Why is Ireland so fond of drink?

Jamsiek · 11-08-2019 11:42PM

Greyfox wrote: »

It has it's similarities but taking cocaine or heroin is a lot worse.

Yet millions of people take coke on nights out without any adverse effects.

Greyfox · 12-08-2019 12:07AM

Jamsiek wrote: »

Yet millions of people take coke on nights out without any adverse effects.

And they are scumbags imo as they are supporting the criminal gangs like the drug cartels

Jamsiek · 12-08-2019 12:21AM

Greyfox wrote: »

And they are scumbags imo as they are supporting the criminal gangs like the drug cartels

What if these substances were legal? Would the people taking them be scumbags then?
What about people that drink alcohol in countries where it’s illegal? Are they scumbags too?

Greyfox · 12-08-2019 11:58AM

Jamsiek wrote: »

What if these substances were legal? Would the people taking them be scumbags then?
What about people that drink alcohol in countries where it’s illegal? Are they scumbags too?

Q1 Yes, legalising hash might work but not cocaine. Q2 There not scumbags as making alcohol illegal is absolutely riddiculous as anybody who watched Boardwalk empire will tell you. Yes alcohol is an addictive drug but it has its good points as long as you don't cross the line

Thelonious Monk · 12-08-2019 12:31PM

Greyfox wrote: »

Q1 Yes, legalising hash might work but not cocaine. Q2 There not scumbags as making alcohol illegal is absolutely riddiculous as anybody who watched Boardwalk empire will tell you. Yes alcohol is an addictive drug but it has its good points as long as you don't cross the line

You could say it's absolutely ridiculous making cocaine illegal for the same reasons it was ridiculous making alcohol illegal in the USA.
There aren't many industries that aren't dirty in some way anyway, Apple using child labour, Amazon treating their staff horribly etc. The meat industry...
Drugs like alcohol and cocaine will never go away.

Pauliedragon · 12-08-2019 12:35PM

mr_fegelien wrote: »

actually don't think that's bad as I'm a heavy drinker myself but I wonder, where does it come from? We're in the top 10 countries in the world.

Is it cultural or simply a lot of disposable income coupled with ****ty weather.

It's not Ireland it's large parts of the world in general. This idea that we're this drunken nation far apart from the rest of the world in complete bull****. Yes stats wise we are high but there's plenty of other countries who get hammered just as we do it's not an Irish thing it's a human thing.

major bill · 12-08-2019 01:01PM

You only have to take a look at the declining Pub scene to know the young generation and the one after them won't be as big drinkers as the generation before them. I'd say Ireland will drop further down the list in the next 10 years.

tipptom · 12-08-2019 01:13PM

Pauliedragon wrote: »

It's not Ireland it's large parts of the world in general. This idea that we're this drunken nation far apart from the rest of the world in complete bull****. Yes stats wise we are high but there's plenty of other countries who get hammered just as we do it's not an Irish thing it's a human thing.

Im not so sure about that.
I've worked in a sporting industry internationally and saw the most talented,intelligent and coolest irish people suddenly turn from being teetotal or hardly drinking at all into hopeless alchoholics.They were given so many chances to turn it around because of who and what they were and just not being able to do it and ruining their lives.
A lot of other nationality's in the game would give the Irish guys a pass for longer because of the "drinking Irish" tag and because they could function and handle it for longer that other nationality's.

Now I know this can happen with any nationality but I think us Irish as a race throughout history have the inside curve on this somehow and DNA linked for a very easy trigger to a slippery slope.

Imagine if Ireland as a country had the Spanish attitude to alchohol and what we would have achieved as a country and individually around the world.
I say this as someone who drinks and fecked up a lot of "what if" opportunity's myself early on in my career through drinking at times when I should have been preparing for the offered opportunity's and losing out through bad timekeeping etc.

PS;The amount of depression in the industry exasperated by alcohol is off the scale also.

Pauliedragon · 12-08-2019 01:48PM

tipptom wrote: »

[/B]
Im not so sure about that.
I've worked in a sporting industry internationally and saw the most talented,intelligent and coolest irish people suddenly turn from being teetotal or hardly drinking at all into hopeless alchoholics.They were given so many chances to turn it around because of who and what they were and just not being able to do it and ruining their lives.
A lot of other nationality's in the game would give the Irish guys a pass for longer because of the "drinking Irish" tag and because they could function and handle it for longer that other nationality's.

Now I know this can happen with any nationality but I think us Irish as a race throughout history have the inside curve on this somehow and DNA linked for a very easy trigger to a slippery slope.

Imagine if Ireland as a country had the Spanish attitude to alchohol and what we would have achieved as a country and individually around the world.
I say this as someone who drinks and fecked up a lot of "what if" opportunity's myself early on in my career through drinking at times when I should have been preparing for the offered opportunity's and losing out through bad timekeeping etc.

PS;The amount of depression in the industry exasperated by alcohol is off the scale also.

Fair enough. I'll agree with you. I've worked in the pub industry internationally. You mentioned the Spanish and I used to work in the Spanish Quarter in Sydney and they are just as keen on drink as anyone in my experience and far more aggressive than us when they are told they can't have any more. The Koreans are off the planet completely where its a badge of honour almost to go home in an ambulance. My only point is it's not just us Irish yet it seems to be attached to us non stop.

13-08-2019 07:38AM

Booze is commonly used and very harmful to a lot of people, that’s fairly clear. I think it’s obvious that the fact it is legal and so easily available is a factor in the level of consumption.
Given the mistake made with alcohol isn’t it very obvious that other drugs must not be legalized?

screamer · 13-08-2019 07:43AM

Genetic addiction and self medication for mental health issues are truly what I believe are responsible for the love of drink here.

boreder · 13-08-2019 07:49AM

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

You could say it's absolutely ridiculous making cocaine illegal for the same reasons it was ridiculous making alcohol illegal in the USA.
There aren't many industries that aren't dirty in some way anyway, Apple using child labour, Amazon treating their staff horribly etc. The meat industry...
Drugs like alcohol and cocaine will never go away.

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2019_Progress_Report.pdf

1 case of underage labour across their 1049 suppliers / assemblers. They got the supplier to enroll him in school, pay for it, and offer him a job at the end of it; despite him using false ID to get the job in the first place.

Apple are literally leading the way in eradicating underage working / bonded labor / excessive hours in Asia and elsewhere. There are countless other companies you could put in that sentence; but Apple isn't one of them.

13-08-2019 07:50AM

screamer wrote: »

Genetic addiction and self medication for mental health issues are truly what I believe are responsible for the love of drink here.

It’s interesting, drink is so much craic but hangovers are so bad.
Watched the TV programme with Adrian Chiles last year about cutting down. Eddie Izard said he is off it years but never found anything as good as booze.

Thelonious Monk · 13-08-2019 07:53AM

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

Booze is commonly used and very harmful to a lot of people, that’s fairly clear. I think it’s obvious that the fact it is legal and so easily available is a factor in the level of consumption.
Given the mistake made with alcohol isn’t it very obvious that other drugs must not be legalized?

Would you want to live in a world where someone dictated whether you can drink or not? Drugs are readily available whether legal or not, legislation doesnt decide whether something is morally ok or not. I like weed sometimes, its easy to buy and grow, why in the hell should anyone be allowed tell me i cant smoke it?

13-08-2019 08:03AM

If cannabis becomes legal more people will smoke it, loads more. Just like there are more shootings in America because the guns are legal there.
Am afraid cannabis will be legalized in the future based on very weak trendy thinking, which will result in many more people being left with mental problems.
Goes without saying that booze should be illegal too, but unfortunately the genie is out of the bottle.

Thelonious Monk · 13-08-2019 08:07AM

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

If cannabis becomes legal more people will smoke it, loads more. Just like there are more shootings in America because the guns are legal there.
Am afraid cannabis will be legalized in the future based on very weak trendy thinking, which will result in many more people being left with mental problems.
Goes without saying that booze should be illegal too, but unfortunately the genie is out of the bottle.

You cant make booze illegal. All you need is sugar and yeast and you can make it. I make cider and beer myself its a doddle.Weed will never be legal in ireland in my lifetime but its still very easy to get and produce so i couldnt care less regarding its legal status.

Greyfox · 13-08-2019 11:39AM

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

Goes without saying that booze should be illegal too, but unfortunately the genie is out of the bottle.

Yeah and sure lets ban all violent films and sugar too so that people will be miserable. Telling people they shouldnt drink just makes people drink more.

IAMAMORON · 13-08-2019 11:53AM

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

If cannabis becomes legal more people will smoke it, loads more. Just like there are more shootings in America because the guns are legal there.
Am afraid cannabis will be legalized in the future based on very weak trendy thinking, which will result in many more people being left with mental problems.
Goes without saying that booze should be illegal too, but unfortunately the genie is out of the bottle.

If it gets legalised it will be easier for people to make more informed decisions about how it is used and the permutations of its' various side effects. Mental issues exist, you shouldn't blame substance abuse on them however. More often than not the substance abuse is a systemic factor of the mental illness, not the other way around.

Condoms used to be illegal also, people still purchased them on the black market. The same applies for cannabis users.

Attempting to correlate cannabis use and mass shootings on the basis of usage and legalisation is also a bit of a stretch, you are going off topic and your comments are sensational. There is no relationship between gun use and cannabis use, at all.

Cannabis use is now decriminalised in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Czech Rep and The UK. It is legal to use in the Netherlands.

Jamsiek · 13-08-2019 01:38PM

IAMAMORON wrote: »

Cannabis use is now decriminalised in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Czech Rep and The UK. It is legal to use in the Netherlands.

Yes, well put.

I would also add the Canada (where I live) legalized it last year and there have been no issues. This year edible cannabis will be legal too.

It comes down to peoples attitudes.
The people that buy it now are the same that bought it illegally before. No evidence of much increased usage.

tipptom · 13-08-2019 01:52PM

IAMAMORON wrote: »

If it gets legalised it will be easier for people to make more informed decisions about how it is used and the permutations of its' various side effects. Mental issues exist, you shouldn't blame substance abuse on them however. More often than not the substance abuse is a systemic factor of the mental illness, not the other way around.

Condoms used to be illegal also, people still purchased them on the black market. The same applies for cannabis users.

Attempting to correlate cannabis use and mass shootings on the basis of usage and legalisation is also a bit of a stretch, you are going off topic and your comments are sensational. There is no relationship between gun use and cannabis use, at all.

Cannabis use is now decriminalised in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Czech Rep and The UK. It is legal to use in the Netherlands.

"Yeah,well,you know,thats just,like,your opinion man".

Thelonious Monk · 13-08-2019 02:16PM

Jamsiek wrote: »

Yes, well put.

I would also add the Canada (where I live) legalized it last year and there have been no issues. This year edible cannabis will be legal too.

It comes down to peoples attitudes.
The people that buy it now are the same that bought it illegally before. No evidence of much increased usage.

In fairness, bloody everyone smoked the stuff over there before it came legal anyway. Ireland is actually quite backwards when it comes to stuff like this, rural Ireland especially.

wakka12 · 13-08-2019 03:51PM

major bill wrote: »

You only have to take a look at the declining Pub scene to know the young generation and the one after them won't be as big drinkers as the generation before them. I'd say Ireland will drop further down the list in the next 10 years.

It may not be as big a thing to spend your time sitting in a pub with mates as it used to be and young people probably have more diverse hobbies nowadays but binge drinking is still widespread and many young irish people drink their weight in pints and spirits every week at parties

Jamsiek · 13-08-2019 04:04PM

Greyfox wrote: »

Telling people they shouldnt drink just makes people drink more.

100% agree. I think that's the way with a lot of substances, including alcohol.

13-08-2019 10:13PM

wakka12 wrote: »

It may not be as big a thing to spend your time sitting in a pub with mates as it used to be and young people probably have more diverse hobbies nowadays but binge drinking is still widespread and many young irish people drink their weight in pints and spirits every week at parties

Taking drugs is the new hobby from what I’ve been told young people give mad for them. It’s disgraceful.

Despite that though it’s a bit of a myth that no one is drinking in pubs. I do most of my drinking in pubs and any pub in a town/city is packed at the weekend as are the popular rural and popular small town/village pubs.

Of my locals: one in a small town/village and one totally in the country side are standing room only at weekends if you come in at a busy time.

hynesie08 · 13-08-2019 10:19PM

Koda Low Ibex wrote: »

Taking drugs is the new hobby from what I’ve been told young people give mad for them. It’s disgraceful

Yeah, New since the 1950s.....

13-08-2019 10:23PM

hynesie08 wrote: »

Yeah, New since the 1950s.....

No from talking to some in their early 20’s it’s taken off at unprecedented levels. A night club recently closed in Galway that was packed every student night and the unofficial reason that’s going around is that they weren’t selling much drink despite the place being packed to the rafters as it’s all pills.

Jamsiek · 13-08-2019 10:25PM

Koda Low Ibex wrote: »

Taking drugs is the new hobby from what I’ve been told young people give mad for them. It’s disgraceful.

You admit to drinking alcohol so you are also "taking drugs".
So are you saying what you're doing is disgraceful?

Koda Low Ibex wrote: »

Despite that though it’s a bit of a myth that no one is drinking in pubs.

Nobody claimed that no one is drinking in pubs, just that the numbers have reduced, which is a fact. The stats back it up. It's been happening for a long time. Look at all the pubs that have closed all around Ireland over the years. There are many.

ArchXStanton · 13-08-2019 10:31PM

wakka12 wrote: »

It may not be as big a thing to spend your time sitting in a pub with mates as it used to be and young people probably have more diverse hobbies nowadays but binge drinking is still widespread and many young irish people drink their weight in pints and spirits every week at parties

Alcoholism is rife in the country, spent a few years visiting different bars daily across various counties as part of the job I was doing, you see some sad cases, I had my own severe drink problem at the time but gave it up during that period, I'll never forget the fella I used to work with saying to me "do you notice anything about all the lads we work with? (14 of us)... Not one of them is what you'd call a drinker... The job literally turned you off alcohol, it was a blessing in a way

hynesie08 · 13-08-2019 10:31PM

Koda Low Ibex wrote: »

No from talking to some in their early 20’s it’s taken off at unprecedented levels. A night club recently closed in Galway that was packed every student night and the unofficial reason that’s going around is that they weren’t selling much drink despite the place being packed to the rafters as it’s all pills.

How would lads in there early 20s know what the previous generation were doing??? As someone who's been around the drug scenes for 20 years (and have never had so much as a joint) I can say it's no worse now than it was during the pill phase of the late 90s/head shop era/coke phase of the recession, unless they're taking more because they're getting a ****e product.......

IAMAMORON · 13-08-2019 10:35PM

I think the drink driving laws are probably more to blame in relation to the decrease in pub drinkers. It is a bit simplistic to blame " drug users " on the decline in people using pubs.

I collected my Dad from a well known Dublin Golf Club last Friday night. At 10 o'clock he was the last man standing. That has nothing to do with golfers not going to the club anymore cause they are off necking pills somewhere...

30 years ago my dad would have drank 5 or 6 pints and driven home, like the rest of the country did. He can't do that anymore so he doesn't. For the same reason people are happier to sit at home and have their Gin and Tonic there.

The concept that drug use is starving the nightclubs and pubs is complete bolleex. On the contrary, I actually like to have a few pints when I am getting off my barney, it adds to the laugh.

Why is Ireland so fond of drink?

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