Publicans asked to refrain from serving Junior Cert students

THE National Parents' Council has warned publicans not to serve alcohol to Junior Certificate students celebrating their results today.

However, vintners' representatives have said a ban on underage drinking is impossible to enforce in the absence of a national identity card scheme.

Mindful of the rowdy celebrations which have marred the event in previous years, the NPC has also called on school principals to delay the release of the results until the end of the school day.

Mr Sean Mitchell, president of the NPC, yesterday welcomed the earlier release of the results this year, but said that the risk of unruly scenes could be further reduced if the results were published before students returned to school and if they were posted directly to students' homes.

"This would mean that parents are in a better position to monitor celebrations and schools could get their timetable for students going into senior cycle sorted out earlier," he said.

Mr Mitchell appealed to publicans and the staff of off licences to be vigilant today in ensuring that under age students are not served alcohol. He accused a minority of publicans of flouting the laws on serving minors.

A spokeswoman for the Vintners' Federation of Ireland promised that publicans would be "extra vigilant" about serving minors. "No publican knowingly sells alcohol to anyone under 18. At the end of the day, most publicans are parents themselves and wouldn't like to see their own children drinking," said Ms Clodagh Dempsey.

However, Ms Dempsey added that it was very difficult to police the ban on under age drinking without a national identity card scheme for teenagers. While such schemes had been set up in some areas, there were easily circumvented by travelling to other towns.

"In any case, the majority of teenagers don't get their drink in pubs, but at home or in off licences. Frequently, other people buy it for them. It's up to parents to be aware of the whereabouts of their children," she added.

The Licensed Vintners' Association, which represents Dublin publicans, could not be contacted for comment.