The issue of excessive drinking has been exercising the minds of political leaders of late. Martin McGuinness, though no fan of soap operas, has expressed his concern at the amount of the action that takes place in public houses, and he was joined, a few days later, by Ian Paisley who has voiced his dismay that the media, and the advertising industry never cease to give the impression that young fellows are made to imagine that they are not considered men unless they consume copious amounts of what he has long designated as 'The devil's buttermilk'.

Their alarm has been heightened by the reports of the increasing incidence of 'binge' drinking, especially among young people. Gordon Brown is promising legislation whereby off-sales departments of supermarkets will have their liquor licences withdrawn if they are caught for a second time selling alcohol to minors, although he is believed to be in favour of restricting the hours during which intoxicating drinks can be sold.

Some people have advocated an increase in taxation as a means of curtailing the amount of alcohol sold. This is a knee-jerk reaction and not very well thought out. It is apparently aimed at the younger drinkers, but, if so, it will have little effect. Young people who want to drink alcohol will always find the means to pay for it. Many of them have part-time jobs in filling stations, eating houses and supermarket stores, and it is the practice of employing students that allow these stores to make such discounts as they do in the sales of beer and spirits. The young people do not blink at paying to get into licensed discos and seem to have no comprehension of the value of money when it comes to buying their alcopops and cocktails. And whereas an increase in drink prices will not deter such customers, it will have a deleterious effect on pensioners and others on low wages, who do not abuse the meagre quantities of drink which they are able to afford. There is no need to penalise the general drinking public in a futile attempt to contain the excesses of young drinkers. You might as well argue that increasing the price of petrol will reduce the amount of pollution, congestion and road accidents caused by motor cars. The majority of drivers are responsible people; a minority are not. The irresponsibility of the minority makes the rest suffer in increased insurance premiums. That is unfair. So also is the practice of prohibiting al fresco drinking at tables outside bars on warm summer days just because a handful of individuals make a nuisance of themselves.

The question of excessive indulgence is nothing new. Social history records many attempts to deal with it by prohibitive legislation. In 1872 William Gladstone introduced the first comprehensive licensing legislation into the United Kingdom: the Irish, it was said, "Rose to the challenge."

The United States brought in Prohibition in 1920, an experiment which was abandoned after 13 years, after it had become apparent that the measure created more problems than it served. No one who was determined to buy liquor went dry, and a whole new class of gangsters was spawned. Ian Paisley, when asked for his opinion about the move to make Sunday drinking legal, in 1987, said that he was 'agin it,' adding that anyone who wanted a drink on the Sabbath day "knew where to go" – a realistic acknowledgement of the way things were, without having to give legitimacy to the practice.

All of this repressive legislation served to make illicit or excessive drinking into a gesture of defiance against accepted social convention. Things are different in continental Europe where there has never been such a comparable obsession with closing times, the proprietors of licensed premises in many cases making their own hours when it comes to selling drink. I have seen young people in European countries quite content to enjoy a social evening whilst drinking fruit juice, coffee, or mineral waters, even though wine and spirtis were freely available. It all seems to be a matter of attitude.

Some of the Scandinavian countries have a system, not unlike an ID card, which prospective purchasers are required to produce before they can be served. This does not apply solely to young people. It is a sort of licence to drink and if an individual has committed a drink-related offence the card is endorsed, in the manner of an endorsement on a UK or Irish driving licence acquiring penalty points. The endorsement on the 'licence to drink' can wear off through time, but it is an offence for a waiter to serve a customer who cannot produce a licence, or a licence carrying a prohibitive endorsement. That may sound a little Orwellian, but some such device may have to be considered if the problems of irresponsible drinking are to be tackled.

In evidence the court heard that the action before them had been taken by an individual who was claiming damages against a local department store where he had been employed in the role of Father Christmas. He had been required to spend his entire working day deep inside a recessed grotto, which had affected his nerves and general mental-well being from having been incarcerated in this enclosed space which was, in his opinion, stuffy and ill-ventilated. Despite his appeals for longer breaks or for another employee to stand in to allow him some period of rest or relief, his employers had been resolute in their refusal. "It sounds to me," said the presiding judge, "a severe cae of Claus-trophobia."

A conference to be held in Greece sees much importance in the Eurovision Song Contest: "The... contest, as a spectacle and as a performance event, allegorically represents the idea of 'Europe'. Ever since its early years, it has become a symbolic realm of performing European identities and remaking European selves. Singing and dancing Europe enacts an interplay of tropes of being, local and European, while providing an arena for old and new states to imagine their pasts, portray their presents and envision futures. The politics of representation in Eurovision.... may be undertood, therefore, in the light of the broader geo-political changes, cultural anxieties and power games defining Europe and the world."

And to think Ireland is sending Dustin the Turkey.

And on the day after Dustin was selected an Irish newspaper carried the headline 'Turkey Invades Iraq'.

An exhibition of paintings by inmates at Maghaberry Prison is entitled 'Wish You Were Here'.

From BBC2s 'Weakest Link'

Question: What stretch of water separates Dublin and Liverpool?

Contestant: A lake.

It has been claimed recently that fish are quite intelligent creatures and can count up to four.

Perhaps the reason why they cannot count up to five is because they do not have fish fingers.