Drinks industry sponsorship necessary, say sports organisations
At a recent meeting convened by the Transport and Communications Committee, sporting organisations were against a ban on alcohol sponsorship of major sporting events but TD Luke "Ming" Flanagan said he would be in favour of such a move.
Print13 May 2013
Drinks industry representatives and sporting organisations disagreed with Independent TD Luke "Ming" Flanagan at a recent Oireachtas committee meeting, when he described the drinks industry’s sponsorship of sport as "twisted".
According to an Irish Times report, the Olympian and Fine Gael Senator Eamon Coughlan argued that he "only had one pint of Guinness in my life," despite using facilities funded by the company.
The Federation of Irish Sport, Horse Racing Ireland and the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) had been invited by The Transport and Communications Committee to discuss the possible consequences of a ban on alcohol sponsorship of major sporting events.
Sarah O’Shea of the Federation of Irish Sport highlighted that sponsorship from drinks companies amounted to €35 million last year, while the Irish Sports Council’s total budget for 2013 was just over €43 million.
A "blunt and crude" measure was how Brian Kavanagh of Horse Racing Ireland described the potential ban, while DIGI’s Peter O’Brien insisted there was no link between alcohol misuse and sponsorship.
However Flanagan said he believed there should be a "total and utter" ban on alcohol sponsorship, "whether that be in sport or other walks of life". He said he understood that money was needed but said it should be acquired in another way. "It is twisted the idea that you would have alcohol and sport connected," he said.
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