Ireland's drinking problem will not be resolved by targeting young people alone, the National Youth Council of Ireland has warned.
The council's director, Dr Mary Cunningham, said that youngsters who abuse alcohol are holding up a mirror to their elders, and only by addressing the habits of society as a whole will change occur.
Dr Cunningham was commenting after the NYCI's conference on "Young People and Alcohol" in Dublin at the weekend.
She conceded that many young people in Ireland now have a drinking problem, but said the focus on youth was letting older people off the hook.
"We haven't started to name this as an adult problem. In the meantime, initiatives aimed exclusively at young people are not going to work," she said.
"We need a comprehensive strategy, one that includes addressing Ireland's laissez-faire attitude to drunkenness, in which families and communities almost collude with heavy drinking."
The range of initiatives needed would include a freeze on the number of outlets selling alcohol: "We have 16,000 already and that's enough. Research shows that increased availability leads to increased consumption."
She also called for a ban on drink advertising, better enforcement of existing legislation on the sale of alcohol to minors, and the provision of alternative, alcohol-free venues - "places that would be cool and attractive" - for young people to gather.
While educational programmes did not work in isolation, Dr Cunningham added, they were an important part of an overall approach: "But it needs to happen earlier. There's no point starting in the Junior Cert cycle when research shows that a lot of young people have had their first drink before the age of 12."
Meanwhile, the president of Young Fine Gael has warned that attempts to "shelter" young people from alcohol will not work.
Mr William Lavelle criticised attempts by the Garda to stop late-licences in nightclubs as a "new high-point in the ongoing nanny-state campaign by the Irish establishment and Justice Minister to curtail citizens' rights to drink.
"If we aspire to an Ireland free of the tag of alcohol abuse, then we need to bring positive solutions, which respect our individual citizens and their rights, while also promoting a sense of real responsibility."
