Sir, – You may have noticed that many towns in Ireland have a festival, summer school or something like that at this time of year. Essentially, these events are opportunities to drink a lot. They are usually welcomed and supported by the town publicans, who find that trade falls off dramatically in summer unless there is some kind of shenanigans going on to set the tills ringing. So why is there any need for creativity here? It’s hard work organising a literary, music, cultural, summer festival, etc. Why not cut to the chase and organise a festival that focuses on alcohol, such as, perhaps, the Kildare Heavy Drinking Festival or the Leitrim Get Plastered Summer School? The Germans have their beer festivals, so why can’t we do something similar? It would certainly be an honest kind of initiative and would surely raise the morale of small towns just as much as any other more highbrow event. – Yours, etc,
SEÁN ANDREWS,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.