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In Focus: The AFS Monthly CEO Blog - July 2026

“I’ve had to stay at home today, I’ve a touch of the old toe rot”. 

It wasn’t a sentence I expected to hear on my family holiday to Ireland, and it certainly caught my attention. The woman who delivered this surprising statement was part of a team of actors at the wonderful Ulster Folk Museum, who chat to visitors while in character as an Ulster resident from days gone by. We toured the old courthouse, school and teashop, not only looking at the buildings but hearing from the people who might have lived there. 

It was a fabulous opportunity to see things differently. And there were other times, too, when my Irish trip reminded me that there are always different ways to do things. In particular, once we’d crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland, it happened whenever we went to a supermarket or corner shop. In every store, customers had to pass through saloon-style doors to reach the alcohol section, which was cordoned off from the rest of the shop.  

Our friends at Alcohol Action Ireland tell us that this requirement has been in place since November 2020, and that the same law prohibits advertising on alcohol product displays behind checkouts.  As well as in shops, advertising is also restricted during sporting events, within 200 metres of schools and on public transport. This is very much in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, which say that limiting alcohol marketing is one of the most effective steps countries can take to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.  And with one person being hospitalised due to alcohol every fifteen minutes in Scotland, it’s clear that we need to listen to the WHO’s advice.  

It was so heartening to see these straightforward public health measures being implemented so close to home, and it made me hopeful that Scotland might follow suit. We’ll certainly be urging government to do so over the next parliamentary term. This is especially important because alcohol marketing is a cause of youth drinking: it leads children and young people to start drinking earlier and to drink more. At Alcohol Focus Scotland, we believe that children and young people have a right to an alcohol-free childhood, and so do more than 60 other organisations who back our campaign on the issue.  

There is strong public support for action: over two-thirds of people in Scotland support steps to prevent children seeing alcohol adverts. And we don’t have to look far to see how these changes might work – Ireland, along with many others across Europe, is already showing us the way.  

So far Scotland has resisted taking this popular and much-needed step. I truly hope that soon, we’ll take the chance to see things from a different angle.