Media

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, welcomes a new report from the World Health Organization: Reducing the harm from alcohol – by regulating cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotion: a technical report.   The report highlights the increasing use of sophisticated online marketing techniques by alcohol producers and the need for more effective regulation to be an integral part of public health strategies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. It shows that young people... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, notes the Revenue’s provisional alcohol duty clearances and receipts for 2021, which indicates a 4.7% reduction in overall alcohol use for the full year 2021 compared to 2020. This provisional data demonstrates that despite the impact of COVID restrictions, alcohol sales remained quite buoyant, particularly from the retail sector where alcohol was exceptionally affordable. The latest data suggests a possible readjustment in alcohol patterns, and that potentially, after a... Full Story

Alcohol Action and University College Cork (UCC) School of Public Health today (Wednesday, 23 February) have published a research paper that provides greater analysis on the accurate levels of alcohol related death and illnesses in Ireland. The publication of the paper is being marked by a webinar: If we don’t measure it, we can’t manage it, featuring public health researchers and advocates in Ireland and Scotland. Working with the most up-to-date datasets from the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), which is based... Full Story

Today (Tuesday, 15th February) the European Parliament will debate and vote on the Report of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer Plan, which was agreed in its final session, last December. This Report advances the strategic initiative of the von der Leyen Commission to establish a Beating Cancer strategy and sets out a new EU approach to cancer prevention, treatment and care. Significantly, the bold Plan, and the Report published by the Parliament’s Special Committee on Beating Cancer, recognise the... Full Story

  Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today (Friday, 4th February) on the eve of an exciting new Six Nations Championship has called on the alcohol producers to obey the spirit, as well as the letter, of Ireland’s laws governing alcohol advertising and promotion on the sports area. The Public Health Alcohol Act, 2018, Section 15, which has been operational since 12th November, 2021, restricts during a sports event the advertisement, or cause to be advertised, an... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today welcomes the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for all alcohol products from tomorrow, 4th January. The operational commencement of the measure marks a historical development in public health alcohol policy, which since the enactment of the Public Health Alcohol Act has sought to address Ireland’s profound difficulty with alcohol use. The Act after many years of debate, and vociferous industry lobbying against its public health strategy, tackles... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today (Thursday 25th November) notes the announcement by Minister McEntee of the launch by the Department of Justice's public consultation on reform of alcohol licensing laws. We acknowledge the antiquated nature of the current licensing regime and the need for reform to a system that has consistently proven to be opportunistic. We look forward to engaging with the Government’s process on this reform and elaborating a public health perspective,... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today (Wednesday 24th November) welcomes commencement of some further sections the Public Health Alcohol Act, 2018. We acknowledge the commitment of the government to complete the full implementation of the 2018 legislative framework and  these provisions are further progress toward bringing all sections of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act into operation. Section 4 is a significant measure, insomuch as it provides the HSE a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the public... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today (Wednesday 17th November) published the findings of an opinion poll, conducted by Ireland Thinks, exploring public support for action on alcohol advertising. 70% back stopping alcohol adverts from being shown on TV before 9pm. 68% back restrictions to limit what alcohol advertising children see and hear. 66% back stopping alcohol adverts from being streamed on social media channels The findings indicate overwhelming public support for action on alcohol... Full Story

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm, today (Friday 12th November) welcomes the operational commencement of Sections 15 and 16 of the Public Health Alcohol enacted three years ago in October 2018. These measures will make an impact on the nature of alcohol marketing, and are further steps to reduce children’s exposure to alcohol promotion. Section 15 will remove from a sports playing area, all alcohol advertising and promotion, and prohibits alcohol advertising at events predominantly held... Full Story