TD deplores loss of faith in traditional society

Excessive drinking and post-pub street violence are a growing problem in rural as well as urban areas which warrants a review of pub-closing times, a TD declared yesterday.

Ms Marian Harkin (Independent, Sligo-Leitrim) also said the problem underlined the pressing need for a full debate on what kind of society people wanted.

She said excessive drinking was a nationwide problem not confined to urban areas or young people, but an issue that must concern society as a whole.

People had lost faith in the traditional institutions, and something had to be done to restore a sense of "connectedness".

If the drink issue was to be adequately tackled, this required not just putting more gardaí on the streets or reviewing pub hours but encouraging the development of "participative democracy".

This meant dealing with the changing role of young males in society, the gap between the haves and have-nots, providing appropriate youth facilities and having a full debate on rebuilding a sense of community.

She said society had changed totally.

"We can't revert to the centralisation of previous decades, or put forward solutions that worked 20 years ago.

"What needs to be done is to involve and engage people and move the situation forward," Ms Harkin added.

There were no real "signposts" for young people seeking to find a system of values, she said.

While Irish society had appeared better on the surface 20-25 years ago, that was not the case, and there were many problems beneath that facade which were now surfacing and must be addressed.

More gardaí would not solve the problem of excessive drinking but would make the streets safer.

"We also need to look at the licensing laws again and to examine the consequences of longer pub opening hours."

On the wider issue, she said the State should be more supportive of voluntary community organisations and of building up a civil society.

"Politicians have a role to play in encouraging and supporting the development of civil society. There has to be something to replace what we've lost." Ms Harkin said.

"We have to find ways to involve and engage people and move society forward."

A Garda spokesman said it was self-evident that young people were drinking more, and this was leading to a rising number of drink-related violent incidents.

The president of Macra na Feirme, Mr Seamus Phelan, said there appeared to be a change of emphasis in young people's attitudes to alcohol.

The object now was not to go out and have one or two drinks but to get drunk, he added.

It was a symptom of Irish society that everything revolved around pubs, and the whole essence of Macra was to encourage activities that did not, he said.

Macra itself had difficulties in persuading some members to have post-meeting social activities that were not pub-based.

It was difficult to convince people there were better alternatives. More gardaí on the streets would help tackle the problem of escalating violence, but people also had to accept responsibility for their behaviour, Mr Phelan added.

He would encourage young people to get involved in organisations like Macra, the GAA and other clubs and not to regard the pub as their only form of recreation.

The increasing levels of street aggression were a by-product of excessive alcohol consumption, although he believed that the probklem was not as acute in rural villages as in bigger urban areas.