There have been 463 cases of minors found drunk on the street already this year. The Garda National Juvenile Centre recorded 760 cases of public intoxication of children last year, a rise of 130 on 1998. These are just the officially recorded cases of young people so seriously and obviously drunk in public that their condition had come to the attention of the Garda. The actual number of underage drinkers is higher and, according to Supt P.J. McGowan, director of the National Juvenile Centre, it cannot realistically be determined.
"Underage drinking tends to be very clandestine and so it's not always possible to know how many teenagers are abusing alcohol."
A recent SLAN National Health and Lifestyle Survey found that 52 per cent of 15- to 17-year-old-olds claimed to have been "really drunk", while fewer than 16 per cent of boys and girls in the same age group said they had never taken a drink.
Supt McGowan hopes the new Intoxicating Liquor Act will substantially reduce the risk of young people being served alcohol in pubs and clubs.
"Section 13 of the Act says that publicans can have their licence taken from them for seven days for a first offence of serving alcohol to a minor and 30 days for a second offence. That's the sort of sanction publicans take very seriously."
Under Section 14 of the Act publicans will no longer be able to claim they had "reasonable grounds" to believe that a young customer was over 18.
Supt McGowan believes that the new National Age Card, due to be launched next month, will help publicans to stay within the law.
"Previously, individual Garda stations would issue their own individual cards, so it was very difficult for publicans to know which ones were genuine." The new cards will, he said, be of good quality" and difficult to forge.
"At the launch we will be linking up with supermarkets, the Vintners' Association and the Cider Council, who all support the new card."
Supt McGowan said there was also a problem with adults buying drink for children. Mr Gerry Cooney, clinical co-ordinator at the Rutland Centre in Dublin, says there is a high tolerance for underage drinking in Ireland.
"Parents think that once it's not drugs that everything is OK, they're far less worried about alcohol," he says.
Yet, he adds, a lot of people who come forward with addictions started drinking at a young age. "Alcohol still contributes to more problems than any other drug in this country."
Satre, a Europe-wide survey, showed that in southern European countries where there is a more open attitude to drink, and wine is seen as a natural accompaniment to meals, far less alcohol is consumed than in Ireland and Britain.
Mr Denis Naughten, a Fine Gael TD and Midland Health Board member, says that in his constituency of Longford-Roscommon, alcohol abuse accounts for 98 per cent of the drugs problem.
"It is getting worse in rural areas, it's getting worse all over the country."
Mr Naughten says the lack of recreational centres contributes greatly to the problem.
"Most rural towns have very little facilities for young people, many don't even have a cinema. Often all they have is a pool table in the back of a pub and that's where the problems start."
He has called for the regulation of bouncers to help control young people's access to drink. "There is no official bouncers' organisation or regulating body in the country. You could have a publican who wants to run a tight ship but he needs the support of properly trained people at the door," he adds.
