Irwin welcomes drive to cut irresponsible promotions

Newry & Armagh DUP Councillor William Irwin has welcomed the drive by the Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland  to cut irresponsible drink promotions. The issue has been thrust back into the headlines following the tragic drowning of a young Belfast man who fell in to the Lagan after consuming vodka shots which were part of a drinks promotion.

The legislation being pursued by the Social Development Minister aims to ban irresponsible drink promotions as a means of educating the public to drink more responsibly.

Supporting the move Councillor Irwin said it was high time the culture of excessive drinking in Northern Ireland was addressed, “Firstly my thoughts and prayers are with the family of young Joby Murphy from Glengormley who passed away so tragically last month and his father has taken a courageous position of speaking out against cheap alcohol promotions.”

He added, “This issue is one that is really having a massive effect on our young people and I agree with the Minister that the health of our young people is being put at great risk by attitudes to alcohol and the targeting of irresponsible promotions to youths.”

He stated, “This issue must be tackled immediately and I am encouraged by the proactive approach being taken by my party colleague Nelson McCausland as he seeks to address this problem. It cannot be overstated that excessive alcohol consumption costs the health service a staggering amount somewhere in the region of £160million each year and whilst this is a worrying financial burden there are also the obvious effects on people’s health and wellbeing.”

He concluded, “I welcome the determination of the Minister to get to grips with this issue as I feel in Northern Ireland we have some way to go to address the culture of excessive alcohol consumption.”

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Posted by Declan McAteer on Feb 11 2012. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry