Madam, - Government plans for curbing excessive drinking are far too limited in scope and are unlikely to yield long-term changes in lifestyle.
There is too much focus on the young with a narrow law and order agenda. Proper policing should always be a priority but the Government seems to be disregarding the wider social and cultural context in which young people's leisure lives are being formed.
The recent period of affluence and rapid social change in Ireland has led to the shedding of many traditional formative influences on life and leisure. In the void that was left, a cult of escapism has taken hold. The drinks industry has nurtured this phenomenon with its publicity and promotions. Its allies in the advertising trade have been especially exploitative and manipulative of the young, targeting them with glamourous images about alcohol. Can a young mind really shield itself against these streams of seductive messages?
For far too many young people, alcohol has become the core around which much of their leisure lives are constructed.
The Government should be taking the lead in assisting young people to build more broadly based leisure lives. It should be articulating a vision for contemporary leisure in which the role of recreation, sports, the arts and other cultural pursuits become more central.
This is the counter-culture the Government should be pushing. This is the real challenge. It would be a challenge to all, the old as well as the young. - Yours, etc.,
Ald MICHAEL CONAGHAN,
Members Room,
City Hall,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - Vincent Browne is to be complimented on his two excellent and informative articles on alcohol. They add further to the growing concern about the serious consequences of alcohol misuse to which President McAleese also added her voice.
Mr Browne says the State has a right and duty to intervene. As part of that intervention I suggest that the promotion of alcohol, through advertising and sponsorship, be banned. Countries with such bans have 12 to 15 per cent lower consumption of alcohol and up to 20 per cent fewer motor vehicle fatalities. - Yours, etc.,
Dr MICHAEL LOFTUS,
(Dóthain),
Crossmolina,
Co Mayo.