Occasionally I come across some Irish whiskey-related items that don't fit into any broader context. It's just "stuff." But it may be informative, interesting, weird or humorous (intentionally or not) stuff. This item falls into the latter description.

I'll Drink To That
The opinion pages of the Sunday Independent newspaper in Dublin in late April were dominated by discussion about government proposals to curb alcohol abuse in Ireland (Alcohol Abuse!? In Ireland!? Come now, let's sit down and talk about this over a pint). The new rules included greater restrictions on "Off Licence" stores (beer, wine and liquor stores as they're called in Ireland), Gardai (the police) stings to reduce underage purchases, greater video surveillance, expanded arrest powers and other measures. It's been an ongoing issue prompting a great deal of national discussion. The number of Off Licence permits has rapidly increased in recent years while the number of pub licenses has dropped significantly. It's part of a much, much broader set of changes in Irish society as the country has grown over the past 20 years from one of the poorest nations in Europe to one of the most prosperous.

The newspaper selected one letter to the editor that generally addressed those issues as the Letter of the Week. The writer of the selected letter -- in the going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket genre -- addressed what he perceived as the breakdown in moral and social structures caused by godlessness, drugs and alcohol. I had to smile when I read about the award given to the writer:


This is either a great example of the many wonderful paradoxes in Irish culture or poor communications between the newspaper's sales and editorial departments. Or both. Apparently a similar thing occured in March concerning a letter about alcoholism.

I can only say that Tyrconnell is a very nice whiskey.