Drink plays a role in 97 per cent of public order offences

The piece below appears in this week's INM's Irish reigional newspapers

Michael Commane

Washing the breakfast dishes one morning in late November, looking out at a tall willow tree, with half an ear on the radio I heard an item on Morning Ireland about drink driving. The Garda had just launched their Christmas clamp down on drink driving. A Garda spokesman was stressing how unwise it can be to drive the morning after drinking. Also, someone form Drink Aware was emphasising that it takes the body one hour to free itself from one standard unit of alcohol.

As I said, right before the item was aired, my mind was a million miles away. I was washing dishes and looking at a willow tree.

As Dougal in Fr Ted would say, ‘Isn’t it mad’ to think that we pour this stuff into our bodies in such quantities that hours later we are not even fit to drive a car. ‘It’s mad’.

Over the last few weeks on radio I have heard well known and respected presenters suggest to their interviewees that they well deserve to head off to the pub and take a few scoops. Of course a few scoops are fine, but it’s what’s intimated, it’s what’s suggested that is so worrying.

I know nothing about rugby. Okay, I know it’s now called the Aviva Stadium but guess what, as sure as hell I have heard of the Heineken Cup. I’m immediately thinking of that long narrow 500 ml-size green can. I regularly pick those empty cans up when I am out walking with my dog in a park early in the morning. It’s part of the Irish detritus as are all the other cans and bottles.

A friend of mine refused ever again to set foot in the then Lansdowne Road after the IRFU allowed an apartheid South African team play there. Yes, he is a prophet. But I’m wondering are there any who do not go because of the link between drinks companies and sport?

Yes, at least we are discussing the problem in the media, in the public forum and in schools. That’s good.

Everything helps but we urgently need to find out why we as a nation have such an unhealthy attitude to alcohol. And then plan what’s the best way to solve the problem.

When I was a young priest there was hardly a Dominican priory where there was not at least one alcoholic. That’s thankfully changed now as there are very few abusers of drink among the Irish Dominicans. Why that has happened I don’t know. Maybe it is because there are fewer of us around now than there were then. Maybe is has something to do with a world that is less furtive, afraid and secret?

A few statistics: It is projected that by 2020 the number of new cases of alcohol-related cancers will double for women and increase by 81 per cent for men. A recent study found that half of those who took their own lives in Ireland had abused alcohol in the previous 12 months. Four out of 10 Irish women drinkers report harmful drinking patterns. One in three road crash deaths is alcohol related. Eighty eight deaths every month in Ireland are directly attributable to alcohol. Alcohol has been identified as a contributory factor in 97 per cent of public order offences as recorded under the Garda PULSE system. And 76 per cent of all rape defendants had been drinking at the time of the alleged offence.

We need to get real about it and sit down and have a sensible national debate about our abuse of alcohol.

In the meantime, enjoy Christmas and be sure to know that if you abuse alcohol this Christmas you are sure to have a horrible time and make it horrible for others too.