Balance and dream

To cut alcohol consumption by a third or better yet, to go teetotal: this is the challenge raised to young Irish by Dublin’s auxiliary bishop, Eamonn Walsh. The Episcopal Conference has produced a DVD entitled Find the balance, dare to dream that has been distributed to 875 secondary schools throughout the Republic and which is also available on You Tube. The video shows a coastguard pilot, a professional footballer, a famous rally driver and an ex-alcoholic woman all speaking out about their relationship with wine, beer and spirits and asking the younger members of the audience straightforward questions about their relationship with drugs.Alcohol is a plague in Irish society. The DVD is part of the Catholic Church’s plan to fight alcohol and drug addiction. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative began in 1999, and in 2000 published a book and organised a course on Methadone use. “The Church is mobilizing now because excessive drinking is a problem that touches every family and puts us among the largest consumers of alcohol in the world”, says John Taaffe, who is in charge of the plan. “Reasons for this include the increase of money available thanks to the economic boom, the easy access to drugs and alcohol, and a sense of a lack in the meaning of life. A void that was once filled by the Catholic faith is now left open to secularisation, causing the youth to gravitate towards the abuse of harmful substances”.The role of the government. The Irish government has also set up its own Alcohol Advisory Group to combat substance abuse, and Bishops have addressed their own recommendations to the group after collecting a number of responses given by the youngsters who had watched the DVD in school. “They told us that alcohol advertising on radio, television and during sporting events encourages them to drink”, Taaffe explains. “And to make matters worse, even footballers’ shirts and stadium billboards advertise alcoholic drinks. Our proposals to the commission include limiting these ads to night-time viewing, raising the price of drinks and closing down some of the shops that sell them, while at the same time making sure that youngsters are offered recreational activities that do not involve drinking and places where they can talk about their problems”.A plan for each parish. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative is now a widespread plan involving every parish. “We began a year and a half ago in twelve sites, – villages, towns and cities that form a representative sample of today’s Ireland – with a multi-stage plan”, Taaffe explains. “The first stage involves setting up a group of volunteers by posting notices in the pastoral bulletin and by contacting youngsters in church and sporting activities groups. Then, the parishes train a select group of sixteen-year olds – a group that can be as much as eighty-people strong in towns with a population of three thousand – who go on to study communication, leadership and the problem of substance abuse twice a week in a year-long programme”.Peer education. It has been demonstrated that peer education – youngsters reaching out to other youngsters – is the most effective form of prevention. When sixteen-year olds go to a primary school to speak to eleven or twelve-year olds, they create an initial bond that will be strengthened later on in the parish, which holds special services dealing with every form of substance abuse. “The prevention plan can take on different forms from parish to parish”, Taaffe says. “Some might promote those activities that the youth can get involved in during the holidays which can save them from boredom, which is a fertile ground for drugs and alcohol, others emphasise liturgy and encourage the youth to take part in church service by rewarding them with medals, while others still might encourage parents to begin a study group dealing specifically with substance abuse”, he adds.Government cooperation. The bishops’ initiative works in close contact with public agencies, but some tensions are inevitable, as the parish manages to reach some youngsters who slip through the government initiative. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative will hold a conference in September 2008 attended by experts on substance abuse. The project that has been conducted in the parishes will give rise to a book that will become a tool in the fight against drugs addiction and alcoholism.