ANTHONY MALONE,
Sir, - Recent correspondence in your Letters page has highlighted the problem of alcohol in this country, which is reflected in road death statistics, hospital admissions, violence in the home and on the streets.
Yet alcohol is associated with success, achievement and "good times" in advertisements and sponsorship in the media in a way that is almost shocking.
Whether it is Gorbachev holding the "obligatory" national pint in Dublin; Mary Harney State-jetting across the country to open an off-licence; or the national panic last year at the impossibility of getting a drink at the World Cup qualifier in Iran; or the cheap beer nights in college bars at which students are first introduced to serious drinking, as a nation we take our drink seriously.
But let us not forget - alcohol is a drug (though a legal one). It can and does damage our health. It impairs our judgement and moods with consequent effects for our capacity to drive, operate machinery, or relate to other people. We can (and do) get hooked on it with catastrophic outcomes for family, career and the community. It can (and does) lead to violence and death.
Yet alcohol is glorified in the media. Yes, it is good fun for many and as a legal drug can be controlled and taxed. But it is time to ban its advertising and sponsorship from drinks companies, especially of sports events.
Why present it as something normal, necessary or even sexy - when it is really a drug - a deadly drug? - Yours, etc.,
ANTHONY MALONE,
Elm Drive,
Douglas,
Cork.