A leading Irish psychiatrist has criticised the sponsorship of sporting and cultural events by the drinks industry and said that binge drinking of alcohol among young men, often associated with weekend and festival events, is linked to suicide.
Dr Justin Brophy, chairman of the Irish Psychiatric Association and consultant psychiatrist at Newcastle Hospital, Co Wicklow, is one of seven contributors to a book about the relationship between binge drinking and youth culture in Ireland, which was launched last night.
The pattern of drinking here is mainly binge drinking, which is strongly linked to suicide in young men, according to Dr Brophy, who has called for government funding for sporting and cultural events to be contingent on the absence of drinks industry sponsorship.
In the new publication, Dr Brophy argues that public binge drinking has emerged in the last 25 years and is associated with community and tourist festivals, many of which are "culturally shallow, sham occasions created by commercial interest with spurious links to history and location".
There are few significant events in Ireland that don't have a branded alcohol product as part of its name, he noted. Vintners' interests have driven this phenomenon under the guise of tourism and cultural patronage. Happy hours and all-you-can-drink promotions have been skilfully woven into youth culture.
"Such events stage-manage mass drunkenness at discounted prices attractive to youths, often with corporate, legal and communal endorsement."
Sporting organisation, such as the GAA and the IRFU, who receive government funding as well as sponsorship from the drinks industry, need to face up to their social responsibility, Dr Brophy told The Irish Times. In particular the GAA, which has so much influence and is "so much a part of the national psyche", must face up to its responsibility, he said.
The clustering of suicides at weekends suggests that besides the established risk factors for suicide among alcohol misusers, the act of using alcohol per se further contributes to the suicidal act, Dr Brophy said.