Call to curb teen drinking by hiking legal age to 21

The legal minimum age for drinking alcohol should be raised from 18 to 21 – in line with the stance taken by authorities in the United States.

So said a former Mayor of Galway this week – before his suggestion was rubbished by another former mayor, who claimed increasing the age restriction on alcohol consumption would only lead to an explosion in ‘bushing’ or bush drinking, out in public spaces.

Frank Fahy, a Galway City Councillor, said Ireland should follow the example of the US, and increase the minimum age limit by three years.

The Fine Gael elected representative said the higher age limit should be phased in by 2020, or by 2030.

He said if as a society we were serious about tackling the ‘demon drink’, Government should set a target to increase the minimum age to consume alcohol.

Cllr Fahy said he was with Senator Billy Lawless in Chicago recently – and his son, who was just a couple of weeks shy of his 21st birthday, was not allowed into licensed premises in US.

He said they took the law seriously across the water, which was not the case in Ireland, where underage drinking is rife.

“In all my travels abroad, I have never seen anywhere in the world where alcohol is abused as it is in this city and it’s considered the norm,” said Cllr Fahy.

Independent City Councillor, Declan McDonnell said increasing the age limit would only drive more people in Galway to go ‘bushing’.

He said the drinking of alcohol in city parks and public spaces was already a problem that led to anti-social behaviour. Increasing the age limit to 21 would just encourage 18, 19 and 20 year olds to drink outside.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.