We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
AN APPEAL FOR greater vigilance in the trade of alcohol to young adults has been launched by drinkaware.ie ahead of the release of Leaving Certificate results this Wednesday.
Those selling alcohol have been reminded to always check ID and serve only those over 18 years of age.
Parents have also been reminded of the influential and supportive roles they can play in guiding their children’s drinking behaviour by leading by example, discussing the topic of alcohol openly, setting out clear rules and the reasons for them.
The group says there has been an improvement since 2007 in the access to alcohol among students, with an 11 per cent decrease in 16-year-olds saying that it is “easy or very easy” to access alcohol in Ireland However, according to the 2011 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs research, the perceived availability of alcohol in Ireland amongst 16-year-olds remains above the European average.
Speaking about the research Fionnuala Sheehan, Chief Executive of drinkaware.ie, said:
The 2011 ESPAD research points to the need for greater vigilance by both on and off trade licensees in Ireland as many Leaving Cert students plan to celebrate their achievement in the next few days. Not all Leaving Cert students are of legal drinking age and a significant percentage of Irish 16 year olds reported purchasing alcohol in both on and off trade premises in the 2011 ESPAD research.
The good news is that there is a 23 per cent reduction in underage drinking in Ireland, with 50 per cent of 16 year olds reporting alcohol use ‘during the last 30 days’ in Ireland in 2011, versus the 73 per cent recorded in ESPAD 2003.
The research examined, for the first time, how much alcohol was purchased by 16-year-olds in bars or discos (ie in the ‘on trade’) and in shops (the ‘off-trade’. It found:
“Considering the responses by Irish students to the perceived availability of alcohol, drinking in the last 30 days, and where alcohol was purchased, the data suggests that much of the alcohol consumed by Irish teens is also accessed in the home, in friends’ homes or bought for them by someone else,” said Sheehan. “Parents clearly are very important role models for their children.”
The National Parents Council of Ireland is providing a free Leaving Cert Helpline. The helpline number is Freephone 1800 265165.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
We used to wait outside the offie and ask strangers to go in for us. Someone always did! There’s no way I’d do that for someone under age now….
I used to raid the parents drink cabinet and make an old fisherman’s f#%k.
I was the exact same, John….even in my house with two non-drinking parents (strangely, we always had drink in the house, I assume it was for visitors). Looking back I cringe at my teenage drink habits.
most leaving cert students are 18 and can buy drink for the students who are under 18
Do people still make dolly mixtures?
How many 16 year olds are getting their Leaving Cert results? I would have thought every group in that demograph would have a person over 18 to buy as much booze as they liked. I don’t think you are going to be able to make a quantum cultural shift in the space of 2 weeks…
Drinkaware.ie is merely a PR figleaf for the alcohol industry whose purveyors – the publicans and of the off-licence trade- do their level best to sell as much alcohol as possible to as many people as possible and to hell with the consequences.
and whats worse …the papers are always ready to shoot an ugly scene on the night ! …cringing times ahead…..
The rule is: If you are 18 or over, you are allowed purchase alcohol.
If you don’t like it, change the rule.
The problem isn’t adults purchasing alcohol. The problem is adults abusing alcohol.
We should behave more like the US by carding everyone regardless if the cashiers believes your old enough. My mother got carded once in Oregon when she was 48 and felt great about herself!! That way everyone it’s harder. I looked 18 when I was 15 and bought alcohol in the offie all the time for me and my mates. And the bigger problem is not adults buying the alcohol but the friend who is 18 buying it for those underage. Everyone does it. Make an example and fine the bejaysus of a few 18 year olds buying for 16 year olds.
Niteclubs too are letting in underagers on Friday and Sunday nights, nights less buy where if they were strict on age, no one would be in the place. As a teacher if i’m ever out in my local the fiddlers (the one refusing tap water), I see students from someas young as 2nd year to 5th years and it’s packed to the rafters with them from the three schools in the town. And to prove it, all these underage students are on the facebook photos their photographer takes.
Your mother was lucky. I claimed a senior citizens discount entry to Fota Island the other day and no one asked me to prove my age. Very demoralising!
48 Year old getting mistaken as under 21??? No offense to your Mother but I wouldn’t believe that if I born yesterday..
@Ben are you a senior citizen if not why are you claiming it and then feeling demoralised for getting it?
@ Chris Lynch. I don’t think Connor was saying that his mother got mistaken for under 21. Its just the law in America. I’ve seen old men in their 50′s and 60′s get asked for ID when buying cigarettes in the states. It also has something to do with the age of the person serving them too.
i know people over there who have been caught out by that rule. IDing people who are clearly old enough to have kids old enough to buy drink is over the top!
I seen a pensioner get asked for I.d. in the states. I think the law is different there, it’s not the pub that has the license but the barman himself and he’ll lose his license and his job if he sells to an underage person. That’s why they’re so strict.
actually we were on holidays in tge states when i was 13 or so and it was well into the 30s in terms of temperature so my dad asked me to get him a drink of orange juice from the bar beside the pooland the guy refused to serve me because i was under 21! what kind of place refuses to serve non alcoholic drinks when the temperature is that high?? god help you if you were dehydrated and in need of water (before u say tap water we had been told not to drink the tap water!)
Forget about stopping them from drinking on Wednesday night, it is a right of passage, focus on insuring their safety instead and I hope they have a great night.
I can drink responsibly, must everything be ruined by the few.
Funny how most posters above, all got their drink when underage, through someone they knew, a stranger or by looking old enough and are now saying what should be done to stop it from happening.
Poacher turned gamekeeper.
We live in a nanny state. Instead of calling for this, why not impose a minimum price on alcohol AND raise the drinking age to 20? This would significantly reduce the perception of age profiling by drinkaware.ie
What would that do?
So are you proposing a ‘mammy’ state then?
I think we should have a Cool Uncle state.
If they want it, they will get it , at all ages.
Chris everyone gets carded in the US regardless of age. They even have books at cashier counters with accepted ID’s of every nationality e.g. passport, driving licence and age cards. Nothing else will work in most places.
And yes I did drink. Not a lot but some. Most times I did was in my own home with my parents. They were of the opinion if I’m going to drink then it will be in front of them. Most of my classmates went out knacker drinking as large groups, bought drink easily and got off their faces, kicking wing mirrors off cars, fighting and breaking windows. Each year in school has groups that do this.
I wouldn’t care what age the drinkers are. If someone is 15 and drinks two drinks and thats it I’d much prefer it to a 25 year drunk who fights every night. It’s not even the underage drinking thats the problem. It’s when people underage drink it involved a large group of teenagers drinking in areas and people are intimidated when they see them causing trouble. That is where the problem is.
Why do we always have to Pass the blame to the off licences, the government, and the adult muppets that go in an purchase alcohol for teenagers?? Should we not be addressing the other issues that teenagers want to drink ? Like low self esteem, dysfunctional family systems, social inclusion, social and financial depravation and dare I say it? The ‘monkey see monkey do ‘ Irish mentality? How can we teach or children not to abuse alcohol when we do it every weekend ourselves? With them watching on?
Children should never ever be allowed in pubs for a start.
have your say