Addiction counsellor’s concerns over alcohol sales at Ed Sheeran gig

Galway City Tribune – Serious concerns have been expressed this week about health and safety issues for young people attending the Ed Sheeran concerts in Pearse Stadium next month following the court decision to allow the sale of alcohol at the events.

Joe Treacy, Clinical Specialist in Addiction with the Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, said that the decision to allow the sale of alcohol at the venues for the concerts on May 12 and 13 next, posed serious safety concerns in relation to young people attending the events.

Not alone will there be four main bars in operation at the concerts from 4pm to 10pm, but there is also provision in the court application granted this week by Judge Mary Fahy, for ‘hawkers’ or casual traders to sell drink within the stadium.

“I am really worried and dismayed at this development and I do not feel at all reassured that the sale of alcohol at four main bars – as well as the casual sale of alcohol to the crowd – can be policed properly.

“The Ed Sheeran concerts coming to Galway are great events, but why can we not let them go ahead without throwing drink into the mix. This is really disturbing in the context of the age profile of fans attending these events,” said Mr Treacy.

He said that the age profile of the audience – many of them in the children-to-young-teenage categories – made it particularly ‘disappointing and worrying’ for alcohol to be so readily available at the concerts.

He added that a particularly worrying aspect of the sale of alcohol at the concerts would be the use of hawkers or casual traders to sell drink at the venue at locations ‘where fans cannot easily access the bars’.
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