THE drinks industry has issued a robust defence of its role in the sponsorship of major cultural and sporting events, claiming many festivals are heavily reliant on such funding.

IRISH consumers are paying 70% above the EU average for alcohol and tobacco, largely due to higher Government taxes, according to a new report.

The Chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), Kieran Tobin, has welcomed the Government's decision to maintain alcohol excise at current levels in today’s Budget.

A package of stimulus measures to stem the tide of shoppers buying alcohol across the border were unveiled today by alcohol manufacturers and sellers.

THE pub sector is “in meltdown” with sales plunging by more than 14% this year as consumers switch to drinking at home, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) has claimed.

MORE than 1,000 pubs could close over the next three years as the downturn sees the Irish drinking almost one-fifth less than they did at the peak of the economic boom.

Some 15,000 jobs have been lost across the drinks sector in Ireland as a result of the economic downturn, industry representatives said today.

The embattled Government was today forced to drop the price of a pint to stem the tide of shoppers flowing into border towns to stock up on drink.

The chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) Kieran Tobin has welcomed today’s Government decision to reduce excise rates by 20% as outlined in the Minister for Finance’s Budget 2010 statement.

THE Irish drinks industry has called on the Government to avoid raising taxes on alcohol in next month’s supplementary budget amid warnings that 9,000 jobs in the sector are at risk if there is any further increase in excise or VAT.

Up to 9,000 jobs will be lost from pubs and off-licences this year because of plummeting alcohol sales, the drinks industry claimed today.

Pernot Ricard, the maker of Jameson whiskey, has unveiled global profits of €615m for the six months to the end of December.

CARLSBERG doesn’t give evidence to Dáil committees ... but if they did, it would probably be the best evidence in the world.