Permit Allowing a Few Pints Tests a Tolerance for Drunken Driving
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Version 0 of 1. KILGARVAN, Ireland — Nestled in the shadow of the picturesque southern mountain range Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, home to Ireland’s three highest peaks, Kilgarvan is little more than a blink-and-you-miss-it blip on the busy road between the tourist towns of Killarney and Kenmare: a single street, a straggle of houses, a shop, two bars, a church and a graveyard. But it became the center of an international media frenzy this winter when the local council voted to legalize drunken driving. That was the way it was portrayed, at least. What the Kerry County Council actually did was to pass a motion calling for people who live in country areas to be allowed to have a few beers before driving home. The measure was proposed by Danny Healy-Rae, a local pub owner and politician, with an eye to addressing two issues at once: the decline of pub culture and the isolation of rural life, particularly for older residents. Mr. Healy-Rae’s motion called on the minister for justice to allow the police the discretion “to issue permits to people living in rural isolated areas to allow them to drive home from their nearest pub after having two or three drinks on little-used roads driving at very low speeds.” He argued that this would help combat isolation and even lower the risk of suicide. Political rivals, however, labeled it an empty, populist stunt. But the fact that it passed at all and is even widely regarded as a potential vote-winner speaks volumes for the complex hold that alcohol still has in many facets of Irish life. How much so could be seen early on a recent Saturday afternoon here, as some of the local lads were enjoying a pint in the Healy-Rae family pub. To a man, they supported the motion. Most were willing to talk about it only anonymously. Irish rural bars can be loquacious places where the lubricant of drink encourages flowing talk, but there also tends to be an inherent suspicion of intrusive outsiders. John, a retired construction worker who spent most of his life working in England, never remarried after the death of his wife more than 30 years ago. His adult children reside in England, and he is on his own most of the year. He describes the pub as “a great excuse to get out of the house.” “I wouldn’t drink every day or anything like that, but it does give me a lift to have a couple of pints and maybe bump into some friends and hear what’s happening in the world,” he said. He would have no qualms about driving from the pub after a couple of pints, aside from a fear of being caught and facing the loss of his license, which he describes as his lifeline. As it is too far to walk, he relies on a teetotaling neighbor to take him to the pub and home again. Many bars in Ireland were modernized and upgraded during the Celtic Tiger years to make them more female-friendly and to attract younger customers, but the Healy-Rae was definitely not among them. The low laminate counter, the cold flagstone floor and the four-legged, metal high stools are all throwbacks to a time when such places were male preserves. Since the drinking motion was passed, the pub has hosted film crews from across Europe and beyond, and Mr. Healy-Rae continues to stand his ground despite an avalanche of criticism from government politicians, the road safety authorities and the many people who have lost loved ones to drunken drivers. “I am not advocating on behalf of the kind of individuals who cause accidents on our roads,” he said in a much-practiced response. “I am talking about mainly elderly people who live in very remote places who come to town to get a bit of shopping, enjoy a couple of pints and a chat with friends and then drive home at less than 30 miles an hour,” he said. “These are not the ones causing accidents. What is the alternative for them where no public or other transport is available? Staying at home lonely, staring at the four walls?” A fellow Kerry County council member, Toireasa Ferris, who was absent when the measure passed because her child was ill, says she was stunned when she heard the result and fears that the council is now regarded as “a laughingstock.” She also believes that rural isolation is a serious issue, but she says it has been obscured by promoting drunken driving as part of the solution. “Never in my wildest imaginations did I think it would ever be passed,” she said. “This is not the way to address this problem. Some in an older generation who were used to having a few pints and driving home may still think it acceptable, and they may be lost to us. But we have to break the link between socializing and drinking for the generations following.” Des Bishop, a comedian who was born in America but has spent most of his life in Ireland, is in the vanguard of a loose but vocal movement that says binge drinking in particular has encouraged Irish people to pander to an outmoded stereotype. He argues that Ireland must change its attitudes toward drinking before it can expect the world to regard it differently. “There will always be the nonsense that we saw in Kerry that makes a nice headline around the world, so we need to find ways to change the story being told,” he said. In the meantime, the narrative remains all too familiar. Few other countries have an identity so bound up with alcohol. Guinness remains a virtual national symbol, despite being owned by the international conglomerate, Diageo. Successive governments have made official noises about tackling the centrality of drink in Ireland’s social life, while thrusting a pint of stout into the hands of virtually every foreign dignitary who lands in the country. There are some indications that the love affair may yet run its course. A report published recently by an economist at the Dublin City University found that overall consumption of alcohol by volume had fallen 20 percent over the past decade. However, commentators point out this simply reflects a population that is both poorer and older, rather than wiser. An April 2010 European Commission report into attitudes toward alcohol found that Ireland had the highest number of binge drinkers among the 15 countries surveyed, and there is little reason to think this has changed since. |