Updated 9.54pm

THE OECD, ONE of the largest and most influential think-tanks in the world, has apologised for a tweet about St Patrick’s Day which contained statistics on alcohol abuse.

The tweet, which was sent out at 2.46pm today from the main OECD Twitter account and deleted shortly afterwards, read:

Happy #StPatricksDay, with #stats from the OECD on #alcohol use and abuse #justsayin

The accompanying chart ranked Ireland as joint fifth in the world for alcohol consumption among adults per year, behind Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia and France.

A screenshot of the now-deleted tweetSource: Tomás Ó hÁbhartaigh

The tweet was widely criticised on social media for linking St Patrick's Day solely with alcohol abuse. It was deleted within approximately one hour of being sent.

"Deeply inappropriate and reductive tweet on a day celebrating all aspects of Irish culture and history," wrote Tomás Ó hábhartaigh on Twitter.

Dan Morrison, the head of media at the OECD, told TheJournal.ie this evening: "It was not a tweet that we were proud of."

"We got this one wrong," he said. "We sincerely regret any offence that it caused."

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The OECD is not the only organisation which has faced problems with the tone of St Patrick's Day tweets.

Earlier today, Lewisham police in south London apologised and deleted a tweet which depicted a four leaf clover made out of handcuffs.

Read: Men told to limit themselves to six pints a week > 

Read: The economy may be on the up, but one in six people born here still live abroad > 

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