again today following the melee on Sunday morning at the Clayhouse Inn and a bottle in the face incident at the Odyssey Nightclub. The alarming thing is that some of the young men involved were as young as 15-years-old and armed with knives.

Part of the problem arises because people under 18 years are still admitted to licensed nightclubs even though they are not supposed to be served alcohol; that is a myth because we all know that once they are there they do get alcohol even if they drink another person's. The question arises, why are they there? The Senate is taking a hard look at the amended Liquor Licence Act which recently passed through the House of Assembly and we can only hope that Senators will take the opportunity to make some changes, including prohibiting those under the drinking age from nightclubs.

It seems to us that late night drinking premises have to take greater responsibility for security in and around their premises. It is not sufficient any more to have someone on the door. We also think it is not good enough to call the Police after an incident starts and expect the Police to clean it up.

The emphasis should be on preventing such incidents.

There was a time when the holders of liquor licences lost the licence if they had a number of these incidents. It may be time to return to that system.

The most alarming aspect of the weekend's events was that a 15-year-old arrested at Clayhouse Inn was carrying a large knife concealed in his jacket.

A spontaneous fight is one thing, but armed and looking for trouble is very different. It would appear that the young man went prepared for a major bust up and that should be cause for national concern. We cannot help thinking that today it is knives, but tomorrow it may be guns.

There have been conflicting opinions about whether or not there are gangs in Bermuda and it is becoming very clear that we do have gangs, and violent ones at that. It seems that these gangs focus around drugs and such things as rivalry for drug turf. It may be that some of the violence is set off because of people who do not fulfil their part in drug deals.

It is becoming very clear that most of the violence in Bermuda, both domestic and public, is somehow involved with drugs and alcohol and often both. That is all the more reason for tightening up on alcohol abuse and for continuing the campaign against drugs. In this tiny community, these events and alcohol and drug abuse affect us all.

This is a community concern and not one where we can afford to shrug and "let someone else do it''. This is a good Country, a solid Country and a successful Country. However it is so small that these events have a spill over effect on each and every one of us.

As an island people, Bermudians have to come together for the sake of the Country and make it clear that this is not the Bermudian way and that it will not be tolerated...not in my house, not in my neighbourhood and not in my Country.