Ireland's drink problem

A chara, - I was in a Rathmines nightclub last Friday night when I was told that tap-water would not be served until 2 a.m

A chara, - I was in a Rathmines nightclub last Friday night when I was told that tap-water would not be served until 2 a.m., and that the only water they would serve all night was Ballygowan. Some of my friends then asked for water and while one or two were successful, most were refused.

I asked to speak to a manager about this and he said that the only tap water they had at the bar was hot and unhygienic. When my friend asked why he had just been served a pint of "unhygienic water", the manager walked off.

Healthy-drinking pamphlets say that to follow each alcoholic drink by a non-alcoholic one is advisable, but who will follow such advice when pub barons are allowed to charge exorbitantly for bottled water and pints of minerals? - Is mise,

SÉAMUS McCOUBREY, Harolds Cross Road, Dublin 6.