Irish society's use of alcohol "is nothing short of a national tragedy" which was leading to "a creeping paralysis", Dublin Auxiliary Bishop Dr Eamonn Walsh said yesterday. He also noted that, while the drinks industry spends €65 million a year currently on advertising, it spends just €1.5 million on encouraging responsible drinking.
Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin said he believed "it cannot be stressed enough that drunk-driving is irresponsible and unacceptable".
Both men were speaking at the launch of Alcohol: the Challenge of Moderation, a pastoral letter prepared by the Irish Bishops' Conference, in Dublin's O'Connell Street at the statue of Fr Theobald Mathew. He was the Cork-born Capuchin friar who led a great temperance movement in Ireland from 1839-1856.
A wreath was laid at the statue's base by both bishops and Capuchin priest Fr Dan Joe O'Mahony. The pastoral letter will be distributed in parishes today and tomorrow, Temperance Sunday.
"I suppose that many will react to a pastoral letter of the Irish bishops urging moderation regarding alcohol by saying that the bishops are at it again, being negative," said Dr Martin. But "recent discussion in the international media on climate change and global warming have starkly reminded us of the importance of moderation . . . [ where] human lack of moderation is working disastrous effects on the integrity of God's creation."
And, individually, "where we do not attain a sense of moderation regarding food, drink and exercise, we put our health at risk", he said. "Each of us - without exception - has a challenge to address about drink", while "all of us should be making our voices heard against the problem of binge drinking, which is still at times glorified or excused as being part of our way of celebrating certain occasions."
No one could deny "that Ireland still has a long way to go in facing the challenge of moderation in the use of alcohol", he said.
Bishop Walsh noted that Ireland now tops international tables for binge drinking among the under 20s and for the consumption of alcohol by those aged 15 and above.
Describing this as "nothing short of a national tragedy", he said the bishops' pastoral was "an attempt to initiate a debate which will enable us all to name what is happening and gradually to change unhealthy attitudes to alcohol".
On a practical level he noted that the pastoral letter encourages people to reduce their consumption of alcohol by a third "and assess the difference this makes after three months, and to initiate a discussion amongst friends and at home about our attitude and use of alcohol".