Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

There are 365 days of the year on each of which we can find reasons to be proud of our achievements as a nation. During the years we chose St. Patrick's Day as the focus for that pride. I was sad the other evening while I was listening to a programme on RTE on which there was a vox-pop. People were asked what St. Patrick's Day meant to them. With few exceptions, drink was mentioned by the people interviewed. We know what we have seen in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin. There might be the same difficulties throughout the country as well, but we should remember that the abuse of alcohol has fuelled much of the violence in this country, including in people's homes. It has also been responsible for the terrorising of elderly people. One can imagine the reaction of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come here to be part of the celebration of St. Patrick's Day when they see what can only be described as thuggery taking place. It is unacceptable. There should be some way of getting across the message through the media that it is not acceptable. People want the opportunity to show off their talents and what they are doing in their communities. After all their hard work, to have that disrupted and misrepresented cannot be acceptable.

This issue is quite small compared with some of the major issues that have been raised in the House today, but I have listened to people in communities who have been terrorised and it is almost a matter of life or death for them. I hope this House will ask people to drink in moderation in order that we can keep the pride we have as a people, which we try to demonstrate on St. Patrick's Day.