The other side of St Patrick’s Day

The other side of St Patrick’s Day

St Patrick, the most famous of the Patron Saints of Ireland worldwide. Not quite hailing from Ireland himself but from the United Kingdom, he is credited with driving the ‘snakes’ out of Ireland. Or bringing Christianity to the Island and pushing out Paganism if you’d like to be more literal. One might wonder if he were to see the celebrations of his work today would he be pleased? Would he also enjoy a few pints in a break from Lent?

This is probably the second most popular thing St. Patrick is known for, drinking. In Ireland the tradition of ‘drowning the shamrock’, making a toast to St Patrick then throwing the alcohol over one’s shoulder is actually a relatively new one.

Despite now being a well-known break from Lent, St Patrick’s day only became a national holiday in 1903. Pubs were not allowed open on the day until 1973. That isn’t to say people weren’t celebrating in their homes 100 years ago but they definitely weren’t celebrating to the extent that we do now.

St. Patrick wasn’t ever officially canonised by a Pope but he still makes the list of saints. His feast day has been marked on the liturgical calendar since the early 1600’s and in Ireland it was once a sombre day of prayer and one where attending mass was essential.

Many young people, and maybe even some not so young people, might not be familiar with this version of the celebration as the other. Many might even have had their first sip of alcohol on a March 17 some year.

Underage drinking and binge drinking in Ireland are two prominent societal issues in Ireland. While the numbers in young people consuming alcohol are going down it is still an issue as alcohol can have such adverse health effects for the development of young people

An international study by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking found the number of 15 and 16 year-olds drinking alcohol fell from 50% to 35% between 2011 and 2015. The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD) also stated in 2015 that the number of 15-16 year-olds consuming alcohol was around this mark.

The same study showed how Alcohol use in Ireland peaked in 1999 at 74% and in 2003 at 61%.

Last May, data from the Western Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force was released. The lifestyle survey, conducted by the Icelandic group Planet Youth, looked at 15-16 year olds in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. It showed that 77% of respondents had drunk alcohol at some point with 46% reporting being drunk at least once.

It also showed that 30% had tried alcohol by the age of 13 and 26% had been drunk in the last month. Most of them had been either drinking at discos, in a public area such as the street or a park or at their friend’s house.

Alcohol Action Ireland noted, “In comparison to the results of the nationwide European Schools Project for Alcohol and Drugs Survey in 2015, levels of alcohol consumption are significantly higher in all categories – for example in 2015 34% of the 15-16 years old in Ireland reported being drunk in their lifetime compared with 46% in this most recent survey.”

This could mean the numbers are going up, or that there needs to be more research done on the topic.

The Public Health (Alcohol) Act (PHAA) was signed into law in 2018. It was aimed at providing for the minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Ireland as well as regulations on advertising and health warning labels. However, over a year on, nothing has yet been implemented. However, is more expensive alcohol going to be the thing that stops young people from indulging?

Last year before St Patrick’s day the Heath Service Executive (HSE) warned the Bank Holiday weekend on which it fell would be very busy for emergency departments due to an influx of people presenting with alcohol-related injuries and it wouldn’t be surprising if one were issued this year as well.

Injuries are not the only danger for underaged teenagers drinking on St Patrick’s Day, or any other day.

Alcohol affects the developing brain in a different way to the adult brain. Alcohol use and misuse can damage two important areas area of the brain, one which is responsible for logic, reasoning, self-regulation and judgement, and the part that relates to learning and memory.

Evidence has also shown alcohol misuse and mental problems are closely related

Children who start to drink by age 13 are more likely to go on to have worse results, to skip school and also to be excluded from school. Underage drinkers are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, use cannabis or use hard drugs. The ESPAD report from 2015 showed underage smoking was at 13%, cannabis use was at 19% and other drugs were between 3% and 10% of substance use in under 18s. the Planet Youth showed that 18% of young people smoke cannabis.

The risk of developing liver disease can be increased by drinking alcohol and young people who drink regularly are also at risk and start to damage their livers without realising.

As these kinds of studies have been done on the affect of alcohol and this information becomes more widely available, the numbers have been decreasing.

It can be very difficult as a parent to stop teenagers from acting out and drinking. Being overly strict could just result in a young person lying about where they are and what they’re doing, which is arguably just as dangerous as the drinking itself. However, the opposite, saying its okay to try it out or even allowing teems to try out alcohol at home can have the effect of making it seem like underage drinking is an okay thing to do, despite everything they were taught in SPHE.

Drink Aware, the UK website suggests that resilience and self-esteem in young people contributes a lot to whether they feel the need to drink – for confidence or to forget their problems.

They say that parents need to play a role in helping their children feel that they don’t need to drink. Building resilience and self-esteem involves expressing love for a young person even when you’re not happy with their behaviour. Parents need to teenagers fail and help them learn they can overcome difficulties, praise them when they do try hard and encouraging them to do their best.

Rules, routine and positive attitude at home as well as strong connections with family and friends are key for this. Not everyone will get it right all the time but an effort will go a long way

When young people see their capabilities in solving problems, they develop better resilience and self-esteem.

Looking at your own approach to alcohol is something that’s important too. Children do as we do. Setting an example for children from a young age all the way up until they’re 18, that just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take care of their bodies.

Outright banning them from going out on St Patrick’s Day might work in the short term, but for the long haul a more holistic approach might be more effective. Maybe the culture of binging on this public holiday and in general the Irish relationship with alcohol says something about self-esteem and resilience that might need to work on.