Driven to drink by soaring stress levels

YOU had a tough day at work and the kids were cranky when you got home.

Having packed them off to bed, you flop on the couch, reach for that glass of red and finally chill. The stop-off on the way home from work at your local petrol station or Aldi is becoming a constant, the few glasses of wine at the end of the evening your great unwinder, your reward at the close of a hard day.

You’re not alone. Recent years have seen three changes in the nature of Irish drinking.