Sir, - Are we being ripped off in Irish pubs for soft drinks? £1.20 to £1.30 for a small 7Up, Coke, orange, etc? Soft drinks are very much cheaper in supermarkets. Why is this? Are publicans making big profit margins on them? If so, how big?
The annual anti-drink driving campaign is now in full swing with media personalities lecturing us on sobriety and a vast amount of Garda time consumed in trapping drunken motorists. At the same time, inside our pubs, soft drinks are over-priced vis-a-vis alcoholic drink. If the Government, publicans, media, medical profession and others are so concerned about drunken driving, road deaths and sundry other evils of drink, why then are soft-drinkers financially penalised? What about it, Minister? Time to take on the publicans' lobby and introduce price-control? This would cut more ice (pardon the pun) than hyped up anti-drink driving campaigns. It would also make politicians' and publicans' sanctimonious cant about road deaths less nauseating at this time of year. - Yours, etc.,
From O. Maher
Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6.