Vintners should face the reality that drink-driving is a cocktail of death

THE letter (August 31) from Padraig Cribbens, chief executive of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) left me breathless and somewhat surprised that a person in such a responsible position would in the course of a selective and self-serving presentation of data have the audacity to claim that Dr Declan Bedford, acting director of public health with the HSE – who enjoys a national and international reputation – presented flawed research to an international conference.

Having attended the international road safety conference at Croke Park last October and listened to Dr Bedford present the findings of his research, I came away impressed with the huge volume of research he and his colleagues had carried out, his balanced presentation and his patience and courtesy in responding to questions.

In the report presented by Dr Bedford – Alcohol in Fatal Road Crashes in Ireland in 2003 to 2005 – three international research papers are listed.