Bigger pubs 'causing alcohol problems'
The Minister for Justice today called for a return to smaller community pubs in a bid to crack down on alcohol-related problems.
Addressing an international conference on alcohol consumption in Dublin, Michael McDowell said large establishments not only created noise and nuisance for local residents, but also made controls on underage drinking more difficult to enforce.
He said that alcohol consumption in Ireland had increased significantly over recent years and that when abused it often led to problems for individuals and the wider community.
The Minister was speaking at opening session of the Ethical Principles of Alcohol in Society conference, jointly hosted by the National College of Ireland and the International Centre for Alcohol Policies.
He said nobody should be in doubt that alcohol-related harm, however manifested, was a matter of serious concern.
“I think that we can all agree that while social drinking of alcohol is an integral part of Irish life and not in itself something wrong, alcohol can – and regularly does – lead to problems for individuals, and for the community at large, when it is abused,” he said.
He noted that between 1989 and 1999 alcohol consumption per person in Ireland increased by 41%, saying that although this was “worrying“, it could not be attributed to longer opening hours introduced in July 2000.
“We are now living in a period of unprecedented change in our society and in our economy and our expectations and requirements as citizens and consumers are also changing,” he said.
“For these reasons also, we must keep our laws and various licensing systems under review, and be prepared to reform and adapt them as necessary in the light of changing conditions.”
Mr McDowell said a reformed system of alcohol licensing should serve to bring about a change in society’s drinking habits, “particularly our undoubted tendency towards binge drinking“.
“Scarcity has created an artificial and undesirable market in licences and this in turn has led to the development of very large drinking establishments as the owners attempt to recover their initial outlay,” he said.
“These large establishments not only create noise and nuisance for local residents, but make controls on underage drinking more difficult to enforce.
“Moreover, when large numbers of people emerge from these premises at closing time, there is inevitably an increased risk of public disorder and we have seen the alarming effects of this on our streets in recent years.
“For the future, I would like to see a return to smaller licensed premises serving the needs of local communities, and I would like to see much easier access to licences for such premises.
“I believe that reforms to the licensing system could also be designed to control size, and to improve the spatial distribution of licensed premises.”
