:00:13. > :00:18.Just another Belfast Saturday night. Young people here are drinking
:00:18. > :00:25.harder than ever before. In the past, they would have been drinking
:00:25. > :00:32.drinks of around 4%. Now they are drinking drinks that are 40%.
:00:32. > :00:36.a case of lining up the shots on the bark and who can drink the most.
:00:36. > :00:42.But where as it used to be teenagers drinking, now it can be
:00:42. > :00:45.primary school children out well. You see people in their twenties
:00:45. > :00:52.with advanced liver disease and they say they started drinking when
:00:52. > :01:02.they were 10 or 12. So how do we break a drinking cycle so ingrained
:01:02. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :01:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds
:01:45. > :01:48.A bereaved father looking for the body of he's drowned son. Joe
:01:48. > :01:51.Murphy has been out here every day for four weeks with family and
:01:51. > :01:55.friends, searching the River Lagan. On this particular day, nothing is
:01:55. > :01:58.found, but Joe refuses to stop looking for his son. Joby was a 20-
:01:58. > :02:04.year-old barman from Belfast. Six weeks ago, he and his girlfriend
:02:04. > :02:07.Karen went to a Snow Patrol concert at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
:02:07. > :02:14.But it was just a few hours after this photograph was taken that Joby
:02:14. > :02:24.died, soon after getting extremely drunk on cheap shot of vodka.
:02:24. > :02:29.
:02:29. > :02:39.was into everything when he was younger. He enjoyed life. Because
:02:39. > :02:40.
:02:40. > :02:47.of one night of cheap alcohol, he After the concert, Joby and his
:02:47. > :02:54.girlfriend went to the Beach Club inside the Odyssey. It was hosting
:02:54. > :03:04.its usual Wednesday night offer - 9 shots for �9. The last memory I
:03:04. > :03:07.have of him, he had four drinks in his hand. That was it. Everything
:03:07. > :03:14.was fine and then they went to the beach club and then it was vodka,
:03:14. > :03:24.vodka, vodka. Later that night, so drunk he could hardly walk, Joby
:03:24. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:31.fell into the River Lagan. His family blamed cheap alcohol. He was
:03:31. > :03:41.really drunk and still manage to get a drink at the bar.
:03:41. > :03:46.
:03:46. > :03:49.challenge the Beach Club on this But Joby's brother Martin claims he
:03:49. > :03:59.saw his brother and others being served whilst they were heavily
:03:59. > :04:00.
:04:00. > :04:08.drunk. Me and my friend, there was guy there. We had to physically
:04:08. > :04:13.lift him up. He still got served. Have you ever been in the Beach
:04:13. > :04:16.Club and been drunk and been served? Plenty of times. When we
:04:16. > :04:23.went back to the Beach Club, they told us their staff is trained to
:04:23. > :04:33.spot drunk people, but it is not an easy thing to ascertain. Do you
:04:33. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:42.think it is partly Joby's fault? is. The drink is so cheap. It is
:04:42. > :04:46.like giving a child a bar of chocolate. If the Beach Club has
:04:46. > :04:56.not been open that night, would Joby still be alive? He would. 100
:04:56. > :05:04.
:05:04. > :05:10.Alcohol abuse is costing Northern Ireland up to �900 million a year.
:05:10. > :05:20.Alcohol-related deaths have gone up by almost 50 % in the last decade.
:05:20. > :05:22.
:05:22. > :05:25.Hospital admissions have also risen by more than 50 % in five years. -
:05:25. > :05:28.15%. The biggest rise been among 15-24 year-olds. In the wake of
:05:28. > :05:32.Joby Murphy's death, the Stormont Executive has vowed to introduce
:05:32. > :05:35.new legislation to ban irresponsible alcohol promotions.
:05:35. > :05:37.Tonight on Spotlight we investigate some of these nightclubs running
:05:37. > :05:47.these promotions and expose how they blatantly disregard the
:05:47. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:10.Spotlight has learned of a significant rise of violent
:06:10. > :06:20.assaults in Belfast city centre in the last year, which police sources
:06:20. > :06:28.
:06:28. > :06:31.believe are linked to drinking One area where incidents have been
:06:31. > :06:41.happening is here, outside the Odyssey, which is home to some of
:06:41. > :06:42.
:06:42. > :06:48.Northern Ireland's busiest night Our youngsters seemed to have taken
:06:48. > :06:56.over the night time economy and we don't know what to do about it.
:06:56. > :06:59.Hyland runs the SOS buses. They are staffed by trained volunteers to
:06:59. > :07:06.offer medical support and a shoulder to cry on for the young
:07:06. > :07:14.people in various stages of drunkenness. Joe says many of his
:07:14. > :07:18.team joined after visiting the bus to pick up their own children.
:07:18. > :07:21.Things are getting worse. As long as alcohol is very, very cheap, as
:07:21. > :07:28.long as we have a culture where we send our children into places like
:07:28. > :07:33.this. We have given the space to them because we are now staying at
:07:33. > :07:41.home. There has at times been serious drunken violence at the
:07:41. > :07:48.Odyssey. On this night, people are falling down and being sick. The
:07:48. > :07:54.mood is generally good-natured, but we do see plenty of trouble. It is
:07:54. > :07:57.close to chucking out time. We have seen a lot of drunk people, but
:07:57. > :08:02.what has been impressive is the way the security staff, the police and
:08:02. > :08:10.the SOS bus work together. Although there are lots of drunk people
:08:10. > :08:17.around, it does feel quite safe. How many times do you think you
:08:17. > :08:20.have been drunk? This youth worker insists there
:08:20. > :08:30.have been changes in drinking habits in young people over the
:08:30. > :08:36.
:08:36. > :08:40.last few years. It is a case of I am going out and I'm going to get
:08:40. > :08:45.drunk. I am going to have the greatest time I'm never going to
:08:45. > :08:52.remember. At Addiction NI, there has been an increase in people
:08:52. > :08:56.coming for help. The demand for our treatment service has doubled in
:08:56. > :09:01.the last three years. We are seeing 2,000 people a year in Northern
:09:01. > :09:04.Ireland and the majority of those people have alcohol problems.
:09:04. > :09:13.Director Clare Armstrong also believes this is down to a major
:09:13. > :09:19.And this is that culture in action - so called booze buses which young
:09:19. > :09:24.people travel on to get to a nightclub. This footage shows
:09:24. > :09:33.clubbers drinking neat alcohol mixed with beer. It was on a
:09:33. > :09:38.website, but was taken down after sparking controversy in the media.
:09:38. > :09:40.Young people are drinking spirits as their first drink. They have
:09:41. > :09:49.gone from drinking something that was around 4% in strength to
:09:49. > :09:59.something that is 40%. This culture of downing shots is so popular that
:09:59. > :10:08.
:10:08. > :10:10.it is even highlighted in this Neil McDougall, Northern Ireland's
:10:10. > :10:19.leading liver specialist, says that this drink culture is the reason
:10:19. > :10:25.why liver disease has doubled in the last few years. He says the
:10:25. > :10:30.patients he sees are getting younger. We are regularly seing
:10:30. > :10:36.people in their twenties with advanced liver disease. It is
:10:36. > :10:39.something we have become more aware of in the last five, 10 years. It's
:10:39. > :10:49.not the usual alcoholic in their forties, it is people drinking
:10:49. > :10:50.
:10:50. > :10:53.excessively just because they can get their hands on it. The family
:10:53. > :11:00.of Joby Murphy met a Stormont Minister who wants to bring in
:11:00. > :11:03.legislation to ban drink promotions. The Executive is also watching to
:11:03. > :11:10.see if Scotland is successful in introducing a minimum price for
:11:11. > :11:17.alcohol. There is determination on the part of the Executive to deal
:11:18. > :11:20.with this. Government is really committed to do this issue.
:11:20. > :11:24.just how committed are the authorities to making nightclubs
:11:24. > :11:27.behave responsibly? We visited a few nightclubs in Belfast city
:11:27. > :11:37.centre to find out if it is possible to buy alcohol after 1am
:11:37. > :11:47.
:11:47. > :11:57.when premises should stop serving And sure enough, two vodkas are
:11:57. > :12:20.
:12:20. > :12:23.All four clubs were quite openly serving alcohol between one and
:12:23. > :12:27.three in the morning, so what does that say about the attitudes about
:12:27. > :12:32.nightclubs to our drinking laws? And the authority's ability to
:12:32. > :12:35.enforce them? In Northern Ireland three quarters of us drink and
:12:35. > :12:38.enjoy the relaxation and social benefits, which come with sensible
:12:38. > :12:41.consumption. No-one's suggesting they should stop, but all the
:12:41. > :12:44.experts we've spoken to emphasise there is the change in the
:12:44. > :12:51.intensity of young people's drinking and they all say the other
:12:51. > :13:00.change is that children are starting to drink at a younger age.
:13:00. > :13:02.We have had clients starting drinking at seven. Primary
:13:02. > :13:05.schoolchildren are able to take you to where their older brother
:13:05. > :13:11.gathers with their friends to drink and they would admit that they
:13:11. > :13:14.would be tempted, yes, to accept the alcohol. Joan McClain is a
:13:14. > :13:19.Londonderry school teacher who is deeply concerned about how some
:13:19. > :13:22.schoolchildren are drinking at primary and secondary school age.
:13:22. > :13:28.It's not uncommon for young people to go to school with alcohol in
:13:28. > :13:32.lemonade bottles. That's going on as well. On my way to school
:13:32. > :13:38.sometimes I would see young people waiting on the doorstep of an off
:13:38. > :13:43.licence maybe at 8am, waiting for it to open. She runs a project for
:13:43. > :13:47.P7 pupils to try to stop them falling into early drinking habits.
:13:47. > :13:55.Children as young as five have been able to identify for me blue WKD or
:13:55. > :14:04.orange. They've been able to use this in a role-play session, which
:14:04. > :14:14.would you like blue or orange WKD? This is the at age five. With the
:14:14. > :14:16.
:14:16. > :14:22.help of some of Joan's older ex- Educating children and alcohol
:14:22. > :14:25.awareness doesn't necessarily stop them drinking. Here is Joby Murphy,
:14:25. > :14:32.this time filmed four years ago, taking part in a Belfast City
:14:32. > :14:42.Council project about the dangers of abusing alcohol. I seen someone
:14:42. > :14:43.
:14:43. > :14:49.the other night and they were lying in a puddle of their own piss.
:14:49. > :14:52.body is not well equipped. Here in Donegall Pass, Terry Watson is
:14:52. > :15:00.trying to get the message across about alcohol to boys like Luke and
:15:00. > :15:05.Sammy, who are both 13 years old. What sort of state do 11 and 12 and
:15:05. > :15:10.13-year-olds get themselves in? I've had to phone 999 on a few
:15:10. > :15:17.occasions for young people, who have been violently ill. I've been
:15:18. > :15:27.young women almost lying in gutters and absolutely legless. That's a
:15:28. > :15:42.
:15:42. > :15:45.sad and sorry sight and especially when they are underage. Street by
:15:45. > :15:49.Street is a group of local volunteers set up to monitor the
:15:49. > :15:52.inner city streets of South Belfast keeping in touch with and an eye on
:15:52. > :15:55.young drinkers. Look at all of that beer and the vodka. They come round
:15:55. > :15:58.here and drink first, because it's cheaper. One teenager we met
:15:58. > :16:03.claimed he started drinking simply because it was the done thing.
:16:03. > :16:10.drink mostly every weekend. You feel left out if you don't. Luke
:16:10. > :16:18.told us he's been drinking since he was 11 years old. How do you get a
:16:18. > :16:26.beer? Mates. Sometimes. What do your parents think about you
:16:26. > :16:35.drinking? Told me to tell her if I had a wee beer and tell her about
:16:35. > :16:41.it. Instead of lying, so I told her. It's not just beer. There are 11-
:16:41. > :16:51.year-olds who are also drinking spirits. When did you have your
:16:51. > :16:51.
:16:52. > :17:00.first hangover? 11. I drunk a glass of vodka, so I did. Me and my mate,
:17:00. > :17:07.Sammy. That was it. They brought me home, the police. That was it.
:17:08. > :17:13.did you feel about that? Sick. it stopped you drinking? What do
:17:13. > :17:17.you drink now? WKD. That's it. I just drink at Christmas time with
:17:17. > :17:22.my mummy. She lets me have a wee drink with her at Christmas and
:17:22. > :17:30.when I'm on holiday with her. about around here? Where do the
:17:30. > :17:33.kids go to drink? Sit in the park here. At night-time. DD and his
:17:33. > :17:37.friends are older, but have been drinking since around the age of
:17:37. > :17:44.ten and 11. They are clearly proud of the drinking exploits they've
:17:44. > :17:54.got up to. What is the worst state? Legless. I had to get carried home.
:17:54. > :17:57.
:17:58. > :18:01.What age did you start drinking? What about you? 14. We had a bottle
:18:01. > :18:06.of gin and didn't take too well to our bodies. He was sick. I couldn't
:18:06. > :18:11.walk. I was literally sleeping in this here park, so I was. They had
:18:11. > :18:17.to carry me home to my back garden and left me there. Called my mum
:18:17. > :18:22.out and she came and took me up to bed. Why are some young people
:18:22. > :18:32.drinking so much? The experts largely blame the cheapness and
:18:32. > :18:38.availability of alcohol. You can now get a bottle of cider cheaper
:18:38. > :18:44.than certain brands of water. Dr George O'Neill says alcohol is a
:18:44. > :18:46.legal drug which we treat and buy like a grocery. We have a culture
:18:46. > :18:53.now where it's acceptable to drink large quantities and to drink
:18:53. > :19:03.excessively and it's fuelled by the fact it's freely available. You can
:19:03. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:09.dial a taxi and they will deliver Ryan Hilditch drank carryouts for
:19:09. > :19:18.years. He turned 22 and said last year he drinking finally spiralled
:19:18. > :19:24.out of control. It was nearly seven days a week. A bottle of Frosty
:19:24. > :19:27.Jacks and Budweiser and a couple of other cans. Even though he's
:19:27. > :19:34.unemployed Ryan says he could still afford to drink because of cheap
:19:34. > :19:42.deals at the supermarkets every day. Cheap drink. You can pick it up in
:19:42. > :19:49.ASDA. Maybe at the minute it's 20 Carlsberg for �12. Near Christmas
:19:49. > :19:51.time it was bottles of whiskey. Karl Williams from the Forum for
:19:51. > :19:59.Action Against Substance Abuse is trying to occupy Ryan with
:19:59. > :20:01.activities like football to keep his mind off the drink. He says the
:20:01. > :20:11.trends among young drinkers are increasingly fuelled by the
:20:11. > :20:19.
:20:19. > :20:22.internet, where people can brag and You can go on to a social website
:20:22. > :20:32.and see the glamourisation around some of these adventures over the
:20:32. > :20:32.
:20:32. > :20:38.weekend and the tales they can tell around their drinking. Certainly,
:20:38. > :20:43.this idea of it's almost seen as a badge of honour. I can do this and
:20:43. > :20:46.drink this amount. I can do it in this amount of time. Joan McClain
:20:46. > :20:55.has been horrified by pictures of girls, though not from her school,
:20:55. > :20:59.that have appeared on the internet. I've been told of young girls
:20:59. > :21:02.filming themselves going to the toilet and putting it on Facebook.
:21:02. > :21:11.They obviously wouldn't do that if they weren't under the influence of
:21:11. > :21:14.alcohol. Just a few weeks ago, David Cameron went to a hospital in
:21:14. > :21:17.Newcastle upon Tyne to announce new plans to tackle alcohol abuse in
:21:17. > :21:24.England. He did so for a reason. Because Newcastle is often referred
:21:24. > :21:27.to the party capital of the UK. It's also here that the shots
:21:27. > :21:32.culture has reached a point where some pubs and clubs are now selling
:21:32. > :21:34.nine measures of vodka for as little at �3.99. Perhaps not
:21:34. > :21:41.surprisingly then, in the north- east, every 18 hours someone dies
:21:41. > :21:48.as a result of alcohol intake. Bob Senior is the Chief Executive of
:21:48. > :21:51.some clubs in the area. He feels Belfast still has a chance to avoid
:21:51. > :21:55.the path Newcastle has gone down, where more drinks promotions have
:21:55. > :22:02.created a city centre that is off limits to those who only the drink
:22:02. > :22:11.sometimes. He said there must be a minimum price for alcohol to hit
:22:11. > :22:13.the supermarkets' cheap deals. supermarkets have done a fantastic
:22:13. > :22:20.job of diverting attention from the problems they are causing with
:22:20. > :22:23.super-cheap drinks. The city centres are populated by younger
:22:23. > :22:26.and younger people who are more and more drunk having preloaded at home
:22:26. > :22:34.to make the money stretch and clubs that have declined the pricing
:22:34. > :22:38.policy to compete. Is it not too easy to blame the supermarkets? Do
:22:38. > :22:41.you not have a social responsibility? Anyone selling the
:22:41. > :22:44.drug that is alcohol has a social responsibility, but of course the
:22:44. > :22:54.defence of anybody accused that would to be say it's still more
:22:54. > :22:54.
:22:54. > :22:59.expensive than the supermarket. Nine shots of spirit for �3.99 is
:22:59. > :23:09.not irresponsible if the supermarkets are selling it cheap.
:23:09. > :23:14.
:23:14. > :23:16.The Northern Ireland Retail They say they fund a DrinkAware
:23:16. > :23:24.campaign as well as carrying information about alcohol units on
:23:24. > :23:27.their products and preventing underage sales. In Belfast, it
:23:27. > :23:30.hasn't reached the stage where nightclubs charge �3.99 for nine
:23:30. > :23:36.shots, but there are still plenty of deals encouraging people to
:23:36. > :23:42.drink large amounts for very little. When Joby Murphy died there were
:23:42. > :23:52.public demands for action against the cut-price offers. Now, the
:23:52. > :23:54.
:23:54. > :23:58.minister says he will ban these types of promotions later this year.
:23:58. > :24:01.We are at a point now where we are due to bring forward regulations to
:24:01. > :24:04.ban irresponsible promotions and that will include both on-sales and
:24:05. > :24:08.off-sales so the days of buy one get one free, or the days of pay
:24:08. > :24:18.�20 and drink all you can until you fall over, that's something that
:24:18. > :24:23.
:24:23. > :24:26.would be ruled out by those Stormont is researching the
:24:26. > :24:30.possibility of a minimum price per unit of drink. This would mean
:24:30. > :24:36.strong drinks like some ciders and spirits would rise in price. But
:24:36. > :24:39.average strength wines and beers would stay roughly the same cost.
:24:39. > :24:44.The Minister accepts he needs minimum pricing alongside a ban on
:24:44. > :24:47.promotions to fully tackle the issue. Undoubtedly, there will be
:24:47. > :24:50.challenges on the way. There will be difficulties on the way, because
:24:50. > :24:55.there are vested interests here, who will want to continue
:24:55. > :24:59.exploiting vulnerable young people. The first step is to press ahead
:24:59. > :25:07.with what we can do immediately and that is in terms of the
:25:07. > :25:09.irresponsible promotions. How can the Minister be sure his ban on
:25:09. > :25:13.cheap promotions will work? It's clear that the current laws are
:25:13. > :25:17.being brazenly disregarded. We found evidence that the drinking
:25:17. > :25:23.laws are being broken as a matter of course. We visited Mynt on
:25:23. > :25:33.Saturday morning. The doorman was totally unperturbed as he explained
:25:33. > :25:52.
:25:52. > :26:02.that the police were actually What does the Minister responsible
:26:02. > :26:02.
:26:02. > :26:04.for licencing have to say when we tell him about this criminality?
:26:04. > :26:08.Well, the responsibility for the operations as regarding the police,
:26:08. > :26:12.that's something that needs to be taken up and I would encourage you
:26:12. > :26:15.to take it up with them. You are the minister for licencing and the
:26:15. > :26:18.clubs are openly flouting the law. You should be concerned about that.
:26:18. > :26:26.There's a law there. It should be enforced. I have no control over
:26:26. > :26:31.the police. In a statement the They also said venues serving after
:26:31. > :26:35.hours remain a focus for police operations. But while the police
:26:35. > :26:42.claim to have a focus on this issue, it is absolutely clear that the
:26:42. > :26:45.four clubs we visited break the law right under their noses. Once the
:26:45. > :26:49.doorman lets us inside Mynt in the background to the right of the shot,
:26:49. > :26:59.police are talking to staff. While they are there, the bar is closed.
:26:59. > :27:02.
:27:02. > :27:05.Once they go, the bar opens and the illegal sale of drink resumes. We
:27:05. > :27:11.contacted the four nightclubs, Mynt, Kremlin, Rain and Thompsons that we
:27:11. > :27:14.found serving alcohol after hours, but only one responded. In a
:27:14. > :27:17.statement Mynt did not address the fact it was breaching licencing
:27:17. > :27:26.laws, but said it has signed up to the trades voluntary code on drinks
:27:26. > :27:29.promotions. However the politicians, the police or society decide to
:27:29. > :27:36.address the issues, back at the SOS bus, volunteer parents are dealing
:27:36. > :27:39.with the fallout of another night's drinking. Just days after Joby
:27:39. > :27:41.Murphy accidently fell into the Lagan, Joe Hyland says another
:27:41. > :27:48.drunk clubber was going to deliberately throw himself into the
:27:48. > :27:53.river. He was contemplating doing something silly. How much of that
:27:53. > :27:59.is drink? A lot of it is. Of course it is. He wouldn't do it sober. It
:27:59. > :28:05.wouldn't enter his mind sober. We all make mistakes. Our society
:28:05. > :28:08.tells everybody drink is OK. During filming for this programme, the
:28:08. > :28:10.Beach Club told us it has dropped the Wednesday promotions, following
:28:10. > :28:18.Joby's death and now employs alcohol awareness stewards to
:28:18. > :28:25.specifically identify potential drunkenness. Whatever the Beach
:28:25. > :28:31.Club does now, it is too late for Joby Murphy. Last week, Joe finally