Diageo Ireland has defended its annual Arthur's Day event after doctors warned of negative health effects.

The company behind several alcoholic beverages including Smirnoff, Baileys and Guinness insisted that nobody who goes to a pub to see a band this Thursday is being forced to drink while they're there.

The Royal College of Physicians Ireland (RCPI) has organised a public talk this evening aimed at highlighting the adverse effects drinking alcohol can have on the body. It said that deaths related to chronic liver disease doubled between 1994 and 2008 while hospital admissions for alcoholic liver disease nearly doubled between 1995 and 2007.

But Diageo's director of corporate affairs Peter O'Brien said official figures show Ireland is drinking less and less alcohol:

Meanwhile youth website SpunOut.ie called on the 1,000 different acts performing at Arthur's Day events to donate their fees to charities which help those who suffer from alcohol addiction. 

It pointed out that following last year's Arthur's Day A&E departments in Ireland saw a spike in the number of people admitted to hospital due to alcohol-related harm.

“What we’re saying to the acts and their fans is simple; Diageo’s Arthur’s Day is a marketing exercise with the sole aim of increasing alcohol consumption without any regard to the harm caused,” said Ian Power, spokesperson for SpunOut.ie.

Irish singer-songwriter Christy Moore's latest single calls the festival "Arthur's Alcoholiday"

"We only need to look at the recent Irish reports published on suicide and self-harm which show the times at which people present at hospitals having self-harmed mirrors the pattern of increased alcohol consumption, peaking on Saturdays. Alcohol was a factor in 38% of all self harm cases in 2012."

Power also called on the Government to publish their alcohol strategy and to hold the drinks industry to account by making them prove the effectiveness of the Drink Aware campaign, of which Diageo Ireland is a sponsor.