This morning sees the publication of ‘About Last Night…’ an important report into the relationship Ireland has with alcohol.
Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business was a member of the group who voluntarily came together from a variety of walks of life to explore what it is that makes out of control drinking so much more accepted a part of our culture here that anywhere else, and at how we can start to change that behaviour among all of us.
We looked at volumes of research into harmful levels of drinking, and listened to the views of 14,000 fellow citizens who joined us at workshops in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick as well as through online commentary and suggestion.
Spark
We were criticised by some for having the advertising and awareness elements of the campaign funded by Diageo. None of those who criticised though could have funded the campaign and without that spark we could not have started the debate which has reached further and wider, sometimes through controversy, than many previous or ongoing attempts to grab the attention of the nation.
The report carries 80 practical steps which we believe could be the first steps towards a better acceptance of personal and society responsibility for what we do with drink and how that sets the mood for those who come behind us.
They range from closing the Dáil Bar, to enforcing an obligatory Age ID culture as there is in the US. We have suggested phasing in the raising of the legal drinking age to 21 and creating public awareness campaigns that stigmatise out of control drinking in the same way as we have drink driving.
80 Recommendations
Over the next week we will highlight the 80 recommendations broken down into areas of enforcement, Government, Parents, the alcohol industry, media and society.
The report calls for this to be the first stage in a ten year plan to be overseen and implemented by a Foundation for the Reduction of Alcohol Misuse (FRAMe), to be at least part funded from the taxes that are levied on the drinks we buy.
“This is a deeply complex issue that has its roots in attitudes and excessive behaviours that have been passed from generation to generation,” said Fergus Finlay who chaired the group.
“People simply don’t recognise the problem in themselves and that’s the biggest barrier.”
“In fact they are more likely to view a night of heavy drinking positively – for example as a way to form bonds with friends.”
“Unpicking this issue requires a broader, integrated and whole society approach that, with political backing, we could crack within a generation. But if we are serious about this we need to start now.”
“There is no silver bullet solution. Our proposals, drawn from all across Irish society, call for a genuine national mobilisation of public opinion, inspired and underpinned by a range of different and complementary measures, that will ensure this generation can create and pass on a health legacy for the generations that will follow us.”
Disagreement
Media commentary will pick on one or two issues and perhaps discount the value of the report as a result of disagreement over our approach to certain subjects.
We have not for example advocated a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport. The ‘celebrations’ of Dublin GAA players and fans over the last 48 hours have done more to fuel the idea that alcohol is vital to a good time than any of the Heineken or Diageo campaigns surrounding the World Cup.
The relationship does need to be managed and improved but an overnight ban would be counter productive and damage our relationship to physical activity and sport more than it would reduce our alcohol intake.
But that is a single issue and this is so much more.
Read it
The report itself is 108 pages long. If you have a concern about how you drink, or if you think it’s a problem that you can help to address for your and their children then download it below and read it. Criticise it if you will but read it and put forward alternatives so that we can all make some progress towards a better attitude to alcohol than we have at the moment.
The ‘happy drunk’ is seen only as a fun stereotype here. Elsewhere around the world it is seen as sad to be out of control. That’s an issue for all of us. We have put our hands up and said we want to start to make things better.
Download the full report here…
