Madam, - Off-licences have correctly been identified as the source of most of the alcohol that caused problems on the streets of Dublin and elsewhere on St Patrick's Day.
It is a pity that those who now belatedly support the Lord Mayor's call for later opening of off-licences did not come forward sooner.
In addition, some method of tracing drink supplies to specific off-licences would enable us to identify and prosecute businesses which facilitate children getting drunk.
The present approach to the problem - saturating the streets with gardaí - effectively means letting young people get drunk and then dealing with them. Surely a counsel of despair.
It also does nothing to ease workload pressures on gardaí and on hospital A&E departments. - Yours, etc.,
Dr JOE BARRY,
Senior Lecturer in Public Health,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.