The drinks industry is adapting to new legislation and changing public attitudes, writes Kitty Holland
In the days following the killing of Brian Murphy outside Club Anabel, the court of public opinion began to take a sober look at drinks promotions. Promotions that encourage revellers - particularly of the young variety - to consume large volumes of alcohol in short spaces of time were blamed for an upsurge in the late-night aggression of young men. Experts testified to the "intimate relationship" between alcohol and violence.
Public debate on the issue culminated in the enacting of the Intoxicating Liquor Act last year, outlawing "happy hours" and cut-price drinks promotions. However, despite the best public relations efforts of the drinks industry to claim that publicity drives targeting the young are in the past, promotion nights do continue.
"Of course they do," says Stephen Rowen, director of Dublin's Rutland Centre for addiction treatment. "Young people are their target audience. Get them loyal to your brand and you have their custom for the next 30, 40 even 50 years."
A night of frenzied drinking was had by many in Club Anabel at the Burlington Hotel on August 31st, 2000, when Murphy was killed, although Murphy himself was found not to have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol.
Between 10.30 p.m. and midnight that night all drinks in the club were £2. Statements taken by gardaí confirmed the extent of the drinking. Among the youths questioned by gardaí the day after Murphy's death, one said he had drunk several pints of lager followed by four or five shorts, though he had no idea what types of spirits were in the glasses. Another witness, in evidence at the trial, told how he had drunk five cans at a friend's house, a naggin of vodka on the way to the club, and four pints and two bottles of Smirnoff Ice inside.
Many people seemed to be drinking shots and shorts from early on, a barman on duty that night, Michael McFadden, told the court. He described the fight which led to Murphy's death as "quite manic".
Unabated adverse publicity did not deter all the drinks promoters, however. Early last year an outcry followed when the Madhatter Pub in Blackrock, Co Dublin publicised its "Monthly Madness" event, in which customers were offered unlimited amounts of any drink - except champagne - for an all-in cover charge of €40 for men and €25 for women.
Last August a similar clamour forced the cancellation of a "massive drinks promotion" offering "free cocktails and sexy dancers" at the Gallery nightclub in Limerick. Explaining his cancellation of the "Leaving Cert bash", manager Dermot Hartigan said the club had run a similar event for the past 20 years, "but following the publicity we decided to cancel".
Six days later the Intoxicating Liquor Act came into being, prohibiting happy hours and effectively banning cheap drinks promotions. The industry maintains that things were going this way regardless of legislative change.
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland said early last year that the industry "recognises its responsibility to tackle excessive consumption of alcohol". Meanwhile, the policy of the Licensed Vintners' Association had always been against "any practice that encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol", says its chief executive, Donal O'Keefe. "Now individual publicans may have done their own thing [before the Intoxicating Liquor Act] but the social responsibility thing has moved up the agenda. You have to be careful now the way you market yourself."
With even college campuses banning alcohol sponsorship, drinks companies are being seen to move to the changing tune of public opinion. Diageo, which makes Guinness, has poured more than €2 million into its current advertising campaign, based around the "Don't See A Good Night Wasted" ads.
The Madhatter in Blackrock, now under new management, no longer runs promotions and its new owner, Brian Begley, is even renaming the bar Begley's next month in an effort to move away from the image associated with the old name. Even such city-centre bars as Break For The Border, once renowned for its party promotions, no longer hosts Smirnoff Twist or Bacardi Breezer nights. However, things have not changed entirely.
Drinks companies are perhaps more subtle in their approach now. Declan Farmer, Heineken's corporate affairs manager, explains that promotions now take the form of prize draws, or of one voucher per customer "to sample the product".
"The big drinks promotions are all gone," he says. "They are frowned upon big time by the authorities and effectively outlawed now. It's more about raising brand awareness than pushing large sales in one night."
But binge-drinking has not gone away. Department of Health figures indicate that the biggest bingers are those in the 18-29 age group, with men in this group reporting that out of 100 drinking occasions, 58 are occasions to binge. For young women there are 33 binges in every 100 drinking occasions. Rowen, of the Rutland Centre, sees the figures as part of a wider malaise.
"Something very fundamental has gone from the heart of Irish society," he says.
And as the director of the Irish Brewers' Association, Paddy Jordan, puts it: "Even if overall alcohol consumption can be reduced, some young people are going to want to go out and binge-drink. And they will find the money" - drinks promo or no drinks promo.