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Abstract
This paper sheds light on the development of the Irish alcohol industry and its regulation since the 1980s by situating it within the politico-economic context of neoliberalism at the national, European and global scales. First, a conceptualisation of neoliberalism is presented and the alcohol industry is related to it. Second, the connections between neoliberalism, the drinks industry and alcohol legislation are explained and illustrated at the three spatial scales mentioned above, emphasising the following components of neoliberalism: deregulation, liberalisation, commodification, free trade agreements and transnational capital flows. The paper provides a theoretical template for future research.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Joe Barry, Shane Butler and Ann Hope for helpful discussions during the research for this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. See the website describing the cultural events taking place as part of Arthur's Day worldwide: http://www.guinness.com/en-ie/arthursday/ (retrieved April 15, 2014).