Paying the price for extended opening hours: a comment from Ireland.

The author traces the development of Ireland's parallel, and contrasting, alcohol-policy processes. National Alcohol Policy Ireland (1996) contained no realistic strategy for the implementation of its proposals to control consumption. The first piece of licensing legislation, the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000, enacted after publication of the national alcohol policy document made hardly any reference to this policy. It considerably extended the opening hours of pubs. The four reports of the Liquor Licensing Commission, which was set up by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform immediately after the new legislation was passed, saw alcohol primarily as a commodity to be distributed according to market principles. The Interim Report of the Strategic Task-force on Alcohol (2002) detailed the rapid increase in alcohol consumption on the years between 1989 and 1999 and the consequent increase in alcohol-related harm. The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 can be seen as a compromise between the contrasting strands of alcohol policy. It allowed for a slight reduction in opening hours. However, the emphasis in the effort to reduce alcohol-related harm is on combating drunkenness rather than the use of consumption control measures