Pictured are Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern TD, Padraic White, Chairperson Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland (RRAI) and Cherie Martin, Centra on Dame Street, Dublin 2 at an event held in Centra urging members of the public to ensure that their local retailer is adhering to the Voluntary Code of Practice on the Sale and Display of Alcohol Products in Mixed Trade Premises The code and complaints procedure is displayed in all member stores and can be viewed by members of the public in-store and on www.rrai.ie.

In advance of St Patrick’s Day the Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland (RRAI) today urged members of the public to ensure that their local retailer is adhering to the Voluntary Code of Practice on the Sale and Display of Alcohol Products in Mixed Trade Premises (the Code). The retailing groups who signed up to the Code and account for 95% of the alcohol volume sold in the mixed-trade sector are: Mace and Spar stores from the BWG Group; Centra, Daybreak and SuperValu stores from the Musgrave Group; Aldi, Cost Cutter, Dunnes Stores, Esso, Gala, Lidl, Londis, Marks & Spencer, Superquinn, Tesco, and Topaz. Over 3,000 stores nationwide are participating in the Code, across every county. The code and complaints procedure is displayed in all member stores and can be viewed by members of the public in-store and on www.rrai.ie.

Speaking at an event to increase awareness of the Code held at the Centra Store, Dame Street, Dublin 2, Padraic White, Independent Chairperson, RRAI said “The new Code has led to a striking and significant change in the way that alcohol is displayed and sold in supermarkets and convenience stores around Ireland.”  The event was attended by the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform and by Mr Dermot Ahern TD.

Under the Code, alcohol can only be displayed in-store in one separate area; alcohol cannot be displayed or advertised in shop windows; in-store advertising of alcohol is confined to the area where it is displayed; alcohol can only be sold at clearly designed check-out points and the code and complaints procedure is clearly displayed for members of the general public.

  Pictured are Independent Chairperson of the RRAI Mr. Padraic White and Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern TD.

According to Padraic White, “Over the past 12 months the work of the RRAI and member stores has resulted in significant changes in how alcohol is sold and displayed across Ireland. There has also been a striking change in the way alcoholic products are advertised by RRAI members; they are now restricted to a maximum of 25% of all advertisements they place in newspapers or magazines.

“The first independent audit showed a compliance rate of over 90% of the RRAI members since the launch of the code in May 2009. For this level of success to continue it is crucial that the general public know about the Code, understand it and expect their local retailer to adhere to and display the Code in store.

“With over half (52%) of the volume of all alcohol sold in this country, sold by retailers and off-licences the changes brought about by the Code are a proactive and positive step in the overall process of changing the way we as a nation view and regard alcohol. As we gear up to our national St Patricks Day celebrations, I urge the general public to follow the same responsible approach that our retail members have shown and to act responsibly with alcohol during the celebrations. I also invite the independent convenience stores that are not part of the membership of the RRAI to join this initiative and to comply with the voluntary Code.” he added.

At the event Padraic White also outlined details of the complaint system which underpins the Code. “If a member of the public feels that their retailer is not fully complying with the Code, they have every right to complain to the store and to the RRAI and expect their complaint to be acted upon promptly”, he added.

Centra Store Owner, Enda Martin commented at the event, “This initiative is a prime example of how retailers across Ireland can play a positive and active role in changing the way alcohol is sold in Ireland. As a retailer, we have been very happy to comply with the regulations and have had little trouble implementing the code, training our staff along with other retailers across the country. We have seen a positive response from the public and it gives our customers the security of knowing that we are trading responsibly.”

In addition to calling for the introduction of a comparable Code for the stand alone off-license sector, Padraic White announced that RRAI plan to build on the successes of 2009 with a series of incremental measures in 2010. These are aimed at increasing overall awareness of the Code amongst the general public and retailers:

• Members have committed to increasing the visibility of the Code document itself within their stores, by increasing its size [from A4 to A3 size], ensuring that a greater number of signs are placed in conspicuous locations in stores and that the complaints mechanism is clearly visible.
• From this month onwards, members  will use the RRAI logo on all alcohol related advertising in print media.
• An enhanced Training Manual on the sale and display of alcohol is currently being developed and will presently be distributed to the almost 3,000 stores affiliated to RRAI. Member’s application of this training manual will be independently verified at store level.
• An associate membership will be offered to the remaining non-affiliated store and they will be invited to commit themselves to the Code.


For further information on the event or details on interview opportunities please contact:
Sinead Doocey, Corporate Reputations, 01 661 8915 / 087 615 8218 
Ann-Marie Gannon, Corporate Reputations, 01 661 8915 / 085 169 4735.



Notes to editors

RRAI was established by its members to oversee the implementation of the Voluntary Code of Practise on the display and sale of alcohol in mixed trading premises in May 2009. The Code was agreed and launched last year between the retail sector and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of Health and Children. Further information on the Code and the complaint procedure is available on www.rrai.ie

Compliance rates amongst retailers were independently audited and verified by an ISO certified retail audit firm in the RRAI’s First Compliance Report, dated 30th September 2009. The results for members show a 90.39% compliance level. On the key display questions, 99.40% met the test of displaying alcohol in one part of the premises and not having satellite displays, while 98.80% were judged to have compiled with the requirement of displaying alcohol in a part of the premises which customers do not have to pass through in order to get to other beverage and food products.