The Inner Workings of the Public Health Alcohol Act In Ireland: From MUP To Changing the Alcohol Norm

Alcohol Issues Podcast - Episode 17

The Inner Workings of the Public Health Alcohol Act In Ireland: From MUP To Changing the Alcohol Norm

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Welcome to the Alcohol Issues Podcast and our 17th episode. This week we focus on the Public Health Alcohol Act in Ireland and pay special attention to the recent news of the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing in Ireland. 

Discussing the Irish alcohol policy model with a special focus on the alcohol floor price policy

For the 17th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast host Maik Dünnbier welcomes Dr Sheila Gilheany to discuss the workings and issues around one of the world’s best alcohol acts.

Sheila is the Chief Executive of Alcohol Action Ireland. She is a tremendously impressive person and leader. Sheila holds a PhD in astrophysics. She has led a range of not-for-profit organisations in science, education, public engagement and social enterprise. And now she is at Alcohol Action Ireland that has been the key civil society advocate for support of the Public Health Alcohol Act that was passed into law in October 2018.

Alcohol Action Ireland was established in 2003 and is the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm in Ireland.

Alcohol Action Ireland campaigns for the burden of alcohol harm to be lifted from the individual, community and State. The organization has a strong track record in campaigning, advocacy, research and information provision.

In their conversation, Maik and Sheila take a deep dive into the alcohol policy model of Ireland. Sheila describes from a scientific and a human perspective why alcohol policy development was so important for Irish society.

They talk about the alcohol norm in Ireland and how the alcohol industry fuels cognitive dissonance, misconceptions and inertia, despite pervasive alcohol harm.

And yet the country adopted a comprehensive set of policies in the Public Health Alcohol Act. Sheila explains how that happened and she shares inspiring lessons learnt.

Maik and Sheila also talk in more detail about the different provisions of the alcohol law and how they work.

Just a few days ago, the government announced that the alcohol floor price would be introduced on January 1st, 2022. So, Sheila and Maik look more closely at that issue and what the MUP will be in Ireland.

And they discuss what the future holds, both in short, medium and long term. Sheila shares insightful reflections and bold ideas for an integrated and comprehensive approach to protecting the people in Ireland from alcohol harm.

Resources for the conversation with Sheila

You can follow Dr Sheila Gilheany on Twitter, here.

You can follow Alcohol Action Ireland on Twitter, here.

You can read about Alcohol Action Ireland's work, here.

For further reading, about alcohol pricing policies in the WHO European region, get the resource here:

New WHO Europe report “Making the WHO European Region SAFER. Developments in alcohol control policies, 2010–2019”
Alcohol Policy Development: Three Country Success Stories

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