Councilors in rural County Kerry in Ireland have approved an ordinance that legalized driving after two or three drinks for those living in rural areas.
The council approved the motion five to three with two absences or abstentions. Independent Councilor Danny Healy–Rae, who proposed the motion, claimed that the new ordinance would help prevent depression and suicide in the county, replacing those tragedies with new ones because of shambolic rural roadways.
Healy–Rae claims this will allow those who stayed at home to drink to come out and enjoy the company of fellow drinkers at local pubs.
Healy–Rae, a pub owner, would know first-hand the benefits regular trips to the pub can have on well-being, albeit not of the financial sort.
In other observations, the head of Ireland’s Road Safety Authority authoritatively claimed:
There is very strong evidence which makes an irrefutable link between the consumption of alcohol and impairment.