Television adverts for alcohol should be banned, according to the Bishop of Killala, Dr Thomas Finnegan, who warned that young people "are being bombarded by the promotion and glamorisation of alcohol".
Speaking after a children's confirmation Mass in the cathedral in Ballina yesterday, the bishop said that direct and indirect advertising of alcohol should be strictly controlled. He also said that a national identification card scheme was long overdue.
However, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland has rejected the call to ban advertising. The chairman of its social aspects committee, Mr Pat Barry, said "there is no glamorisation of alcohol through advertising".
Warning against alcohol sponsorship of sports events, Dr Finnegan said "there should be no form of advertising specifically addressed to young people, through for instance, the linking of alcohol to sports."
He added that more families suffered from the consequences of alcohol-related abuse than from all other drugs combined and alcohol was a major dependency problem in Europe.
Mr Barry, who is also director of corporate affairs for Guinness Ireland Group, said that television advertising was not about increasing consumption of alcohol but about promoting brands.
People watching the adverts decide which brand to choose, rather than whether or not to drink alcohol, he said.