Publicans and off-licence owners say they will use the Government's new national age card in a renewed campaign to prevent 60,000 under-age Junior Certificate students from purchasing alcohol after results are issued today.
Both groups insist that anyone who appears to be under 18 will have to produce the card or they will not be served. No other form of identification will be accepted, they stressed. However, off-licences warned that many teenagers will get drink because adults purchase it for them.
It has become traditional in recent years for Junior Certificate students, mostly aged about 16, to gather in large groups drinking after receiving their results. Teachers said this tradition should end and called for "safe and dignified" celebrations.
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland has placed an advertisement in national newspapers this morning calling on its members to check for the card, which is provided by the Department of Justice and supervised by the Garda.
The Licensed Vintners' Association representing Dublin publicans also called on its members to use the card as a way to stamp out under-age drinking.
This year's results show significant falls in grades for maths and science and notable improvements in history, which has been under pressure in recent years.
The number of students achieving an honour in higher-level maths dropped almost 10 per cent to 66.4 per cent. The failure rate in the same subject almost doubled to 10 per cent.
Despite a high-profile Government campaign to promote the area, failure rates in higher-level science continued to rise. This year almost 9 per cent failed the paper, compared to just over 7 per cent last year and 4.8 per cent in 1998. The number of honours awarded also dropped slightly. However, the performance at pass level improved slightly.
The number of honours in higher-level history rose by 8 per cent to 78 per cent, while the failure rate was down from 8.9 per cent to 3.9 per cent. The numbers taking the subject dropped from 40,065 to 38,432.
The Government's main advisory body on education, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, is pushing ahead with plans for changes in the Junior Cert. These may include some form of continuous assessment, but many teachers remain opposed to the idea.
Another idea currently being studied by the NCCA's Junior Cycle Review Committee is for students with skills in music, the arts and sport to get some kind of official recognition.