Drinks industry barred from Dublin’s global alcohol policy conference
Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/
Pavel Barter
February 23 2020
Drinks industry representatives have accused a global alcohol policy conference in Dublin next month of excluding them from the event.
The conference, organised by Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA), takes place in Dublin Castle next month and aims to provide an opportunity for “government ministries and agencies to participate and exchange . . . knowledge”, according to chairwoman Sally Casswell.
Attracted by Ireland’s new regulations clamping down on alcohol promotion, speakers will include health advocates, physicians, researchers, and child protection specialists – but no drinks industry representatives.
According to Casswell, GAPA’s goal “is to build a constituency of advocates, from civil society organisations and academics, and increase their understanding of the factors driving alcohol harm globally and regionally, and the possible ways forward to reduce that harm.”
The failure to invite the drinks industry is proving controversial, however. “We welcome open dialogue, discussion and debate about tackling alcohol misuse and underage drinking,” said Patricia Callan, director of Drinks Ireland. “It’s important that all relevant stakeholders, including the drinks industry, are part of developing solutions to both. We have concerns that industry stakeholders will not be part of the discussion [at the conference], which means the discussion is likely to be unbalanced.”
Patrick Rigney, founder of The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, said he would be “concerned with any group, no matter how well intended, who wouldn’t engage with the industry. We’re a small producer. We’re proud of what we do. We sell our brands around the world. We comply with all the laws. I would be concerned about any organisation trying to censor or discriminate against people like us, who have legitimate products.”
Derek Rutherford, the founder and former chairman of GAPA, joined the International Organisation of Good Templars at the age of nine. His biography describes how he became head of the UK Temperance Alliance. “In my youth I had three loves: the temperance movement, the church . . . and the Labour Party,” he said in 2012.
Ireland’s introduction of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 – which includes a ban on alcohol advertising, and is set to impose minimum unit pricing and structural separation on retailers – was “motivation” for bringing the GAPA conference to Ireland.
“The situation in Ireland with the new act will be of considerable interest to the participants who are drawn from all over the world,” said Casswell. “We are very grateful to the Department of Health who have been very effective and positive co-hosts to work with.”
Suzanne Costello, chief executive of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, and a former campaigner for Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), is among speakers at the event. “We are taking strong measures to address alcohol-related harm and that has attracted attention,” she said.
In a 2019 pre-budget submission, AAI stated that Ireland’s consumption of alcohol is 80% above the global average. Callan, however, claimed “the average per adult alcohol consumption has fallen by 23.2% in Ireland, according to the Central Statistics Office”.
Casswell stated that GAPA aims to promote effective alcohol policy free from commercial interests.
“The danger is that the message, that comes from one side or the other, is amplified, exaggerated, or lacks common sense and balance,” said Rigney, who added that he would welcome an invitation to speak at the conference.