Drink-fuelled students a main cause of street trouble

Large volumes of alcohol being consumed by young people and students in their houses or apartments before ‘they go out on the town’ is one of the main causes of drunkenness and public order problems, a senior Garda has warned.

With a huge gap between the price of alcohol at off-licences and pubs, many young people are ‘well on it’ by the time they go into pubs or nightclubs around the city on a night out.

Garda Chief Superintendent Tom Curley told the Galway City Tribune that the Gardai were concerned about the ‘large volume’ of alcohol that was being consumed ‘in house’ before young people went out for the night.

Although the incidents of public drunkenness and public order problems showed a reduction for the first nine months of this year, as compared to the same period last year, Chief Supt. Curley said that the figures were still far too high.

For the first nine months of the year, there were 495 public order incidents in the city, actually down 14%, while the number of arrests for drunkenness at 221 was down by 18%.

“These figures, despite the reduction, are still far too high, and a primary cause of the problem is alcohol, and especially the amounts of it that are being consumed before young people go out at night.

“Young people and students might look at this from an economics point of view, but the fact of the matter is that far too much alcohol is being consumed. It’s as simple as that.

“When the vast majority of those people enter pubs and nightclubs they are already intoxicated and are only topping up for the rest of the night,” said Tom Curley.

In a statement issued by Galway Gardai, they have advised all students to ‘drink carefully’ as a court conviction for drunkenness or a public order offence could prevent them from getting a foreign visa in years to come.

They have also advised students to never leave their drink unattended and to never accept drink from strangers.

“We are also asking students to be respectful when they are returning from a night-out. Remember your neighbours by keeping quiet and remember that applies to loud house parties as well,” the Gardai have advised.