‘Traditional’ way to teach youth how to drink

Publicans will launch an initiative in West Cork and Kerry later this year to encourage “traditional methods”, for young people, of learning how to drink.

The pilot programme will also draw up a “menu” of events such as film clubs, Irish language nights and comedy sessions that hard-pressed landlords can draw on to pull in the punters.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland, representing licensees outside Dublin, is launching the initiative in a bid to fight back against the trends of low consumer spending, lifestyle changes and mass emigration — the latter particularly hitting rural Ireland.

CEO Padraig Cribben said Ireland has a problem with the cheap availability of alcohol which had fuelled abuse, particularly among young people.

“There is a consensus: in the Government, among health professionals and the vast majority of those who sell alcohol that something needs to be done to address availability, affordability and accessibility of alcohol. The Government has been posturing for some time. They know what needs to be done, but are failing to do it.”

He said the introduction of minimum pricing would be part of the response.

But he said more work also needs to be done from an education point of view.

“With the younger generation, the evidence seems to suggest they drink as fast as possible to get drunk as quickly as possible. It’s not good for them and it’s not good for the trade.”

He said they needed to be educated how to drink. This has led to a new VFI initiative which will be piloted in Kerry and west Cork, towards the end of the year.

“We want to go back to the traditional methods of learning how to drink, of having someone older — a parent, sibling or a friend — who the young person could go to pub with and have a few drinks or pints. They would be minded in other words. That minding seems to have gone out the window.

“So this would be about patrons encouraging the likes of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters to come in and attract them over a period of time.”

He said this would introduce young people, aged over 18, to controlled, moderate drinking in a social environment.

He said the proposal ties in with a second objective: to compile, with the assistance of pub owners, a range of events that landlords could employ to encourage people to come into pubs.

Mr Cribben said it will include things some pubs are already doing such as black and white film nights, Irish-language evenings, book clubs, comedy sessions and so forth. Pubs which fail to offer prospective patrons something different could well join the 1,500 licensed premises closed over the last five years.

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