Irish drinkers no longer hardcore, or softcore?

faceman

We’re not even in the top 25 nations of beer drinkers. Are we posh now and don’t drink beer anymore or are people drinking less?

https://flip.it/aNrXkR

theteal

10th by that chart. I wonder how that's likely to change given the stupid new pricing

Strumms

Price now is so extortionate… guts of 7 euros for a pint of beer in some pubs.

i probably started drinking properly in 1999/2000 and it was in my local which was never known for being cheap…4.10 for a Heineken, 3.90 for a Guinness and I think about 3.50 for a Beamish.

people simply cannot afford it… over 6 euros now for a larger.

plus I think people too now are more health aware and there are lots of other entertainment and social activities that people prefer…more value for money…cinema and food for example might cost you a fiver more but you are getting more bang for your buck…you can wake up with a clear head having had an enjoyable night too.

The pub culture (comparable with the 80s/90s) is mostly dead. There's dozens of pubs in my hometown but most are empty, with one or two attracting most of the crowd.. whereas in the past, most of the pubs would have had a reasonable crowd, live music, and a bit of craic going on. For the most part, that scene is dead, except for the cities. The general costs involved in going drinking (the drink itself, taxi's etc) are far too high to do often.

TBH though, I think the Irish reputation for drink was overly hyped by movies/media. At least, what I've seen of Russia, Poland, and Asia has shown a very different tolerance depending on the alcohol involved, and the drink culture.

Allinall

I haven't changed my drinking habits at all.

I have cut back on non essential things to make up for the increased costs of drinking.

EmmetSpiceland

The kids just don’t seem to be as into getting completely “blotto”, as previous generations. Nothing wrong with that but their midweek nights and weekends must be fierce boring.

whisky_galore

Drugs are what the kids are doing these days. Alcohol is so 20th century.

timmyntc

With less alcohol and more ket/coke/md you can get better bang for your buck, thats what those young whippersnappers are up to these days

road_high

Lifestyles have changed. Personally prefer go to the gym now. That’s what I do Sunday mornings instead of dying of a hangover. I notice younger people much the same attitude too now. Sports and recreation has taken over a lot is my sense.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119432824#Comment_119432824

I think they’re a lot more fitness health conscious than we were in the late 90s/early 00s when I was a teen going out. Getting paralytic was the norm

rogerywalters

Id assume the poor feckers are terrified of social media now. Also social media has them wanting certain body types. Theyd be hard to attain while drinking to the level of the nineties.

MrMusician18

There are a couple of reasons that pub culture seems to be dying, the price of a night out is obviously one, and culture change but other less talked about reasons include that there are other things to do now too. The pub has also been relegated by dating apps as a singles mixing location.

There are also fewer people of pub going age around. Our population pyramid has a big bulge in the 39-49 bracket and these are the people that have transitioned from single life to family life in the last 10-15 years. There are simply fewer people to go to the pub. And a pub without a crowd is often one not worth going to.

And hangovers can be utterly appalling after a certain point. I had two cans of Murphys and one can of Bulmers one night a few weeks ago, and was sick all day next day. It wasn't the quantity - it was the mixing - but still, far worse than that would have done nothing to me when I was younger.

Covid too I suppose?

mrcheez

eh... population of Ireland is 5M... of course we're not going to be in the top 25 given that all the other countries have populations around 30M+

The chart the OP is asking for is a per-capita chart

That chart is "how much beer is drank in the country"... which is skewed by population

irish_goat

Craft beer consumption probably driving that number down too. More people will now have say 3 or 4 stronger craft beers in an evening instead of 8 cans of **** beer like Heineken, Bud, Guinness etc.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119432948#Comment_119432948

Whatever about politicians/celebrities having a tune up before a speech/interview, but how many average people take ket/coke/md without alcohol?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119432844#Comment_119432844

People say alcohol is a drug.

It's not a drug, it's a drink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9tdcGmBefM

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119432993#Comment_119432993

And the obligatory chipper afterwards

rogerywalters

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433134#Comment_119433134

Yeah the aul 2nd dinner chipper

Kaybaykwah

Less drinking is the result of a dissolution of values and general laissez-faire in Ireland. If you really cared about your drink, price wouldn’t matter in the least. It’s a dirty day for Ireland I tell ya.

Thelonious Monk

I was just at All Together Now in Waterford and I didn't see any messy people at all that I can remember. The crowd is older, could be that, or maybe I just have memories of gatherings like this when I was much younger and there'd be people falling around and vomiting etc.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433173#Comment_119433173

I remember around the 00s near riots outside them regularly at 2.00am in the middle of Kilkenny where I used go out mostly- they don’t even open that late anymore far as I know

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119432993#Comment_119432993

It’s the body types I reckon. 6 packs used only be in magazines back in the day !

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058257555/irish-drinkers-no-longer-hardcore-or-softcore

We were never "hardcore", or any core. The Irish drinker thing is largely a myth. A lot of Americans would drink us under the table for example.

The paddy's like a drop, but it's mostly pints. We're beer drinkers in the main and enjoy the social aspect more so than anything else. We like a bit of a laugh, a bit of conversation and a few beers on a night out...or several nights out.

But that's it really...for the majority of us anyway.

However, there are a lot of cultures out there that are into their boozing in a far more serious way than we ever were or ever will be.

whisky_galore

A lot of the 'kids' (18- early 20s) aren't even left into city centre bars anymore, over 21s/over 23s policies.

Older drinkers don't want them around and owners don't want low spenders.

mrcheez

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433241#Comment_119433241

For all the stereotypes from across the Irish sea, the Brits are far heavier boozers than the Irish (for example)

SoapMcTavish

Ah Templebar ......

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433378#Comment_119433378

Those feckign Norsemen, I thought they stopped pillaging us a thousand years ago.

Quitelife

It’s all drugs these days - can’t get into the toilets in the local pub with all the snorting going on .

Cocaine dealers taking all the young and not so young peoples disposable income , not much left for beer !

Pubs closing down all over rural Ireland as young people are been lured to cocaine .

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433753#Comment_119433753

The pubs are closing because the middle aged have become more health conscious.

Back in the day a couple in their 40s or 50s would get a babysitter and head out to the pub every weekend.

Now they are more likely to get a babysitter and head for a 40k cycle on a Sunday morning.

That and the drink driving laws, the smoking ban, the cost of drink, older publicans retiring etc etc

Quitelife

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433800#Comment_119433800

Lot of Middle Aged drinkers round our way have given up drinking in our local pub the only one remaining it’s now basically a drug supermarket where you watch runners for local dealers in and out of the pub with sachets of cocaine mostly for clients . No enjoyment in watching that all night .

We had another pub but the publican there tried to stop the dealing in the pub but despite the fact he’s in his seventies he got a bad hammering for his troubles from local dealers so he just closed down his pub altogether.

all part of life in country towns and villages in modern Ireland

walshb

I alwas found we did an awful lot a talk about being drinkers, were as other nations just drank!!!

Mouthpieces here! Playing to the gallery

Gant21

The hospitality sector is on its knees. Over 30 years experience and never seen it as bad as now. Covid was the warning shot.

mrcheez

where you watch runners for local dealers in and out of the pub with sachets of cocaine mostly for clients . No enjoyment in watching that all night .

sounds mad entertaining.

You could make a drinking game where you all take shots when a deal goes down.

I was at a stag lately and the average lad was putting away 8-12 pints no problem with the odd Pintman hitting for between 16 and 20. Slightly older crowd in fairness.

BaywatchHQ

I only drink before I attend a concert or on a trip to enhance the experience. When I was holidaying in London in April I drank a bottle of rum and went out walking in central London in the rain at night. Even though I was blind drunk I still was able to navigate the complicated tube journey back to my hotel in the other side of London.

Hopefully I don't become an alcoholic, my uncle has been an alcoholic for 13 years which started after his wife was sleeping with his friend behind his back.

Pauliedragon

Lots of mention of coke here and I think it's true. I'm early 40's and was a madman in my 20's like a lot of people on weekends. Booze the odd pill etc on weekends. I calmed down in my early 30's and it's rare now I go on any session. 2 examples. Sisters wedding last year finished at midnight been drinking all day prob 20 bottles of beer drunk but in control sleep by 1am had to crawl out of bed at 11am for work at 12 couldn't concentrate just knackered all day barely got the minimum done. A few weeks ago I get a random phone call at about 9pm Sat nite from a friend who lives around the corner she has her weed dealer over (don't smoke the stuff) but she says he's got great coke pop over. I haven't taken the stuff in years so reluctantly go over out of curiousity and end up on the the gear till 3am having to be at work at 10am. A bit tired from not enough sleep but other than that work was no problem, no headache and flew through the day. If I was in my 20's now it would be coke all the way on the weekend. Go halves on a bag 45 quid I don't drink on the stuff so feck all spent on booze it's a cheaper night out and the next day is much easier.

Potential-Monke

If i had all the entertainment and options available to me now if I was 18, compared to what was available when I was 18 in the early 2000's, then I probably wouldn't have gone out as much either. We went out because there was nothing else to do. Not for young people in the country anyway. The night, or nights, out were the thing to look forward to. Now, there's no need. You don't even have to leave home to have a "night out", depending on your interests. I've had many great nights drinking (when I used to drink) while playing online with people.

Now, I dread ever getting invited to anything. I won't willingly go to pubs, etc anymore because I just can't deal with people drinking anymore. I think a lot are becoming like that. Even the "hardcore" drinkers I used to know seem to be calming down. And as mentioned, most people end up in relationships and all the expectations/lack of time that comes with that. Netflix and Chill is cheaper, and oft times better, than a night out, in my experience.

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433849#Comment_119433849

It was the lads drinking two or three pints and driving home that caused all the bother . Oh wait , maybe not !

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119433872#Comment_119433872

I work as part of a U.K. Ireland team. The two of us based in Ireland basically drink fcuk all. The English like fishes. They can’t make us out at all! And not the first time. Last team I was in two of the Irish were basically tee-totallers. Drink is fading into the social background here in my opinion.

Kaybaykwah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119441024#Comment_119441024

Well, I think the sensible

thing to do is to assign one or a coupla nights a week to drinking as moderately as possible. In my case, my wife and I have wine, and I am trying to do the wknd thing as opposed to every other night. At my age, the drinking of beer or wine brings on sleeplessness. Whenever I stop drinking for a few nights, the sleep gets better, very quickly. I can do without the hard stuff, hardly ever drink it, but wine is nice, but the goal is to keep it reasonable. So, in essence, this reduction in drinking is a good thing in Ireland, and I have no issue with all out teetotaling either, in hygienic terms.

Strumms

Publicans are charging way too much for pints.…Weekends most locals even it seems have a few coke sniffing knuckleheads who towards the last hour or before are bequeathing an atmosphere of unpleasant and belligerent unpredictability… so basically many people are having get togethers at home.. I’ve had a few…was even contemplating buying a pool table and just setting up the iPad on Spotify connected to a wireless stereo and having at it…

Mr. CooL ICE

Had a catch up with some of my uncles a while back. They're all retired hardy fishermen and all lived in the same village they grew up in. They said that despite there once being about 8 pubs going back a few decades, there's only 1 open (and a 2nd hotel open only during tourist season).

As for my uncles themselves, now they have pedometers and make sure they get their 10k+ steps every day walking the dogs. Pints are for weddings, funerals and birthdays.