By Paddy Clancy

ST. Patrick’s day revelers in Dublin face an unprecedented alcohol clampdown by cops.

And in a separate unrelated development, a Catholic priest has sharply criticized the national feast day as an excuse for “mindless alcohol-fueled” revelry and called for the event to be reclaimed as a church festival.

In the crackdown on drinking, Gardai plan to patrol outside off-licenses on Saturday in a bid to prevent a recurrence of under-age drinking and anti-social behavior that marred previous celebrations.

Off-licenses shops that sell alcohol for consumption away from the premises have been asked to remain shut until after the end of most parades at 4 p.m. Cops believe that could be a major help in curtailing drink in the build-up to the celebrations.

A leading youth organization, Youth Work Ireland, has backed the police measures and also urged retailers to cut back on booze sales.

Michael McLoughlin, Youth Work Ireland’s director of central services, said, “While the law makes no provision for it, and it is only one part of a strategic approach to the issue, responsible behavior by retailers and off-licenses would have a significant impact on the spectacle that St. Patrick’s Day has become in previous years.”

He called on supermarket organizations and business lobby groups to urge their members to “be socially responsible” and limit alcohol sales.

He added, “The drinks industry has long claimed they are willing to act responsibly to combat alcohol abuse and this is a real chance for them to show it. Closure of outlets for some or all of St. Patrick’s Day would be highly symbolic.”

Meanwhile, conservative theologian Father Vincent Twomey calls in the current issue of Catholic magazine The Word for the reclaiming of St. Patrick’s Day as a church festival.

He acknowledges that the fun has been restored to St. Patrick’s Day in recent decades, but regrets that expression of the faith and other religious elements are often absent.

“It is time to bring the piety and the fun together. It is time to reclaim St. Patrick’s Day as a church festival, one that should have a special ecumenical perspective since all Christians in Ireland trace their faith back to Patrick,” he maintains.

“It is also time to rediscover the man himself, his triumph over adversity thanks to his faith in Jesus Christ, and his deep spirituality, so needed today.

“Paddy’s week is descending into an excuse for mindless alcohol-fueled revelry. Must it be so?”