Ban alcohol advertisement only if they can get the much needed sponsorship from Larrys Lettuce Leaves or Wallys Water etc. instead. Otherwise leave the blame for irresponsible choices with the irresponsible people.

This reminds me of the time they forced off licenses to close at 10. Have they evidence to show that these kind of policies genuinely stop young people drinking? If so I’ll eat humble pie.

Erm… wouldn’t it make more sense then to ban sports events from being shown in pubs where the drinking of alcohol occurs…?
Not that I would be for that. Róisin Shortall is just another politician far removed from reality. Really, do these people have nothing meaningful they can work on??

When it comes to alcohol, I genuinely don’t believe the choice to drink depend much on what brand is on a jersey- maybe don’t tell Diageo that mind!
As we grow up there’s a natural progression that brings us from the innocence of youth to the knacker drinking before a teenage disco. As far as I recall, and I can’t speak for everyone, but as far as I remember, it wasn’t advertising that influenced what 3 drinks I induced so much as what I could nick from my parents cabinet unnoticed!
Then you move to the pub & you see what others are drinking & you just copy in the early stages & taste a bit of everything until you find what you like. I’m sure advertising plays some sort of subliminal role but I don’t really think so & I certainly don’t think banning it as a sponsor is fair. It’s hard enough to get sponsors as it is for clubs without cutting off a steady stream of revenue for them!

Watching those Budweiser horses as a child led me from the nipple to the glass! Seriously! will these idiots stop at nothing to destroy anything they deem un pc?

How else are sports going to get much needed monies in these times except through sponsorship and who has the biggest budget drinks companies banning smoking ads had very little effect on the number of smokers. I love the Magner’s league and the Heinken cup but I drink neither beverage nor am I likely to be influenced by them sponsoring the event.

Ban it immediately after banning adverts for TV licence.

Because sponsorship is the number one cause of irresponsible drinking habits after all. Fcuk sake.. I’m not usually one to rant about nanny state stuff but this is bringing me dangerously close. Why don’t we just go the whole hog and replace every sponsorship with verses from the bible?

No unless the likes of red bull, lucozade sport, coke and mcdonalds are banned with it. To those that say “well smoking is banned” that isn’t even in the same category.

I agree. I have watched many different types of sports and can’t say I know off the top of my head what Guinness sponsors. Maybe it’s hurling but that’s a guess. Either way, it’s the taste not the sponsorship which gets me buying. I also drink the odd corona… Pretty sure they don’t sponsor anything in Ireland. A bit of a nonsense if you ask me

No, they should ban sports from alcohol events!

Ban all you want because its Education that is most needed.
Everyone knows its a lack of facilities with our culture that drives our youth to drink not alcohol Advertisement.
Maybe introduce 2 classes a week in secondary school that will teach students the harmful effects of alcohol,drugs and also how to deal with your mental health and maybe our society can improve.

Well said Eimear.. Just because I watch Heineken cup rugby doesn’t make me want to get pissed on Heineken nor did it when I was younger!!!

Companies like Diageo give massives amounts of Money to the GAA,IRFU and the FAI. It makes running massive stadiums like Croke Park sustainable for the GAA as well

Televised sport? Meh. Who cares?

so whats going to happen all the clubs that only exist because of alcohol sponsorship? Where will they get their money? And when they can’t attract sponsorship who’s going to look after all the fat kids because they have no sports to enjoy and keep fit in?

One of the reasons alcohol sponsors sporting events is so that young people watching sports get the idea that watching a match when they’re older automatically involves a few cans of Carlsberg of Heineken etc. Obviously the drinking culture here is not 100% the fault of advertising, but it doesn’t help. It would be interesting to know if smoking levels have dropped since cigarette advertising was banned.

Easy to ban advertising and brand it anti social. Alcohol seemed to be the big demon facing us all. Drugs are a bigger problem now. We might not like to admit it as it not in your face as much. Advertising as already mentioned doesn’t register with most people watching or participating in sport.

Some of these drink companies have made so much money out of us it’s only right that they reinvest in some aspect of Irish life. The social side at least. The state can’t afford to subsides major sporting events, festivals, concerts etc. The festival of world culture in Dun laoighre (from what I gather) has not been staged for the last two years because it became too big and expensive for DLR county council to cover. A great festival gone. If a drinks company like GUINNESS or Heineken came on board and solely sponsored it could have been saved. We are subjected to so much advertising that I believe we become immune to it. What % of people who go to a drinks sponsored event actually consume the product. Not 100 not 75 not even 50 percent probably not even 25 percent. Let us enjoy our free time. Arthur’s day is one of the best live music events of the year, sponsored by GUINNESS of course but the revenue it brings to the capital and to the licensed trade all over the country is huge for ONE DAY. Next day it’s back to normal. So i drink guinness for one day so what, i’ll be back to bulmers or Heineken the next day. That’s business.

Its sponsoring a drug. Alcohol does more damage than say Hash / weed. Yet if you put a week sign on a jersey you would be trounced on. Alcohol is killing thousand every year and it is legal. Sorry but i am against it in any shape or form related to sport. Drink and sport don’t mix. Alcohol is detremental to fitness so what the hell is it linked to sport for?

I totally understand the importance of sport to our society but everyday I see the problems caused by the misuse of alcohol in Ireland. I don’t think alcohol sports sponsorship directly causes alcohol problems – it’s more that it promotes an alcohol culture in sport. There is plenty of new evidence to support the association of problem drinking and alcohol sports sponsorship. Is it healthy to teach children that alcohol and sport go hand in hand? Also in relation to the argument that sports need money – maybe the local club teams but I’m not so sure that high profile sporting bodies or competitions would struggle to get another sponsor, albeit with less marketing clout

You know one of these days people are going to wake up to the fact that its an individuals choice to drink too much and end up in A&E, this is not because of sport sponsorship, but of course instead of looking at the deeper problem its easier to just say we’ll ban this. And being our delightful government, they’ll jump on the bandwagon without considering all the benefits that come from drinks sponsorship, prohibition is next.

What about today’s Heineken cup match in London?? Will Ireland be banned from competing in it or will Irish television be censored so we’re not corrupted by seeing international sporting events sponsered by the evil drink companies???

Looking forward to the street racing here next month. Would it even be happening if alcohol sponsorship was banned?

Judging by most of the comments so far the marketing has worked brilliantly as normalizing alcohol, a drug with well known adverse health effects with sport, health and well being…

If you think alcohol advertising has no effect, explain why companies advertise at all then?

Some fair points raised though… If alcohol advertising were to be banned, what would the other revenue streams look like? I assume when the big deals go out to tender there are some on the list that are not alcohol based companies, what have they previously offered?

All said, the question is should we ban alcohol advertising? How and can follow on…

Ye

The FAI shouldn’t get any sponsorship after turning political agendas. Wearing black armbands to remember a political act(according to SF it was their political right to blow up innocent people as the uvf did) at the Euros is a political statement. He should resign and stop instigating violence like the real IRA with their black armbands.