THE intolerable pressures placed on the emergency services by excessive drinking in the various licensed premises in the greater Belfast area have quite rightly been highlighted by the Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.
The Minister spent a night surveying the scene with an Ambulance Service team and the appalling antisocial and loutish behaviour that he witnessed provided him with first-hand insight into the problems created by an over-indulgence of alcohol, especi
ally among young people.
Mr McGimpey singled out the bars and nightclubs at the sprawling Odyssey Arena on Laganside for particular attention and the collection of empty drink bottles confronting him littering the outside of the complex was not a pretty sight.
Very pointedly, the Minister placed much of the blame for the problem on those in the licensing and drinks' industry who advertise and promote alcohol in its various forms and he called on them to take full responsibility for the damage caused.
He said: "Northern Ireland people generally have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and this is seriously impinging on Health Service funds.
"Staff at our hospitals have enough to cope with in dealing with genuine emergencies without the extra burden of incidents caused by excessive drinking."
Mr McGimpsey can count on the full support of the responsible law-abiding community in a campaign which he has vowed his department will conduct to tackle the scourge of alcohol abuse.
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