This article is from page 3 of the 2006-09-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
WITH 1,350 Clare teenagers awaiting their Junior Certificate results this week, concerns have been raised that the widespread availability of fake identification will lead to many students drinking illegally and to excess.
Fionnuala Sheehan, CEO of Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS), believes the problem of forged and borrowed ID is increasing both in Clare and nationally.
“We know from our own research that there is a very big problem with faked and borrowed ID’s being used to buy alcohol,” said Ms Sheehan. “This is a widespread problem and parents, licensees and the guards have a role to play in tackling it.
“Much more has to be done to tackle the problem of fake ID’s. It seems to us that it is fairly easy to forge an ID and we need to make the cards better and more tamper-proof.”
In a statement to The Clare People, the Vintners Federation of Ireland said that, “the introduction of mandatory, tamper-proof ID cards to assist publicans to establish that a customer is old enough to drink, would be an important stepping-stone in tackling the many issues that underage drinking poses.”
MEAS believes that a trend has developed for Junior Certificate students to use alcohol as a means of celebrating their results.
“The Junior Certificate has been getting more problematic in recent years, but particular effort is being made to minimise this,” continued Ms Sheehan.
“I do believe that the problem has gotten smaller in recent years because of the increased awareness and I hope that this year that would be the case again.
“Schools are organising it so that children only receive their results when they are leaving school, so that parents are available to bring them home.
“Parents are starting to sit down and look at the role that they themselves have to play.”
Earlier this month, MEAS launched a campaign in which they asked parents to consider their own alcohol use and what impact that was having on the thinking of their children.
“Parents influence their children with everything thing that they do. How much I drink has an influence on my own children and their own attitutes towards alcohol,” continued Ms Sheehan.
The Clare People contacted the Garda in relation to this story but no comment was forthcoming at the time of going to press.