Madam, - After the recent murder of two young Polish men in Dublin, a Polish journalist was interviewed on RTÉ and asked: "What is the difference, in your opinion, between Polish society and Irish society?" His answer was: "Drunken children". Young Irish people top the table for binge drinking with 32 per cent of 15- and 16-year-olds binge-drinking three or more times in a month.
The drinks companies use sport and very clever advertising to publicise their products. We are bombarded with TV images of young people drinking Guinness, Budweiser, cider, vodka, Bailey's, etc. Almost every moment of every day, alcohol-related messages, subliminal or otherwise, are sent out. Drinking alcohol is perceived as the cool thing to do. This advertising has helped to produce the "lad and ladette" culture which is part and parcel of our so-called Celtic Tiger economy.
In the UK recently Prof Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, called for all alcohol advertising and sponsorship to be banned. He complained about a society saturated with positive images of drinking.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford has recently spoken on this subject, asking the GAA to give a lead to other sporting bodies by refusing to take sponsorship from alcoholic drinks companies.
The heads of a Bill which would have restricted advertising of alcohol products were due for presentation to the Dáil in October 2005, but this legislative agenda was scuppered by the powerful drinks lobby.
In France, drunkenness has greatly decreased since both sponsorship and advertising were strictly controlled. Under French law, alcohol advertisements can show only an image of the product, not drinkers, and TV and cinema advertising is not permitted. Alcohol companies are not allowed to sponsor sporting events.
We need to do something similar in Ireland and I would suggest that organisations such the Pioneers, Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcohol Action and other voluntary groups come together to form a strong lobby group, as the drinks industry has done, in order to get their point across to the Government. - Yours, etc,
PAT CAHILL, (Past President, ASTI,) Whitehall Road, Dublin 12.