Saying goodbye to hangovers while holding on to the craic

Alcohol free events and venues are becoming widespread says Nuala Woulfe as people want to make sober sexy.

SOME say the Irish are a nation of boozers – well perhaps not anymore. Across the country the binge drinking stereotype is being broken as ‘alcohol free’ venues and activities take root and take on the pub.

Whether your thing is comedy, gigs, poetry, dance, hillwalking or just chilling, there’s a place for you to have fun and be sober. Dublin has well established events, but alcohol free is taking hold in Galway and Cork as people from their 20s to their 50s say goodbye to hangovers while holding on to the craic.

Accents Coffee and Tea Lounge in Dublin City is one place, which according to owner Anna Kiernans, “is trying to make sober sexy.” With its cosy sofas, homely ambience and late night openings, Accents is renowned for comedy and its poetry slams are so popular numbers have had to be capped.

Comedy night at Accents

“Our core group is age 27-35 but we’re very inclusive,” says owner Kiernans. “People who come want a place to go to and socialise without drinking - at least some of the time,” she explains.

Corkonian Dave Maher was aware of venues when he gave up drinking five years ago, but it was creating a network of like-minded people who wanted to try sober that was his aim. Sober Slice, which has 3,000 members, was soon born and although social events are mostly held in Dublin, Maher hopes the network will grow nationwide.

“Most of our members do drink but they want to attend alcohol free events sometimes. January is a big time for new members and Lent. We’ve people in their 20s and older coming but mid 30s-40s is our core group – I think by then jadedness with alcohol sets in, “ Maher explains.

Last summer Ireland’s capital got its first taste of ‘natural ecstasy’ when Morning Gloryville, an international movement that brings early-morning alcohol and drug free raves to cities came to Dublin. Now the raves are coming to Cork in April.

Morning Gloryville

“Morning Gloryville starts at 6.30am and runs for four hours – it’s in 19 cities worldwide and after London, Dublin boasts the biggest turnouts, beating New York and even Tokyo so, yes, I’d say there is a real hunger for sober events in Ireland’ says Irish organiser Chris Flack. “Raves attract young people, but also people who remember the 90’s scene. We’ve had bankers, builders, solicitors, students, all sorts” he adds.

For music lovers and dancers, Funky Seomra in Temple Bar is another place to party sober. “We’ve definitely found there is more interest in not drinking, it’s becoming more mainstream,” says founder Dave Mooney. With a background in business and psychotherapy, Mooney, who says he became bored with drink in his mid-twenties, set up Funky Seomra six years ago. Importantly they get people in their 20s and 30s attending their venue because, “that’s the demographic where you get the heaviest concentration of binge drinkers, so if you get some people that age not drinking they influence their peers.” As well as Dublin, Funky Seomra runs events in Galway and Cork quarterly but Maher says they constantly get emails from young people ‘begging’ them to make events monthly.

Ireland is definitely ready to rethink its drinking culture, but finding suitable venues is difficult and council and town planners also need to rethink and reinvent spaces, explains Joe Quinn of Flux nightclub. After a recent closure, Flux, Dublin is due to reopen soon - Quinn says he is considering two possible venues. “It’s important to me personally to keep this alive. Constant alcohol saps creative life, when Flux was running people told me how much dancing in a venue without alcohol sparked their creativity. It was magic,” he says.

Aine Rynne says she’s never been happier since she ,’took a break’ from alcohol over a year ago and started alcohol-free gigs, Sober Sessions. A niece of singer Christy Moore, who has been “really supportive” of the sessions, Aine tried out the Electric Picnic sober last year and had “just an amazing time.” Rynne is planning more alcohol free gigs in Dublin this spring and hopes eventually to make alcohol free gigs possible in other parts of the country. “I’m not anti-drinking, I’m just trying to normalise sober,” she says.

While not alcohol free, Gulpd Café at Triskel Arts Centre, Cork has become a comfortable haunt for non-drinkers. “We’re known for fresh juices, hot chocolate, teas, organic sodas, coffee and great food, alcohol is available but it’s not the main focus,” says manager, Ciarán Meade. “People are more health conscious these days; they don’t want to drink all the time. In summer we’ve courtyard entertainment during the day and they are usually non-alcohol events,” he adds.

Other non-alcoholic haunts nationwide include; www.buddhabag.org, www.milkandcookies.ie and the Dublin and Wicklow Dance Co-ops.