The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, last night declared war on Ireland's drink culture.
Unveiling a new get-tough policy on excessive drinking, he said plain-clothes gardaí would be given the power to enter pubs, mingle with patrons and ultimately close any premises found to be serving underage or intoxicated customers. At present only uniformed gardaí can enter pubs.
"The laws relating to the sale of alcohol to intoxicated drinkers are in place in theory but not in practice and I am determined that this has to change," he said at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) in Galway last night.
Gardaí with hand-held video cameras would also shoot video footage of drunk customers leaving pubs to secure convictions against publicans suspected of selling them alcohol.
The Minister also called on gardaí not to accept gifts from publicans. Many Garda stations are given free alcohol for Christmas parties, for example.
"I make no apology for the fact that I intend to be even tougher on drink-induced criminality. Some may consider that the measures I intend to introduce, coupled with the existing law, are severe, even draconian. I believe the situation warrants such a course," he said.
He was in favour of reducing pub opening hours on Thursdays and said local authorities should have a significant input in deciding which premises would be allowed special exemptions to open late.
A serious attack on a librarian on Dublin's Grafton Street at the weekend was an indication of the kind of "mindless thuggery" which often results from excessive drinking, he said. "There was another attack on Grafton Street recently where a young woman was beaten by a gang of girls who had been drinking . . . her hair was pulled out in tufts. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and I have agreed to meet the woman's mother to discuss how that case was handled. Another woman from the west of Ireland made her way to meet me at one of my clinics in Dublin to tell me of how her daughter died in a ditch by the side of the road because she had been served too much alcohol".
Mr McDowell said the gardaí were "a very well-resourced force" in comparison to international police forces. Garda divisions across the country needed to look to Mayo where the force has taken a very tough line on publicans who break the law, even though they have no more resources than other divisions. There was no reason why Mayo gardaí should be so successful in convicting publicans who break the licensing laws while gardaí in areas such as Clare and Dublin had proven to be less successful.
Last night's comments came just days after the Minister criticised the drinks industry's "get drunk and get laid" form of advertising.
Mr McDowell also told delegates he would consider introducing electronic tagging for offenders when the technology was refined and became more cost effective.
AGSI president Mr Joe Dirwan said tagging had been successful in other jurisdictions and should be introduced here. Surgically implanted tags had been particularly effective in monitoring sex offenders. Such tags were so advanced they could measure increased blood pressure and pulse rates, both of which indicate when a sexual attack may be about to take place.
On pay and benchmarking, the Minister said a revised set of proposals to take account of the Social Partnership Agreement document had been issued to all four Garda staff associations. Negotiations would shortly take place and would be concluded as a matter of priority.
The AGSI is unhappy at the 6 per cent pay rise allocated to its members under benchmarking. It claims the rise is too small in view of the increased workload now facing sergeants and inspectors and in light of the 16 per cent rise given to more senior officers, most of whom are experiencing no additional workload.