Cathal BarryHealthy Living with Cathal Barry
Alcohol has been in the headlines for a variety of reasons recently. First we had a leader on Operation Transformation defending herself against accusations that she had got drunk on TV. A recent episode of RTÉ’s weight loss series saw Dr Ciara Kelly berate contestant Eilish Kavanagh (47) after she missed her target weight loss of 2lbs. She blasted the Wexford woman for drinking alcohol during her regime.
While I don’t condone the way Dr Kelly dealt with Eilish, she did let the side down by excessively drinking and set a bad example to the nation as a chosen leader.
Around the same time, a University College Cork study found that two-thirds of students are drinking hazardous amounts of alcohol every week. The study revealed that about 66% of students responding to a questionnaire reported hazardous alcohol consumption, with 65.2% of men and 67.3% of women saying they engaged in unsafe drinking.
Then, as if in response, the Government announced it had agreed a range of measures designed to reduce alcohol consumption, with restrictions on the sale of cheap drink and warning labels on bottles and cans among key elements of the plan.
Health Minister Leo Varadkar said that talking about the issue had gone on long enough and it was now time for action to reduce consumption and tackle alcohol abuse.
Mr Varadkar said it “contains one of the most effective measures in dealing with the misuse of alcohol: minimum unit pricing, which effectively bans low-cost sales of alcoholic products”.
“We have been talking about it for too long. It is time to take action,” he said.
The proposed Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 is expected to be published in the coming months and made law by the end of the year.
Among the key elements of the Bill are provisions to prevent the sale of very cheap alcohol; health labelling and warnings, including calorie counts; powers for environmental health officers to enforce the separation of alcohol within stores and to police minimum unit pricing; legal regulation of sports sponsorship; and restrictions on the advertising and marketing of alcohol, including a broadcast watershed.
While critics of the move may warn of the perils of a ‘nanny state’, nobody can deny that Ireland has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.
Aside from the enormous impact excessive drinking has on our society and economy, extreme drinking can detrimentally affect our personal health.
It’s unfortunate that Ireland can’t seem to align itself with other European counterparts, like Italy and France, which have a far more moderate approach to alcohol consumption.
Those countries are also associated with ‘healthier’ forms of alcohol. While in Ireland we are typically depicted as a vulgar beer-swilling and spirit-guzzling nation, the Italians and French are generally portrayed as graceful wine-sippers.
While it’s undoubtedly difficult to bring about a sea-change in an entire nation’s drinking habits, it’s not impossible.
Just look at how the majority of Irish people’s opinions have changed on smoking and drink-driving in recent decades.
Change is possible, for health’s sake, if for nothing else.