We should follow French example and ban alcohol ads and sponsorship

AFTER the recent murder of the two Polish men in Dublin, a Polish journalist was asked what the difference was between Polish and Irish society?

His answer: “Drunken children.” Young Irish people topped the table for binge drinking, with 32% of 15- and 16-year-olds doing it three or more times in a month.

The drinks companies use sport and very clever ads to publicise their products. We are bombarded with

images on TV of young people drinking Guinness, Budweiser, cider, vodka, Baileys, etc.

Almost every moment of every day, alcohol-related messages, subliminal or otherwise, are sent out. Drinking alcohol is perceived as the cool thing to do. This advertising of alcohol has produced the ‘lad and ladette’ culture.

In Britain, Prof Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, called for all alcohol advertising and sponsorship to be banned. He complained about a society that simply continues to be saturated with positive images of alcohol consumption.

Archbishop Dermot Clifford has recently spoken on this subject, asking the GAA to give a lead to other sporting bodies in not taking sponsorship from alcoholic drinks companies

The threads of an Alcohol Products Bill were drawn up to restrict advertising of alcohol products and were due for presentation in the Dáil in October 2005, but this legislative agenda was scuppered by the powerful drinks lobby which engaged a PR agency chaired by Brian Geoghegan, husband of Health Minister Mary Harney.

In France, drunkenness has vastly decreased since both sponsorship and advertising were strictly controlled.

Under French law, alcohol adverts can only show the image of the product, but not drinkers, and TV or cinema advertising is not permitted. Alcohol companies are not allowed to sponsor sporting events.

We need to do something about advertising the drug called alcohol in Ireland and I would suggest that organisations like the Pioneer Association, Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcohol Action and other voluntary groups come together to form a strong lobby group, like the drinks industry, in order to get their point across to the Government about the abuse of alcohol in this country.

Pat Cahill

81 Whitehall Road

Terenure

Dublin 12