The Stop Out of Control Drinking campaign has stopped short of calling for a ban on alcohol sponsorship of events in Ireland.

Long, long before alcohol was named as a factor in the appalling case at Longford Circuit Criminal Court yesterday morning, where a 47 year-old mother was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of her pre-teen daughter, we all knew that our national relationship with drink is not always a healthy one.