Eight off-licences sold alcohol to a 16-year-old boy in an undercover operation by gardaí in Dundalk, Co Louth, as part of measures to deal with the problem of youths drinking at weekends.
Twelve off-licences were visited in a three-hour period and just four of them asked to see ID for the youth. The teenager was sold Devil’s Bit and Bulmers cider, West Coast Cooler and Dutch Gold lager.
By law, anyone who appears to be under the age of 21 should be asked to produce identification and, according to a Garda spokesman, “this teenager looked 16. The fact he was asked for ID in four [of the off-licences] illustrates that he did not look 21.”
The spokesman said the operation was organised in part to address the problem of groups of teenagers “gathering at the weekends and drinking”.
A Garda spokesman said off-licences visited after weekend incidents had claimed the alcohol had probably been bought by older people who had then given it to the teenagers.
“We are very disappointed that so many of them provided alcohol to this teenager in this operation. We will now look to meet with the vintners and files will be prepared with a view to prosecuting the premises in question.”
Gardaí have warned that such operations will continue and that there are serious penalties for breaches of the law.