A national campaign against “out-of-control” drinking spearheaded by Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay is to be funded by drinks giant Diageo.

Mr Finlay said the initiative, to be launched within weeks, would involve prominent people from all walks of life who were concerned about the impact of binge drinking “and want to do something about it”.

He defended the involvement of Diageo, saying the drinks company would have no say in the running of the campaign and it would not be used to “sell product”.

“This won’t happen if it is influenced by the drinks industry. That’s the only basis on which it can work,” he said.

Mr Finlay declined to say who else was involved or what activities would be pursued but said “everything will be put out in the open” once the campaign was launched.

Some of those involved were teetotallers, while others liked “a glass of wine”. He said his involvement was voluntary and unpaid.

Existing initiatives

“A variety of things have been tried and they haven’t worked. We want to try and figure out what works best and to change the culture.”

Like others in the project, he was confronted in his work by the issues raised by problem drinking on a daily basis.

Asked whether he accepted there was no safe level for alcohol consumption, Mr Finlay said: “I’m not sure I believe that.” He said he would be a hypocrite if he didn’t say he liked a glass of wine.

A spokesman for Diageo declined to comment on its funding of the campaign. The company has been accused of promoting excessive drinking through its Arthur’s Day global drinks promotion, which ran on one day in September from 2009 until it was cancelled last year. Prof Frank Murray, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, said there was no safe level to drink “but that’s not to say that people shouldn’t drink.

“The problem in Ireland is that about half of the Irish population consumes alcohol and almost half of these drink in a way that is harmful or hazardous. Of those, about 10 per cent, or more than 170,000 are dependent on alcohol.”