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	DIAGEO - the parent company of Guinness &ndash; have withdrawn from an alcohol awareness campaign just a month after it was established.</p>
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	Ireland Country Director for the drinks company, David Smith confirmed today that he is stepping down from the board of the Stop Out-of-Control Drinking campaign.</p>
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	It is the fourth resignation that has blighted the group - which is led by Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay - since it was established in February.</p>
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	Up to 12,000 have signed up to the campaign which is funded by Diageo to the tune of &euro;1m over the first year.</p>
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	&ldquo;Since the launch of the campaign many of our board members have been subjected to unwarranted pressure because of a perceived lack of independence given the involvement of Diageo on the board,&rdquo; Mr Smith told RTE.</p>
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	&ldquo;To ensure that the board members can work to the best of their abilities and carry out the objectives of the campaign without further pressure and distraction I will no longer sit on the board of the campaign,&rdquo; he added.</p>
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	Responding Health Minister Leo Varadkar said it was welcomed that Diageo were stepping back from the board.</p>
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	&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it is appropriate that the drinks industry should be actively involved in campaigns around public health for the obvious reasons,&rdquo; Mr Varadkar said.</p>
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	However, social campaigner and founder of Spunout.ie, Ruairi McKiernan, says Diageo is still behind the campaign - as it is involved in funding - and he is not satisfied.</p>
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	Speaking on RTE Radio One, Mr Smith said it never came up prior to the establishment of the campaign that Diageo should not have a seat at the board.</p>
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	&ldquo;The board were very happy with my involvement. I&rsquo;m not sure I would do any differently if I had the time again but what I am doing today is acting to make sure that a lack of independence is removed,&rdquo; he said.</p>
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	&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad we got involved in the campaign. I may not have sat on the board if I had known it was going to cause some controversy.&rdquo;</p>
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	It is the latest public relations setback for Diageo after they ceased organising their annual Arthur&rsquo;s Day last year following much criticism.</p>
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	&ldquo;Arthur&rsquo;s Day at the time was a great idea to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Arthur Guinness.</p>
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	&ldquo;All of these things run their course. It was a getting a lot of controversy at the time so we decided to move in a different direction.</p>
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	&ldquo;The irony is we were called upon to do more to tackle alcohol misuse and here we are over the last few months having done that,&rdquo; Mr Smith said.</p>
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	He added that he wished the board of the Stop Out-of-Control Drinking campaign good luck.</p>
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	Mr Smith said he believed when people looked back in 15 years time, the drinking culture will have changed.</p>
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	&ldquo;With the benefit of hindsight, the debate was pretty ferocious but it did start to chip away at some attitudes and connect with some people.&rdquo;</p>
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	St Patrick&rsquo;s Mental Health Services withdrew from the campaign in recent days following the earlier resignations of Dr Ciara Kelly and Krystian Fikert of mental health care organisation MyMind from the board.</p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/diageo-steps-down-from-board-of-stop-outofcontrol-drinking-campaign-31094042.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/diageo-steps-down-from-board-of-stop-outofcontrol-drinking-campaign-31094042.html</a></p>
