was viewed, not as a question of 'if' but 'when' for young people and that this was a precursor to a 'sooner rather than later' approach to drinking," she said.

She added that perhaps it was time to take stock so that our children and children's children would not be looking to Cuan Mhúire in another 40 years to solve even greater problems.

Mrs McAleese said that addiction was "the blight of all blights in the modern world and she thanked everyone, past and present, who had given their time, talent and energy to working in this area.

Cuan Mhúire, which began in an old dairy belonging to the Sisters of Mercy in Athy, now has treatment centres in each of the four provinces.