€20m fund to promote sensible drinking

AT LEAST €20 million will be spent on promoting sensible drinking over the next five years by a group set up by the drinks industry to reduce alcohol abuse.

Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS) plans to build on the success of www.drinkaware.ie, its website which has received thousands of hits since November.

The site lets people find out if the amount of alcohol they drink is at moderate or hazardous levels.

MEAS also ran radio, TV and poster advertisements featuring the slogan ‘know the one that’s too many’.

Chief executive Fionnuala Sheehan said they wanted to be informative and helpful, not judgmental or preachy.

She believed there had been an effort by those involved in producing and selling alcohol to communicate that it was a product that needed to be treated responsibly.

She said MEAS was also trying to get a measure of the effect it was having on people’s drinking.

Ms Sheehan said a study commissioned by MEAS in January has found that their www.drinkaware.ie site was extremely effective in assisting those who accessed it to drink responsibly.

“We are starting to see a high number of people expressing more responsible attitudes toward alcohol.”

Asked how the €20m would be spent, she said they wanted to continue emphasising the importance of responsible alcohol use while challenging anti-social drinking behaviours.

“We will also increase and accelerate our campaign at times of the year that are particularly relevant when it comes to drinking.”

MEAS have developed a drinks calculator, which tells the user the number of standard drinks their favourite tipple contains. The ESB have requested €9,000 for its employees and Ms Sheehan said they would be happy to supply them to other firms. Anyone interested in getting the calculator can call MEAS on [phone].