Ireland

[IE] Restrictions on alcohol advertising on radio and TV come into effect

IRIS 2025-2:1/9

Amélie Lacourt

European Audiovisual Observatory

Part of the Public Health Alcohol Act (PHAA – the Act) came into force on 10 January 2025, seven years after it was signed into law on 17 October 2018. In particular, section 19 of the Act introduces a watershed ban for alcohol advertisement. In this sense, alcohol advertisements cannot be shown on television between 3 a.m. and 9 p.m., nor can they be broadcast on the radio on a weekday between 3 p.m. and 10 a.m the following day.

These new measures were among certain revisions introduced into the Act, and which followed the introduction of a ban on alcohol advertising in or on a "sports area" during a sporting event; this ban came into force in 2021. In April 2024, guidance on section 19 was published for the industry.  

The measure is aimed at reducing the exposure of children and young people to alcohol advertisements and breaking any positive associations that may exist between alcohol and lifestyle. Health minister Stephen Donnelly said: “The watershed periods for television and radio are designed to ensure that alcohol advertisements cannot be broadcast during times when children might be in the audience."

The two further sections of the Act in relation to advertising that remain to be commenced are section 13 and section 18. While the latter relates to alcohol advertisements in hardcopy publications sold in Ireland, section 13 of the Act regulates the content of advertisements for alcohol products and limits that content to factual information only.