Leo was right on Jobstown, now he must tackle alcohol industry

LEO Varadkar’s attempts to shape the Taoiseach’s office in his own style is being met with predictable criticism, but in the main, he is getting into his stride and starting to rise to the expectations of those in Fine Gael who elected him leader.

If anything, his public interventions last week have left his critics on both the left and right in politics somewhat at a loss; but, interestingly, the general public seems to be warming to him as a leader who is different and certainly refreshing.

Whether he has the substance to back it all up remains to be seen, but the indications at this stage are that he has, or will have.

That said, there will be tougher judgment calls to be made in the future, not least in relation to the outcome of the Garda review of events at Jobstown and whether yet another public inquiry is needed. I suspect not. One does not need to support the far left to agree there are questions to be answered in relation to the Garda evidence offered at the Jobstown trial.

Furthermore, neither should opponents of the far Left be tempted to turn a blind eye to the requirement for those answers, notwithstanding their understandable disquiet at the events in Jobstown as they transpired on the day.

The issue of trust in the gardai should be paramount across the political divide, as the gardai themselves would be the first to admit. ******* Another judgement call soon to be made by Varadkar will be when and how to progress the Alcohol Bill, which he instigated during his time as Minister for Health. The Bill has been painfully slow in gestating into legislation, but the time for obfuscation is at an end. That is why there are lobbyists for the drinks industry to be seen all over Leinster House these days.

A shortcoming in the proposed new legislation is its failure to tackle the drinks industry’s baleful use of social media to target young people, an issue close to my fatherly heart.

For example, on Facebook last week, a well-known Dublin nightclub targeted teenagers with vodka drinks for €2 on Monday night — in fact, this was one of at least three (that I know of ) similar offers on social media in one week alone. Insofar as I could make out, around 900 young people indicated that they would attend the vodka night.

This insidious approach by the drinks industry is totally unregulated; not only that, it is also, in my view, another example of how the mainstream and social media are treated in a vastly contrasting manner by the powers that be.

Frankly, I think the drinks industry’s use of social media to directly target young people is nothing short of a disgrace, but it is not the only shortcoming in the proposed new legislation.

Also on a personal level, I am aware that the drinks industry is threatening to withdraw support for another initiative which originated in the Department of Health almost 20 years ago, related to the responsible serving of alcohol, which is widely regarded to have been a success.

While Patricia Callan, the new director of the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland was last week busily promoting the alcohol industry’s support of the arts, sport and all of the rest of it, behind the scenes the industry she represents was questioning whether to continue financial support for (independent) selfregulation in the form of training for thousands of bar staff across the sector — a requirement which is mandatory in many countries around the world from Scotland to Australia.

Let me conclude on this issue for the time being with a sobering paragraph drawn directly from a recent briefing document prepared by the Department of Health for Minister Simon Harris:

“The average alcohol consumption in the adult population in Ireland is 11 litres (pure alcohol per person per year). Alcoholrelated harm results in a considerable burden to society through illness, violence, accidents, work absences, crime and premature mortality. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of over 60 illnesses, including liver disease, hypertension, certain cancers and mental health disorders. In addition, it is a contributing factor in many cases of domestic violence, public order offences, road traffic accidents and suicides. Over 75pc of the Irish population drinks alcohol, with almost 40pc binge-drinking on a typical drinking occasion.

“While alcohol consumption prevalence is lower in lower social classes, patterns of harmful binge-drinking are higher in deprived areas (31pc at least weekly) when compared with least deprived areas (23pc at least weekly).”

In case you’re wondering, alcohol-related harm in Ireland currently claims three lives a day and costs the State an estimated €3.7bn annually. ******* That brings me back to Leo Varadkar. Last week he was widely mocked for the manner in which he welcomed the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. But I must say I again found the Taoiseach to be refreshing in this regard.

In the past, it was almost obligatory to take a visiting prime minister or head of state down to the local pub to be photographed with a pint of Guinness. Off hand, I can recall Bill Clinton, John Major and Helmut Kohl holding aloft a pint with the Taoiseach of the day. Oh how we all chuckled.

How positive it was, then, that Leo Varadkar and Justin Trudeau went for a 5k jog around the Phoenix Park rather than over to the Hole in the Wall for a pint. (Though, that said, the Hole in the Wall is a grand spot and I could not think of a nicer place to go for a quiet pint.

Kids these days though, seldom seem to go for a quiet pint with, say, a kindly uncle or, indeed, an anxious father who can tutor them in the pleasurable ways of responsible drinking. Why would they, when they are being bombarded with cheap alcohol offers on social media served by, in many cases, young and untrained staff under pressure to achieve a bottom line in sales.)

As for Leo, I’m informed he does not intend to move out of his bachelor pad apartment in Blanchardstown and into a residence at Farmleigh, the official Irish State guest house, where he hosted Trudeau, which, by the way, was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family. But he does intend to make more use of it for meetings and events.

And why not. It is a great property, staffed and secured — and, as it happens, it is also located in his Dublin West constituency.