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While Brendan O'Neill's article is newsworthy and surprising, I was disappointed at its lack of reflection on the question of alcohol consumption (Why Irish eyes aren't smiling, 25 July).
Here we have a significant challenge to drinking culture, though it still remains levelled at socially problematic alcohol consumption. The actual social harms of alcohol abuse seem far greater than the social harms of, say, smoking, yet the latter is heavily taxed and has been rather successfully condemned within the UK in the past 10 years. The question is whether the government (Irish or otherwise) really wishes to condemn it.
The alcohol industry remains unjustifiably free from restraint in its distribution and trafficking of drugs. The assumption that the approach should be to combat the abuse of alcohol is only part of the answer. As unpopular as the idea might be, it would be more useful to see a more substantial increase in the pricing of alcohol. There is no greater way for the government to condemn alcohol than to vastly increase its price.
Having a drink remains comparable to a Mason's secret handshake and serves to unite strangers in a common pursuit. Yet, it can be argued that the social crutch of drinking forestalls the possibility of developing sincere and substantial friendships. The social harms of alcohol consumption therefore go far beyond the harms that are revealed in crime statistics. Liberty is not the unrestricted consumption of alcohol. Liberty is the unrestricted consumption of freedom and the abuse of alcohol hampers this for both drinkers and those who suffer at their hands.
Andy Miah, Spain
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