Finding of drunk youths leads to court action

THE Connacht Tribune reported an unusual court case in Tuam, where a publican was successfully prosecuted for selling drink to underage youths, even though gardai only became aware of the illegal transaction some time later.

Two youths, the youngest of them aged 14, were bitching a lift in the early hours of the morning when gardai came across them and discovered they were drunk.

When questioned in the presence of their parents, the youths admitted to having got the drink in a licensed premises in the town. The licensee admitted selling, or permitting the sale of, intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 on June 30th last.

Judge Mary Fahy said she "could not imagine a 14 year old being mistaken for one of 18" and fined the licensee £300 and ordered that his licence be endorsed.

The youths had been drinking in the pub during a very busy time when there was a darts match in progress and a Cup match on television, the court was told.

Elsewhere in its pages, the sports alcohol connection came through again, when the Connacht Tribune said that one in four admissions to acute psychiatric units were for alcoholism and alcohol related problems.

The Western Health Board report caused "dismay among Board members who hit out in particular at what they perceived as the increasing targeting of young people by drinks companies - the drinks industry was also lambasted for increasing its sponsorship of Irish sports".

The psychiatric admissions which are alcohol related - 25 per cent - are only the most serious cases. In 1982, the proportion of admissions which were alcohol related was 31 per cent. Today many cases are treated in the community. There are 13 full time counsellors now employed by the board, many of them in health education programmes related to young people.

It is ironic that such facilities exist for alcohol addiction, while people addicted to another drug - heroin - have such difficulty getting treatment even when they are begging for it.

The Leinster Leader's headline, "Gardai charged by youths in Newbridge riot" was also alcohol related. A mob of drunken youths had Newbridge gripped by "Hallowe'en horror", said the newspaper. "An unruly gang of around 70 teenagers and young adults hurled bricks, bottles and rocks at officers. The revellers had congregated at a massive bonfire behind Highfield estate."

The Leinster Leader's headline, "Gardai charged by youths in Newbridge riot" was also alcohol related. A mob of drunken youths had Newbridge gripped by "Hallowe'en horror", said the newspaper. "An unruly gang of around 70 teenagers and young adults hurled bricks, bottles and rocks at officers. The revellers had congregated at a massive bonfire behind Highfield estate."

The crowd, the youngest aged 10 and the eldest in their mid 20s, were "extremely intoxicated" and became violent when fire officers tried to quench the 40 foot fire, fearing that it would spread to nearby houses and trees. Six males, aged between 15 and 22, were arrested and are expected to appear before the District Court.

In a separate incident in Co Kildare, a pet cat died when revellers put a firework in its mouth.

A "junkie party" attended by 40 young people made the front page of the Longford News, whose lead story claimed that heroin and ecstasy are readily available in Longford town. County councillor Micky Nevin claimed that gardai broke up the "junkie party ... which was attended by a group of 40 young people, most of them from well to do and respected families".

However, Longford gardai have reported that they were not involved in a drugs related raid or clampdown that weekend, although the previous weekend did see a drugs seizure in the town, said the newspaper.

Councillors behaving badly was the subject of a front page editorial by Jim Gray in the Sligo Champion. "The members of Sligo Borough Council need to have a hard look at themselves and their behaviour. In a scenario which is becoming an all too regular occurrence, their monthly meeting on Monday night last again degenerated into bad tempered acrimony ...

"There is nothing wrong with passionate debate, but the boundaries have been pushed too far ... The tone of debate has been lowered to the level of alley cat barracking..."

LAST month, a meeting had to be adjourned three times to low boiling tempers to be brought under control. At the most recent meeting, over half of the two hour meeting "was wasted on senseless, foul tempered argument over an issue which was eventually settled in less than 30 seconds".

Gray implored councillors to give the business of the council precedence over bickering.

TanG's reception problems made headlines in several newspapers. In Wexford, few people are tuning in to the new station because it is so difficult to get that most people are not bothering.

In Mayo, people are having the opposite problem because TanG is preventing them from receiving other channels. The Connaught Telegraph reported that viewers with multichannel systems in Claremorris are finding that TnaG's signals are badly affecting reception of UTV, RTE 1, Aertel and teletext services. Talk about a captive audience.