£15 all-you-can-drink promos slammed

SDLP Pat Ramsey slammed pubs for what he described as irresponsible drink promotions in Londonderry such as a £15 in, all-you-can-drink offer he noticed on a social media site.

Whilst Mr Ramsey did not name a specific pub, a number of premises across the North West offer promotions, and Pepe’s night club opposite the Strand Road police station in Londonderry city centre is one such venue - offering a “Free Bar” on Tuesdays which allows revellers to pay £15 at the door and get their drink free all night.

Mr Ramsey said: “During the week, I noticed on social networks that a bar in my area was offering entry for £15 and free alcohol all night.

“That is the sort of irresponsible behaviour that the Minister intends to stop through the Bill.

“It is aimed at a certain level, and that is how binge drinking is caused.”

Elsewhere the Waterside-based MLA also slammed pubs and clubs for trying to attract students and young people by pound-a-go promotions.

“At a number of the campuses in Northern Ireland, university leaders are taking proactive steps to discourage a lot of the recklessness and to oppose those who partake in the irresponsible behaviour of drinks promotions.

“I have seen that at the Magee campus. Some bars in Derry have so-called pound-a-drink promotions. That includes various ranges of vodka and shots, which cannot be good for young people.

“The promotions are clearly aimed at very young people, and there is no doubt that they are aimed at schoolchildren. We cannot tolerate clubs and bars advertising in local newspapers to offer those drinks - that is happening.

“Low-cost or below-cost promotions are a serious problem, particularly when they are aimed at vulnerable young people.”

The Foyle Assembly member said that as a director of the Foyle Haven drop-in centre for alcoholics in Londonderry he was seeing teenagers coming in with drink problems and that the problem was deeply ingrained and growing in the North West.

“I just want to declare that. We see the ongoing difficulties at the coalface, and, as the generations come through, the young people are getting younger.

“In fact, in Derry we have three young girls, as I would call them. The eldest is about 23, and, unfortunately, their father’s circumstances were difficult.

“We have two brothers coming in as well. Therefore, in many regards, it is inherent in society, but we have to put an end to it.

“Clearly, the leadership shown by our Minister can help. Club owners and bar owners may not believe the consequences of what they are doing — plying young people with alcohol at 17, 18, 19 or 20 years of age,” he stated.

Social Development Minister Alex Attwood heard his SDLP colleague out and spoke of the difficulty in enforcement with £15 all-you-can-drink booze promos ongoing despite the existing of the Derry City Council Civic Alcohol Forum.

He stated: “Beyond that, there is a voluntary code of practice operating in Derry. At the same time, however, there is still this week a promotion for £15 for a night’s consumption of alcohol.

“That demonstrates that, although we have a code, in some cases we do not have the enforcement of best practice.

“Similarly, Mr Ramsey referred to his involvement in the management committee of Foyle Haven, which demonstrates that there is a lot of good practice up in Derry in trying to deal with the issues caused by alcohol abuse.

“I am sure that Mr Ramsey and Mary Bradley will agree that the Northlands centre is another well-established leading organisation that tries to mitigate the issues caused by alcohol abuse.”

The Sentinel asked Pepe’s for a response to the criticism of such promotions but at the time of going to press none was forthcoming.