Half of farmers against relaxing drink-driving law

More than half of farmers were opposed to a proposal, by TD Michael Healy-Rae, that drink-driving laws should be relaxed to allow rural people drink and drive.

An Irish Examiner poll of milk suppliers, linked with the ICMSA, found far from supporting the controversial proposal from the South Kerry TD and his brother Cllr Danny Healy-Rae, a majority of farmers did not support the call.

The survey found 56% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the Healy- Raes, although 43% broadly favoured some softening of drink-driving laws. Overall, just 18% strongly agreed rural drivers should be allowed drink after a few pints.

A motion by Cllr Healy- Rae at a meeting of Kerry County Council earlier this year, calling for permits to be issued to people in rural areas allowing them to drive after consuming alcohol a little over the legal limit, generated a storm of publicity.

Commenting on the survey findings, Deputy Healy-Rae said the figures did not surprise him although he noted 43% agreeing with the proposal was a very high figure.

“Those figures wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. Naturally, some of the figures I would be talking about are very rural, isolated areas with no public transport or other outlets for recreation but that might not be the case for all farmers in other areas.

“In a general national sense, those figures would be accurate but, in parts of Kerry for example, 100% of people would agree with our proposal.”

Mr Healy-Rae did take issue with a particular question posed in the survey, stating it was “misleading”.

“No one had mentioned the figure of three pints,” he said. “What we said was that the law could be relaxed so people could have a couple of drinks, that could be one drink or two drinks. I would never agree with people being drunk and driving so the question was not 100% accurate as to what we were proposing,” he said.

ICMSA president John Comer said the organisation would never endorse any kind of relaxation of the laws on drink driving and were well aware of the misery and pain that resulted from accidents caused by drunk drivers.

However, Mr Comer said the proposal did get some support from rural people annoyed at being lectured to by those in urban areas who have a range of transport options available to them when socialising: “These rural people don’t have any other way of getting around and yet they have to take these lectures from people who themselves have the choice of the Luas or DART or 20 buses an hour or cheap taxis and hackneys.

“I sometimes wonder whether some of those people doing the lecturing about how country people should be able to get around to socialise have ever been faced with a five-mile trek to the nearest pub in the dark or a €30 taxi fare to go down for couple of pints.”

He added: “Maybe the local property tax, that we were told would be used to fund exactly this kind of deficit, will be the remedy. But, somehow, I doubt it. Put it this way, I won’t be holding my breath.”