It sounded like a Kerry joke but let’s think about the proposal by the Kerry branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland that 18 and 19 year olds be the target of promotions to bring them and their parents to pubs to allow them to ‘learn’ responsible drinking. People may snigger but there is more than a grain of sense to it. The only thing is, is it too late?

Whether we like it or not teens drink. The sad thing is by the time they’re 18 or 19 the word ‘seasoned’ could be attached to their drinking habits. Only this week, we’ve had the annual Junior Cert chicken run where adults avoid the city centre on the night of the results.

On the face of it then, this initiative seems to be too little, too late. Younger teens will find ways of finding cheap booze and drink in an uncontrolled way that will lead to a list of problems we are all too familiar with.

So is there a way ahead?

I was a child of the 1970s. Sunday afternoons, after dinner, were normally spent with aunts, uncles, and cousins. We go to theirs, they visit us. There were trips to the Zoo or the beach. There were spins in my uncle’s open top van. And, yes, there was the occasional stop at a bar for a Fanta and a bag of crisps. We were all way below the legal age but we were happy to be in a bar and happy with our mineral and crisps. The pub was there and it was no big deal.

Some may say there is evidence that some parents use the bar as a crèche. This is a point that needs to be explored but the occasional afternoon trip en famile to a pub is no bad thing. Especially now when the quality of food has improved beyond belief since the smoking ban.

If you go to Europe, you see families regularly in cafes and bars. It is part of life and drink does not have the mythic power it seems to have in Ireland. 

So I’m not laughing at Kerry. They have opened a debate worth having. Yes it is a very limited proposal but again, are we ready to have such a serious conversation with ourselves?