Ministers urged to direct schools not to use Drinkaware education programmes

As first reported by the Irish Examiner, Drinkaware continues to offer its training for secondary school teachers against the advice of the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Education.

The Health and Education Ministers have been called on to direct schools against using Drinkaware education programmes, after it wrote directly to school principals dismissing recent media coverage of the programmes as “disinformation”.

As first reported by the Irish Examiner, Drinkaware continues to offer its training for secondary school teachers against the advice of the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Education.

Following this newspaper's reporting, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said schools should get their resources directly from the HSE and public health agencies in respect of educating pupils about alcohol.

This includes ‘Know The Score’, for Senior Cycle students, and Healthy Choices, for Junior Cycle SPHE, with further resources to be published in 2023.

Now in a letter to school principals marked "private and confidential", Drinkaware, which includes Diageo, Bulmers Ireland, and Heineken amongst its funders, says its programme has been developed by educators in line with best practice, for teachers to provide alcohol education to young people “in response to an absence of a State-led programme for this critical age cohort".

The letter adds: “The matter of our funding was raised in the recent coverage but failed to recognise that those who fund Drinkaware’s work in no way influence our work, we are funded by not run by or dictated to by our funders.

 "The corporate voluntary donations provided in no way allow the companies to seek to influence our work which includes our education programme, and our formal agreements with them state this explicitly.” 

The letter does not mention the fact that the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Education strongly advise schools against using its materials.

Social Democrats Róisín Shortall:  An organisation with close funding ties to the industry Drinkaware should have no role in providing school programmes. Picture: Damien Storan

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said the move can “only be viewed as confrontational and provocative".

She said that as an organisation with close funding ties to the industry Drinkaware should have no role in providing school programmes.

"The purpose of the alcohol industry is to sell alcohol, which is a legitimate commercial objective. However, Drinkaware, an organisation with close  funding ties to that industry has no business in our schools."

The official health advice to schools on this is "crystal clear", she added.

Other politicians, parents and advocacy groups have joined the call to remove Drinkaware from schools, she added. “Yet Drinkaware has acted in complete defiance of these calls. It is very important now that the Health and Education Ministers issue a joint direction to all schools making it clear that the Drinkaware programme is entirely inappropriate for students and its use must cease.” 

The Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network said it is of the strong position that the discussion in the national media about Drinkaware was based on sound information.

This “reflected the real concerns of a growing movement of people across Ireland who believe that alcohol industry-funded initiatives have no place in Irish schools”, it added.

Spokespeople for the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Education confirmed the three departments are working closely on the issue.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said:

It is not appropriate that resources or materials produced or funded by the alcohol industry, for education and awareness on alcohol, are in use in our schools.” 

 A spokesperson for the HSE added: “Drinkaware continues to make the resource available despite the HSE and the Department of Health stating that it is inappropriate.” 

 A spokeswoman for Drinkaware said the “disinformation” it referred to in its letter relates to commentary that dismissed its formal charitable status and its constitutional objective.

This objective is “to benefit the community by preserving and promoting public health and socially responsible behaviour by reducing alcohol misuse and related harm”.

Drinkaware’s programme is “unequivocally” about prevention and it “continually and publicly asserts that alcohol has no place in childhood.

“Other coverage stated that Drinkaware is “not independent” when in fact the charity’s independence is ratified by two State institutions: the Charities Regulator and the Revenue Commissioners.

“It is our collective duty to support evidence-informed preventions of alcohol misuse and this programme is one such proven prevention.”