A national conference for local authorities on tackling alcohol and substance abuse has heard a call for a code of practice for night-clubbing, as well as lifelong education on tackling alcohol abuse.
Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in accident and emergency medicine at Cork University Hospital, who was involved in the UK in developing a safer clubbing policy, said nightclubs presented problems "on an industrial scale" for healthcare.
Clubbing was "seriously good fun" but it could also be a major health hazard, he told the conference in Killarney. The major problem was alcohol. Between 10 and 15 people now present at A&E units each night in Cork city as a result of alcohol abuse.
"There has been a massive surge in female drunkenness," he said, estimating the increase at 60 per cent. Female violence had increased in tandem and gardaí were now more afraid of gangs of violent girls roaming in Cork than of gangs of boys.
Dr Luke presented graphic images of young women having been head-butted by other young women, of teeth stuck in hands leading to infection and amputation, of glass injuries to fingers and feet. Shards of glass were a major hazard in nightclubs. Along with ecstasy, there had been a resurgence of LSD, and "lots and lots of new designer drugs", he said.
Mr Brian Crowley MEP said some 25 per cent of deaths of males between the age of 15 and 29 here were related to alcohol. Alcohol was a European-wide problem. In France, long an example in Ireland of safe, social drinking, wine consumption had halved, but spirit consumption had gone up nine-fold since the mid-1970s.
Det Supt Barry O'Brien, deputy head of the Garda National Drugs Unit, said there were grounds for believing a sea change was possible. Drink-driving was no longer socially acceptable.