Welcome to the New Prohibition

It may have escaped your notice but under a new law enacted just a few weeks ago you can now be hit with an on-the-spot fine of €100 for the “crime” of having consumed too much alcohol.

No you haven’t misread. Since September 15, new provisions allow for the issue of fixed charge notices for the offence of “intoxication in a public place”. And note that this isn’t about drinking in public, which is an entirely different offence. You might have done your drinking in a pub or, say, in a friend’s house and be on your way home when you’re stopped and hit with this fine. Under the regulations, if a member of An Garda Síochána “is of the opinion that a person has committed the said offence, he/she may serve on that person a fixed charge notice”. The notice offers to the person the option of paying a fixed fine instead of being prosecuted for the offence. This is a new prohibition, in addition to the separate offence of “disorderly conduct in a public place” – more commonly known in the past as “drunk and disorderly”, which is an offence under sections 4 and 5 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
According to Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern: “These provisions form part of measures introduced to deal with the public order problems… and provide Garda Síochána with another tool in enforcing the provisions of the law designed to deal with the public disorder consequences of such abuse.”
Which is all well and good. The fact, however, is that the wording of the newly-created offence of “intoxication in a public place” doesn’t mention anything about public order and clearly indicates that a person who might have had even half a skinful but is otherwise minding his or her own business and not causing any trouble, could be fined on the spot.
The Gardai will be judge, jury and executioner in such cases – a situation almost certain to lead to abuse of power somewhere along the way. But there are other serious questions which arise – not least of them being, what exactly constitutes “intoxication”? And will people be breathalised on the streets by Gardai in order to measure their levels of so-called intoxication? We contacted both the Garda Press Office and the Department of Justice for clarification on this matter but neither was prepared to shed any light on how this measure would be enforced.

This move is in fact merely the latest in a series of measures which have been introduced recently and that are clearly aimed at restricting and marginalising alcohol in Irish society. In July, most of the provisions of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 came into force. They include more restrictive hours for “off-sales” of alcohol, a court procedure to secure a new wine-only off-licence and new grounds for objection to the granting of an off-licence. There are also new conditions attached to the granting of a special exemption order, which is the mechanism under which nightclubs and music venues operate.
The new 10pm closing time for off-licenses (along with much later opening times) is particularly draconian and smacks of a nanny state. It completely ignores the fact that we now live in a 24-hour 7-day-week society, where many people work unusual hours and have limited time off in which to do their shopping. (A major 24-hour supermarket with a busy off-license is located across the road from yours truly. It’s just up the road from a 24-hour computer/data centre employing hundreds, while a nearby industrial/office park employs thousands, many on shifts in call centres etc. It’s increasingly common to see these hard-working people doing their shopping either very early in the morning or late at night. They are now denied the simple right to purchase a bottle of wine or a few cans of beer when they do their normal grocery shopping).
Whatever about restricting closing times in off-licenses in supermarkets, the fact that this rule also applies to off-sales in pubs makes it even more ludicrous. A caller to Joe Duffy’s Liveline recently described a man who had driven to his rural local, sipped a pint and then ordered a few bottles to take home. As it was just after 10pm he was refused under the new laws, and he promptly sat down again and drank a few more pints before driving home much later on (the law of unintended consequences at work!). Meanwhile, the cost of so-called “theatre licenses” used by many nightclubs to extend their hours has soared to €410 per night! A recent report in the Sunday Business Post cited the cost of such licenses as the main reason Dublin’s Viper Room was forced to close its doors.

What is clear is that we can expect even more of these restrictive laws in the future. What we have now in this country are the beginnings of a kind of back-door prohibitionism, involving ever more stringent laws and penalties. Dr Joe Barry, a staunch advocate of tougher restrictions on alcohol, said on RTÉ Radio news recently, that the new laws were merely, “a step in the right direction”. The Irish Medical Organisation earlier this year called for a complete ban on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, small shops and petrol stations. Meanwhile, the Irish College of General Practitioners demanded the legal age for the sale of alcohol be raised to 21.
Why the government and authorities have set about demonising one of the few legal, recreational drugs left is anybody’s guess. While no-one denies that alcohol in excess causes harm, then so does almost everything else in excess – including sugar, butter, chocolate, coca cola, and just about whatever you’re having yourself. Even water, drunk to excess can kill you. And then there’s exercise...
The drinks industry is one of our most important industries. As well as employing tens of thousands it also happens to raise billions of Euros in tax revenue annually, both directly and indirectly (through tourism for example). In fact for many years it has been a crucial aspect of the appeal of Ireland as a tourist destination. All of that is being put at risk, on the basis of reports that are at best suspect and at worst downright misleading.
The line is constantly peddled that we are at the top of the ‘binge-drinking’ league in Europe. But how accurate and reliable is the claim?
For example, one report which is continually cited points to the increase in alcohol consumption here during the last decade. What the report conveniently ignores is the fact that our population also increased dramatically. So instead of Irish people drinking more, there were more people in Ireland drinking. Given that immigrants tend to be young and single, with a huge proportion of those based here coming from parts of Eastern Europe, where drinking habits often outstrip ours, there can’t be any surprise that alcohol consumption has increased. Why claim that this is down to the Irish being bigger binge-drinkers?
And then there’s the constant drip-feeding of alcohol related health scares to the media from public health bodies who rarely if ever consider the many pleasures and benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.
This December marks the 75th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol Prohibition in the United States. It lasted from 1920 until 1933 and, as history has recorded, was an unmitigated disaster. In fact alcohol abuse rose in the US during the period – lawmakers take note.