Teenagers breath-tested at Donegal disco

A system of breath-testing teenagers on their way into a disco has been a huge success, a nightclub owner said today.

Youngsters attending a disco in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, are asked to breathe into the device before they enter the club in a bid to put a stop to underage drinking.

Paul McGlinchey, owner of the Golden Grill nightclub, said the measure was introduced after an increase in the number of drunk teenagers – even though no alcohol is available on the premises.

“We had seen an upsurge in young kids having drink on them when they were arriving at our door or also when they were on the premises,” Mr McGlinchey said.

“We had little tell-tale signs of empty beer cans and so on lying about the place.

“So we decided that we were going to put an end to it. We used to have a gadget years ago that we used to use for people that were going into their cars to test themselves for if they had too much alcohol, a kind of self-tester.

“So we decided to employ these at the front door of the disco.”

The breath-tester is used every time the nightclub holds its school disco event, which attracts up to a thousand teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15.

“It has been working very well... it has been very successful. Obviously, the tell-tale signs have disappeared,” Mr McGlinchey said, adding that it could be adopted across the country.

“We have got a number of young kids there at the door who have obviously blown into this thing and they have appeared to have alcohol in them, and of course we have refused them entry.”

When youngsters are refused entry, the gardai are informed and their parents are called to collect them.