Ah, Ireland. The emerald isle. Erin. The land of saints and scholars. The country has always been home to some of the world's greatest minds: James Joyce, Arthur Guinness, Dylan Thomas, to a far lesser extent, Bono. And now we can add Danny Healy-Rae to the list. The Councilor and County Kerry pub owner introduced a bill to legalize drunk driving, and wouldn't you know it, the law passed.
The County Kerry Council in southwest Ireland passed a measure Monday allowing drivers in rural areas to legally drive while under the influence of alcohol, ABC News reported. The council voted 5-3, with 12 absent and seven abstaining, to issue special permits to people living in rural regions that wish to drive home on remote countryside roads after drinking two to three alcoholic beverages. The council will rely on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to issue the special permits, and implement the changes to the current drinking and driving laws.
Healy-Rae reportedly made his case for the law by arguing that citizens driving while intoxicated in rural areas have never killed anyone before. He backed up his claim by insisting that the law would help prevent loneliness and reduce the risk of suicides among people living in Ireland's backcountry.
"A lot of these people are living in isolated rural areas where there's no public transport of any kind, and they end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don't want to take the risk of losing their license," Healy-Rae told TheJournal.ie.
The new law arrives as a striking reversal of public policy in the country in recent years. Stricter drunk driving laws have been credited with reducing the number of people killed on Irish roads. Since Irish law lowered the legal limit from 80 mg per 100 ml of blood (.08 percent in the U.S.) to 50 mg, and authorities increased the volume of mandatory alcohol checkpoints, the overall number of road deaths has fallen by 56 percent in the last five years. In 2012, just 161 people were killed on Irish roads; the lowest number since records were first kept, according to the Road Safety Authority.
Not surprisingly, the Irish Department of Transport, Alcohol Action Ireland and the Road Safety Authority have all vehemently opposed the new law, noting the overwhelming evidence linking alcohol consumption with impaired driving.
"Unfortunately, rural areas are among the most dangerous roads in Ireland. We need to be looking at how to make our roads safer, particularly in rural areas, instead of trying to reverse existing measures, which are clearly working," an Irish Department of Transport spokesman told Sky News.
It's unclear how successful the new law will be, or if authorities will even be able to implement the changes to existing laws in rural areas. But, for the time being, at least, if live in the country and you've had a few too many, you can still erin go drive yourself home, bragh.