Irish beverage exports rose by 8% last year to €1.5bn, due to continued demand for premium spirit and liqueur products, according to new figures released today.

Ireland is now one of the world’s top 10 gin-drinking nations, writes John Daly

LATEST: The Seanad is tonight debating amendments to the Public Health Alcohol Bill - which seeks to introduce a minimum price for alcohol.

Parents and front-line services dread the binge boozing of October 31, but we are all culpable in subtly encouraging the young to partake, says psychotherapist Richard Hogan

The interests of business and public health advocates should not be given equal weight in discussions around the final form of landmark legislation on alcohol, according to a charity working in the area.

Campaigners in Ireland have welcomed the decision by Scottish judges to reject an appeal against minimum unit pricing.

An Irish “responsible drinking” campaign by multinational drinks group Diageo could do more harm than good, a study shows.

Harmful drinking “is the norm” in this country, according to new data released by the Health Research Board.

Plans for a minimum alcohol price have suffered a setback after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled similar plans in Scotland would breach EU law if less restrictive tax measures could be introduced.

Industry leaders have praised the cross-category strategy in Food Wise 2025, the agri-food sector’s 10-year plan to expand its exports by 85% to €19bn and create 23,000 jobs.

Alcohol Action Ireland has called on the Government to prioritise the health of children and not to pass the alcohol industry’s self-regulatory codes into law.

Alcohol consumption levels increased last year, driven by hikes in wine and beer sales, provisional figures show.

The new laws setting out a minimum price for alcohol have been broadly welcomed both by campaigners and drinks industry groups.

"A win for the craft brewing industry but not the slam-dunk we would have liked."

The drinks industry has urged the Government not to increase excise on alcohol in the next budget as it could threaten a sector that has huge growth potential in the future.

More than half of Irish drinkers — almost 1.4m people — consume alcohol in a "harmful" manner, yet 98% believe they are "light or moderate drinkers".

Three out of 10 drinkers have experienced harms from their alcohol drinking — including financial difficulties, health consequences and getting involved in fights.

Most drinkers tend to see alcohol problems as really someone else’s, unless, maybe, they are victims of another person’s actions.

Rates of chronic alcohol use have jumped over the last five years, official figures show.

The average Irish person consumed the equivalent of 420 pints last year, according to the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland.

The positive effects on society of minimum pricing for alcohol will “swamp” any negative impact on the industry or on tax revenues, a report commissioned by the Government has found.

Alcohol industry representatives have described as “punitive” and “short-sighted” increases in beer, wine and spirits in Budget 2014.

The alcohol industry has responded to yesterday's report from the CSO that showed Irish people had increased their spending on alcohol.

The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland has said Irish teenagers are now consuming less alcohol.

New figures show that alcohol volumes in Ireland have dropped by 4.4% in the past 12 months.

Ireland operates as a “conveyor belt” for the alcohol industry with 60,000 children starting to drink every single year, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny needs to “give leadership” in tackling alcohol abuse and persuade ministers resisting change “to play their part”, former drugs minister Roisín Shortall has said.

Sports Minister Leo Varadkar has proposed a voluntary system for clubs and teams to opt out of sponsorship from alcohol companies as an alternative to a State-imposed ban.

The Irish drinks industry is a hugely important part of the Irish economy: exporting high-quality branded products worth over €1.26bn per annum; employing over 62,000 people countrywide; providing over €2bn in value add to the Irish economy; while consumers of Irish alcohol products contribute over €1.8bn through taxation to the Irish exchequer.

The Department of Justice accused two drinks’ industry groups involved in a Government alcohol strategy committee of trying to “undermine” its final report.

Two organisations associated with the drinks industry rejected assertions they intended to undermine the report of the Government-appointed expert group on alcohol.

The Government has sent a clear message to the drinks industry that their interests are being protected by putting the alcohol action plan on the “back burner”, community and voluntary groups have said.

A minister has said it was “not practical in the foreseeable future” to ban sports sponsorship by the alcohol industry.

A group representing the drinks industry sought to alter paragraphs and remove figures on alcohol-related rape and domestic violence from a special report shaping Government policy.

IN his foreword in the National Substance Misuse Strategy steering group report, released last February, group chairman Dr Tony Holohan spoke of Ireland’s “long and sometimes difficult association with alcohol”.

Sparks flew at the launch of a Government expert group’s report on alcohol, as representatives of the drinks industry accused the group of “effectively suppressing” its views and labelled members of being “ideologically prejudiced”.

The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) has said that a report released today on how to reduce the alcohol intake in Ireland is "a missed opportunity" to address the issue of alcohol misuse.

A new study carried out on behalf of the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland has shown that Irish people are drinking less alcohol.

The Government should consider banning outright the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, shops and garages if a statutory code on the area did not work.