Clodagh Finn: Alcohol price rise — nanny state or good public health measure?

We have normalised heavy drinking of alcohol at almost every occasion, so why not normalise calling out the harm it does too?

During the pandemic, more people were admitted to the intensive care unit in Beaumont Hospital with alcohol-related problems than with Covid.

There’s a certain irony in introducing price controls on alcohol just as so-called ‘Dry January’ gets into gear.

If you hadn’t voluntarily decided to cut down on the booze, you might interpret the introduction of minimum unit pricing, which came into effect yesterday, as further proof that the State has turned into a meddlesome nanny.