I was a normal drinker. A social drinker. A mid-lane drinker. A grey area drinker. Which is to say I drank like most people in Ireland. I never drank to worrying levels and I never hit rock bottom. When my three children…
Category: Blog
Behaviours and attitudes towards alcohol in Ireland in the context of COVID-19. Insights into the process of development and design for Barometer 2021.
In May 2021, B&A undertook the latest in a series of national- population based surveys on adult drinking behaviours and attitudes towards alcohol in Ireland. Our Barometer series commenced pre-COVID in 2017 and allows for exploration of drinking practices over time and how they relate to other practices within…
Parenting Teens-A Call to Action
3 minute read. The impact of your relationship with your teen/child lasts a lifetime. The quality of your relationship and connection with your teen is important to their development and the decisions they make. A warm, loving relationship and being…
The crucial role of parents in shaping their children’s attitudes to and use of alcohol
4 minute read. A recurring theme identified in the story of the Maynooth Evaluation of the JC-AEP (and not necessarily something that the research team set out to examine), is that of parents’ and guardians’ role in underage drinking in Ireland. There is a potential role for…
Guest Blog: Kate Gunn. ‘How Giving up drink for 30 days changed my life’
3 minute read. I was 43 when I decided to take a thirty-day break from alcohol. I didn’t really want to, but my partner had been advised by his doctor to see whether a month booze-free would help his ongoing reflux and heartburn. So, I agreed to join…
A teacher’s thoughts on the Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme; teacher training and Programme delivery
3 minute read. On a cold, dark November morning in 2018, my colleague and I set off from Waterford at the crack of dawn to drive to Athlone. Our mission: to train in the Drinkaware Education Programme. We are both…
Drinkaware Chats with The Accidental Soberista
3 minute read. We were delighted to get a chance to speak with Irish blogger and author of “The Accidental Soberista” Kate Gunn last week over Zoom. “The book details my drinking career, how I got sober curious, and how giving up changed…
Alcohol Alternatives
4 minute read . We all know that Ireland has a very socially driven drinking culture. For 77% of Irish drinkers, alcohol makes social gatherings more fun at least half of the time (Drinkaware Index Report, 2019). This can make…
Education Focus: Teachers’ experiences of the Drinkaware Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme.
3 minute read. Maynooth University’s longitudinal study of Drinkaware’s Junior Cycle Alcohol Education Programme (JC AEP) indicates that alcohol education in school can prevent and intervene in underage drinking. The study tracks first to third year students’ experiences of alcohol education in…