The Government's plans to introduce café-style bars will do nothing to tackle binge drinking, youth groups warned yesterday.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, has promised legislation which would curb "super-pubs" and encourage the development of bars with an atmosphere suited to moderate drinking.
But the National Youth Council of Ireland and the National Youth Federation told the Oireachtas Committee on Justice yesterday that café-style bars would increase access to alcohol and exacerbate current drinking problems.
The NYCI's information officer, Mr Colm Ó Mongáin, said these bars were likely to proliferate in town and city centres where the concentration of pubs was already high.
"There is no research to back up this move. If Ireland was to follow the example of the Continent, we would sell drink 24 hours a day in vending machines. Clearly we are culturally different and have not got the same climate and need an Irish solution to this very Irish problem," he said.
Mr McDowell's plans follow a report issued this month by the Commission on Liquor Licensing, which recommended measures to tackle under-age and binge drinking and associated public order problems.
The National Youth Federation's chief executive, Mr Diarmuid Kearney, said its recommendations were in direct conflict with those of a Government-commissioned report on alcohol last year.
In its response to the recommendations, the Irish Nightclub Industry Association said it was not responsible for most of the public order offences on the streets and insisted that its patrons were more interested in dancing than drinking.
Mr Patrick Prendergast, chairman of the association, said late-night pubs were the main cause of violence and called for special night-club licences which would allow clubs sell alcohol for another two hours after pubs have closed.
"If night-clubs do not get recognition for the different nature of their business, especially their later opening hours, then night-clubs will not survive or will be driven underground," he said.
The association also suggested that the entry age for night-clubs be raised from 18 to 21 in an attempt to promote more responsible drinking, but this was rejected by youth groups, which said the measure would flout equality legislation.
TDs disputed Mr Prendergast's claim that night-clubs had promoted a "mature and responsible" culture.
Mr Paul McGrath (Fine Gael) said: "You seem to be putting the blame on everyone else. Night-clubs have a responsibility to ensure customers are safe and don't leave the place absolutely footless."
Pavee Point Travellers' Centre said the commission's recommendations that discrimination issues be decided by the District Courts rather than the Equality Tribunal were a "kick in the teeth" for equality.
Mr Finian McGrath TD (Independent) said he shared the group's concerns and pointed out that the recommendation was contrary to the findings of a 1995 report commissioned by the government on the Travelling community and discrimination.
