{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01278772378516624, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0076726342710997444, 'mean_word_length': 5.146596858638744, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
A Perfect Demonstration of the Absence of Leadership: Alcohol Policy in Ireland

February 2012 saw the publication of the Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy.1 This report represents the culmination of an earlier decision to finally acknowledge the true nature of alcohol and to include it within the wider context of substance misuse. The report is impressive, wide-reaching and should be welcomed. 
However, the launch of this important report was notable by the lack of energetic and vocal support that it immediately received from Government. Opposition from the alcohol industry2,3 and their representative organisations4 was inevitable. Of greater concern though was the lack of endorsement of the report, combined with immediate efforts by four Government Ministers to undermine it. The Minister for State with responsibility for primary care only appeared briefly at the beginning of the launch before leaving, while the Minister for Health did not even attend the launch to offer support. The inclusion of numerous Government Departments on the Steering Group 1 makes the distancing of the Government from the report all the more bizarre.