A prominent west of Ireland priest has called on the government to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Guinness by banning the advertising of alcohol. Fr Brendan Hoban said such a prohibition would make sense, and was achievable provided there was the same resolve to do it as there was some years ago to introduce the smoking ban. And he said that Guinness itself should use the anniversary to make a “timely acknowledgement of the damage done by alcohol in the last 250 years.
Fr Hoban said that a huge advertising campaign was now under way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the invention of Guinness. “The world, according to the bumph, is about to celebrate Arthur Guinness’s remarkable contribution to the world”, he said.
Fr Hoban said that instead of “conspiring to present the invention of one particular alcoholic drink as something worthy of celebration when we all know that it’s just an advertising peg to increase the consumption of its product”, instead Guinness “might consider a timely acknowledgement of the damage Arthur has done in 250 years. Or they might resource education programmes in addiction and its consequences for individuals and families,” Fr Hoban continued.
“Or explain the nature of advertising, particularly the kind that uses sport to link masculinity with personal, sexual and social success or something that might help us to get it into our heads that getting sloshed isn’t some kind of commendable national characteristic but just what it is: a shameful loss of control.“
Fr Hoban said he acknowledged that expecting the drinks industry “to do the right thing” was “a failed strategy.” Instead, he went on, “we need someone in power to name the most obvious truth about twenty-first century Ireland - we have to do something about drink.”
He said banning the advertising of drink would be “a good start. It might rain on Arthur’s party but, as we’ve all learned in recent years, partying has its consequences too,” he remarked.
He said that despite the incredible levels of alcohol consumption in Ireland, health statistics, the breakdown of relationships and “the shocking effects of living up to our national reputation and the whole sorry category of lives ruined, families broken, marriages coming apart we seem somehow immobilised, almost accepting that nothing can be done. We need to get our minds around the idea that advertising drink is doing untold damage not just to individual lives but to the fabric of our society.”
Fr Hoban went on to criticise sports organisations, including the GAA, for taking money from the drinks industry and said they needed “to be named and shamed for doing so. There is no hiding behind the excuse that it doesn’t matter - advertising works -the drinks industry wouldn’t be spending millions if it didn’t work”, Fr Hoban declared.
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