No political will to tackle alcoholism

The is no political will within the Government to tackle alcoholism, a Fianna Fáil backbencher claimed tonight.

Dublin North TD Jim Glennon, who admitted he was the son of an alcoholic, revealed he had lost friends because he confronted them on their heavy drinking.

The Oireachtas Committee on Community Affairs heard today there were 200,000 alcoholics in Ireland – the second-highest level in the EU.

The disease cost the state six billion euro in 2002.

“There is still bravado about the heavy drinker,” Mr Glennon told the all-party body.

“I have many friends who suffer from alcoholism but aren’t aware of it.

“The general public is in denial that there is a problem in society.

“I have lost friends as a result of broaching the subject, and it has made me wary of broaching it again.

“I have no doubt that the political will is not there to take on alcoholism - either in the Government or in the opposition.

“There are no votes in being the party poopers. We’re only paying lip service.”

Dr Conor Farren of St Patrick’s Hospital in Dublin told the committee that the drinks industry was failing in its duty to warn of the dangers of alcohol.

He explained: “They only tell us to drink sensibly. Why don’t they put up a photograph of George Best and say drink kills.

“If we’re depending on the drinks industry for education, it’s a very sorry state.”

He also slammed drinks firms sponsoring sports and music events like the Heineken European Cup or the Guinness Jazz Festival.

Mr Glennon also queried why doctors don’t certify alcoholism as a cause of death on death certificates.

He noted that the majority of social problems encountered in his constituency clinic were drink-related.

Senator Frank Feighan called for a ban on whiskey and spirits for under-23s. “It’s a ticking timebomb waiting to go off,” he warned.

He said he always felt that the Irish traditionally drank because of a lack of self esteem, but youths nowadays couldn’t claim that was a reason.

Mr Glennon, a former Irish rugby international, said he was reared in a pub and closely witnessed the harmful effects of alcohol abuse.

Not putting alcoholism on death certificates was yet another part of our culture of denial, Dr Farren noted.

A youth who starts drinking at 13 is nine times more likely to become an alcoholic, he told committee members.

Fr Neal Carlin of the White Oaks Centre in Muff, Co Donegal also called for a ban on happy hours in pubs.

“The binge-drinking culture in Ireland makes a massive contribution to the rate of alcoholism.

“We have to take a long, hard look at our moral values in these Celtic Tiger times.”

As a voluntary residential treatment clinic, Fr Carlin criticised the annual chore of filling in application forms to access funding.

He called for Health Department liaison officers to visit centres and approve allocations.

Mr Feighan paid tribute to a Barnardos initiative that asked TDs not to be photographed with a drink in their hands.

Committee chairperson Cecelia Keaveney said that peer pressure was a major factor in young people drinking.