Alcohol Culture

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Hi there,

I'd like to ask for everyone's opinion here on alcohol culture in Ireland. The reason I'm posting in this forum is because I'm hoping to get the perspective of members of the Gardai, ambulance service, fire service and A&E doctors and nurses.

I'd really like to know just how much of your job involves dealing with the consequences of alcohol abuse. I believe it's a big problem in this country, and I would imagine you all find yourselves picking up the pieces on a nightly basis.

Any thoughts, stories or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

ScubaDave

Without alcohol..... ambulance staff and guards would be alot quieter!

Drunk people = Job security!

Most people would rather not have it that way but you will never get the drink culture out of ireland, NEVER!

Ger the man

Some people blame the weather we get as an excuse to sit in pubs and drink to excess becasue there is 'nothing else to do' although as a child I always remember seeing grown men sitting outside our local pub waiting for it to open, meanwhile the weather is perfect to spend the day outdoors. What also annoys me is the when people say they have no money for this and that and they complain about the cost of this and that but yet they always have money to go drinking.

97i9y3941

Ger the man wrote: »

What also annoys me is the when people say they have no money for this and that and they complain about the cost of this and that but yet they always have money to go drinking.

so true ger,it annoys the **** out of me,they always claim be broke but some how make it out,i never got why people uploaded their nites out on bebo,they all look the same really,also theres a preception that if you dont drink then theres something wrong with you

dont know why mary harney went against the idea of fineing drunks that would be brought to the hospital on sat night.

eroo

When I read this thread title, I thought to myself, it goes hand in hand with the Gardai! :P

TheNog

Excessive alcohol is a major problem across the country. It seems to turn even some decent people into belligerent assholes who think they can do what they want when they want. TBH its sad to see people like this cos they are letting themselves down.

Eru

Agree with whats being said. If anything its probable a bigger problem than people realise.

Theres two areas I identify as being typically Irish when it comes to drink.

First, the act of drinking alcohol while sitting still and doing nothing else in whats generally a smelly, overcrowded and hot environment.

Second, the religious belief that the drunker you were and the more of a tit you acted, the better the night was. How often have we heard "It was a great night, cant even remember after (insert time) but I do remember (insert stupid or embarrasing act) and spent (insert crazy amount of money)". usually followed by being applauded for said stupid act as it was a great laugh watching you.

In a lot of countries alcohol is seen as something to accompany an event or social occasion not the actual event itself. Whereas getting actually drunk is something to be embarrased about and will get less not more respect.

People also need to realise that while it may be a minority, theres astill a large amount of people consuming too much alcohol and as a direct result take up Garda, Ambulance and A&E time which stretches already stretched manpower. A simple example. One single person asleep legless drunk cannot be left alone for their own safety so you have Gardai, an ambulance and a hospital bed taken up just so you can sober up in safety. Thats a waste of all them.

Drunk tanks with a mandatory fine when leaving in the morning is an option that was discussed. It never happened but I personally think its a step in the right direction.

97i9y3941

i drink myself,and yes i would act the ejit sometimes,but i never upload them pics onto bebo or myspace or anything,cause its private,i dont want people to see what state i was or thinking what im like,dont mean to sound ignorant,but gov should try post some sexual awareness on drunken night stands and stuff

wolfpawnat

ScubaDave wrote: »

Without alcohol..... ambulance staff and guards would be alot quieter!

Drunk people = Job security!

Most people would rather not have it that way but you will never get the drink culture out of ireland, NEVER!

You don't honestly believe that we need drunk idiots to keep our jobs. We get enough people into A&E Monday to Sunday without adding the drunks, in fact if you take them out of A&E you get to other more deserving patients quicker. I had to watch a woman come into A&E with an injured jaw and sit and wait for 5hrs from 10pm until 3am on get treated because she injured herself on a Saturday night and had to wait for the drunken imbeciles to be treated first. How is that fair?

Also while walking around for 10 min to get some air at night, I noticed young students out drinking and making fools of themselves boxing scaffolding and I said to one of the medical students I am friends with (I'm a nursing student) I bet we'll see one of them later, and sure enough, into A&E at about 1.30am came my man with a broken arm! What a waste of money and time that should be spent on the more deserving.

Sadly you are correct in saying we will never get rid of this culture.

97i9y3941

i think drunks should be fined when turning up to the A+E,alot A+E staff get unfair abuse and even assaulted from drunkards

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Wow I thought this thread was dead!

One other thing I notice is that a lot of people tend to go nuts with uncontrollable excitement at the very IDEA of going out to get drunk. It's like, "Woooo! We're going on the piss!!". Pretty scary! I wish people could capture that feeling and save it for a more worthy occasion.

Only recently I was with a group of friends in a pub - they were gradually getting hammered, and I (in a moment of MOST unusual behaviour) drank alcohol too. Just had one pint. (Had coke after that). I tried having a conversation with somebody, but I couldn't hear properly with the noise. I noticed that after an hour and a half, I was still sat down doing nothing, while the others screamed and shouted about inane rubbish. I got bored, said I was feeling tired, and left.

I don't know. I'm never going to understand the 'pub' appeal. As somebody said earlier, you must be DOING something to be on a 'night out'!

As I said in another thread, I'm not completely against alcohol (though if it disappeared tomorrow, I'd celebrate) - at Christmas I'll probably have one or two glasses of wine or Bailey's with food. Then again, I may not... see how it goes!

97i9y3941

if you ever look at booze britain on bravo,when you see the people on it,you see how close it is to ireland!

deadwood

Fred83 wrote: »

if you ever look at booze britain on bravo,when you see the people on it,you see how close it is to ireland!

A bit closer to home than we might like - there was a bunch of lads on it last night in Prague, I think. Those Irish lads did Britain proud!

Dave!

I've had enough!

fionnmar

As a 30-something I remember the local pub used to be jammers every friday and saturday night, and yeah people were pissed, but it was in a communal happy atmosphere. Now, people tend to stay at home and drink and its no longer a social thing. I think that when the pub culture, as it was, left, nothing replaced it and there is vacuum now that is filled by irresponsible binge drinking, leading to huge problems.

eroo

Tbh, I find it kind of funny that some ES personnel may rant and rave about the amount of time taken up dealing with drunks. What some neglect to mention, is there is a MAJOR drinking culture in the Gardai, Prison Service, nurses etc etc.

Tbh, I see nothing wrong with a drinking culture provided you don't hassle or burden anyone with your drunkeness. Everyone goes on piss up's, fact of life! (unless your a non drinker) It's a good way to get to know people in yer class/team/workplace etc. It's good provided you know your limits. But in order to know your limits, you have to go past them a few times. However, if your getting ****faced every time you go out, and getting into scrapes. . .generally acting the maggot, then you need to cop on.

But unfortunately, there are those who drink solely to get pissed and cause trouble. But, they will always exist. Another fact of life unfortunately!:(

Eru

eroo wrote: »

Tbh, I find it kind of funny that some ES personnel may rant and rave about the amount of time taken up dealing with drunks. What some neglect to mention, is there is a MAJOR drinking culture in the Gardai, Prison Service, nurses etc etc.

Tbh, I see nothing wrong with a drinking culture provided you don't hassle or burden anyone with your drunkeness. Everyone goes on piss up's, fact of life! (unless your a non drinker) It's a good way to get to know people in yer class/team/workplace etc. It's good provided you know your limits. But in order to know your limits, you have to go past them a few times. However, if your getting ****faced every time you go out, and getting into scrapes. . .generally acting the maggot, then you need to cop on.

But unfortunately, there are those who drink solely to get pissed and cause trouble. But, they will always exist. Another fact of life unfortunately!:(

Your 18 arent you?

deadwood

eroo wrote: »

Tbh, I find it kind of funny that some ES personnel may rant and rave about the amount of time taken up dealing with drunks. What some neglect to mention, is there is a MAJOR drinking culture in the Gardai, Prison Service, nurses etc etc.

Very true. That culture has eased off a bit, or maybe i've grown out of it! It's no fun turning up for work at 6am with a hangover and ones colleagues don't appreciate it either.

eroo

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Your 18 arent you?

Yep

shoegirl

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Second, the religious belief that the drunker you were and the more of a tit you acted, the better the night was. How often have we heard "It was a great night, cant even remember after (insert time) but I do remember (insert stupid or embarrasing act) and spent (insert crazy amount of money)". usually followed by being applauded for said stupid act as it was a great laugh watching you.

People also need to realise that while it may be a minority, theres astill a large amount of people consuming too much alcohol and as a direct result take up Garda, Ambulance and A&E time which stretches already stretched manpower. A simple example. One single person asleep legless drunk cannot be left alone for their own safety so you have Gardai, an ambulance and a hospital bed taken up just so you can sober up in safety. Thats a waste of all them.

Drunk tanks with a mandatory fine when leaving in the morning is an option that was discussed. It never happened but I personally think its a step in the right direction.

The drunk tanks are a great idea as a straight fine gets the message across without running through the whole legal process for minor convictable offenses, instead of small cases being fought tooth and nail by people who are afraid of the consequences of having a conviction on their record (so less time is wasted).

However one of the issues that isn't mentioned is that there is a huge discrepancy between the amount of alcohol different individuals can drink and get into completely comatose states. I know a small number of people, who for example, boast proudly of their ability to drink 10-15 pints across 6 or 7 hours without any major issue. This is almost a cultural badge of honour. Then you have folks who will end up totally parlatic after a relatively small amount, because of body size, inability to tolerate certain mixes, or just sometimes a lower alcohol capacity. Somebody who is picked up intoxicated and (hypothetically) charged, won't get charged less or more if they can prove they drank less/more.

Its like the argument about drinking and driving - one of the heavy arguments for years against the one-drink-only policy was lots of heavy drinkers argued that they were ok after 3 and 3. They probably were - quite simply because they already drank so heavily their tolerance levels had gone way beyond normal.

Then again, I have an issue with the fact that I cannot purchase 2 packets of paracetemol in a pharmacy, but I can go into an off licence and buy enough alcohol to permanently send me to oblivion. The drinks industry is HUGELY powerful and literally nothing is done to make them in any way accountable for the monster they have a big part in perpetuating. I am not trusted to be an adult and make my own decisions when it comes to one kind of drug, but expected to with regard to another, so that the drinks industry can reap massive financial rewards.

TheNog

Drunk tanks are nt gonna happen here. Reason being that if a fecker dies then the M I/C gets in the neck for it. I won't keep a prisoner if I think they are too drunk. I'd rather get rid of them as soon as they are put in the custody record and charged.

Dave!

Where do you send them Nog? Do you just release them from the station and let them make their way home?

Just wondering, but are ye not then liable in the event that they injure themselves? Negligence or somethin...

CDfm

Whats wrong with drunk tanks and druggie tanks.

I know its not PC but from what I can see they disproportionately use the resourses of A & E departments etc which are meant for the really sick.

You should also have female drunk tanks for women. I am all for equality.

wolfpawnat

I think I see what The Nog is trying to say, the gardai are not going to accept rsponsibility for drunking people misbehaving or obtaining injuries while in their custody. However it is the best way forward. without being too nasty on the gardai, it is their JOB to keep, you, me and every other law abiding citizen safe from these drunken baboons!

As for the statement how much is too much, if the person cannot stand up straight or cannot remember their own name, it doesnt matter if they have had 2 pints or 20, in the drunk tank they should go, and if someone claims a drink spiking, sure where else would be safer than the bridewell for them.

Get them out of A&E wasting our saline drips and beds!
I maintain that they are one of the reasons A&E prices keep going up.

I hate seeing a person with no medical card coming in and getting stung for €100 before they get even looked at by a nurse, and these buggers get everything seen to no problem. makes my blood boil and I'm in the healthcare profession.

Also I thik medical cards should not cover them for the basic saline drip and bed, it should come out of their pockets, maybe that might teach them not to spend all their money on booze and hospital visits and they can suffer on with it!

metman

CDfm wrote: »

Whats wrong with drunk tanks and druggie tanks.

I know its not PC but from what I can see they disproportionately use the resourses of A & E departments etc which are meant for the really sick.

You should also have female drunk tanks for women. I am all for equality.

I agree. They've set up some of these at hospitals here. We are no longer in a position to have police 'drunk tanks' primarily because the job is afraid of deaths in custody and the blame-game. I've known some custody skippers to refuse drunk and incapable prisoners purely for fear for the person dying on their watch.....nonsense really.

97i9y3941

look,im sorry if this offends people,but i think this drink culture has left alot of moral issues going out the window,stds,people seeking emergency conception,people getting their head stamped on by some lunatic

wolfpawnat

Fred83 wrote: »

look,im sorry if this offends people,but i think this drink culture has left alot of moral issues going out the window,stds,people seeking emergency conception,people getting their head stamped on by some lunatic

It has, one day I went to a doctor and said I needed an emergency appointment, the first thing said to me was "We do emergency contraception in the morning clinics only".

I was for insulted, though I can understand that they get so many girls in in that situation, but we all dont make those mistakes. I only wanted to get an infected lump checked!

97i9y3941

CDfm wrote: »

Whats wrong with drunk tanks and druggie tanks.

I know its not PC but from what I can see they disproportionately use the resourses of A & E departments etc which are meant for the really sick.

You should also have female drunk tanks for women. I am all for equality.

ive seen that on them cop programs on tv,especially in england,they take them in,and next morning to avoid conviction the police fines that person,and not surprisely most of them cough up