Secret Teacher: addressing Ireland's relationship with alcohol

"Everything that happened last week, everything, has to do with alcohol and our national immaturity around it."

I’d like to end this year’s column on a positive note. And I will. But before I get there, I’d like to discuss the young people who misbehaved in Dublin last week.

There’s one unavoidable truth being overlooked in a lot of the coverage – our dreadful relationship with alcohol. It’s nothing short of ridiculous to blame young people for a national issue we continue to ignore, generation after generation. This is not a young person’s problem. This is everybody’s problem. And we need robust policies to fix it.

The bottle throwing, the real nastiness was committed by a minority. Most young people continued to behave reasonably. But everything that happened last week, everything, has to do with alcohol and our national immaturity around it.

Other factors played a part.

There should have been more of a garda presence. And earlier. More city cleaners are needed. It’s no small thing that some of the people arrested were juveniles who should still be in the care of responsible adults. But these measures still wouldn’t be enough to sweep everything under the national carpet. The bigger issue is not young people, it’s alcohol and the fact that as a country we’re not mature enough to handles pubs selling take-away drink. Ever. Never mind following such a long period of lockdown.

And I’m by no means exempt from this cultural malignancy. My finger is absolutely pointing back on myself. I’m willing to admit, hand on heart, that I’m part of the problem. I’m a moderate drinker in the normal run of things, but every so often, I find myself not knowing when to stop. Not wanting to. It’s an entirely learned behaviour. And it’s not ok. I’d like to get better at it, but it’s still awkward to turn up at certain social events and announce you’re not drinking, even when you’re turning up with kids or a headache from the night before. Drinking is what we do. It’s us. It’s what we’re known for.

We need a whole lot of unlearning and new learning when it comes to alcohol – in our schools and in our homes. Too often we see ‘getting demented,’ or whatever word we might choose from our bloated drinking lexicon, as acceptable, funny even. A lot of the time, it’s just not that funny.

And what happened last weekend always happens. There are always arrests. It’s just that post lockdown, we’re seeing it in the light of day. Usually, it’s hidden in the layers of our urban underbelly. If you’ve ever been unlucky enough to drive through any big town or city in Ireland at 2am on a Saturday night, you’ll have seen it. You’ll have seen the young girls puking on street corners, the boys shouting and jumping on each other, relieving themselves against shopfronts, the discarded take-away cartons, the bottles, the cans. 

It happens every weekend in Ireland. It happens every day behind closed doors. Like a lot of other things, Covid is just bringing it to the surface in daylight, and yes, I’ll grant you, in far bigger and more enthusiastic numbers.

Why do I feel like a traitor? A killjoy? Actor Gabriel Byrne has made this point for decades. Mostly, we’d like him to quiet down. He’s rarely thanked for his specific brand of patriotism. Our drinking is an act of loyalty, a badge of honour; it’s the pastime of our tribe, always has been.

But it’s not our friend. Not anymore. Imagine how much better we could be, how much more productive, innovative, peaceful, and creative we might become, if we really tried to address it formally in our education system and in our homes.

We cover it in schools, yes. It’s discussed in SPHE (Social Personal Health Education) but it’s time for it to become a national concern, a priority. The fact that alcohol is central to our way of life should not preclude it from interrogation.

We need to look drink in the face like we might a misbehaving child – with honesty and with a long-term goal in mind. We need to put serious investment into other forms of entertainment for young people. More youth centres, drive-ins, parks, places for them to simply be, other than pubs and city street corners.

We shouldn’t fool ourselves. This is not about Covid. This is not about lockdown. This is about Irish people and the way we’ve learned to behave, generation after generation after generation.

There is a cultural reason the police are blocking streets.

Now, for that positive note, for my final goodbye to a very odd year: please remember that young people have been incredible during Covid. They’ve missed out on so much: exams, travel, first loves, friendships, jobs. House prices are locking them out of their future homes. 

They don’t need older people throwing up their hands in disgust because a minority misbehaved in a sea of people who culturally believe that binge drinking is acceptable. The responsibility for that misconception is on all of us.

I’m hopeful for next September but we’ve a lot of reflecting to do this summer. There’s a new Ireland coming. I can feel it. The old one is on its way out.

Here’s hoping it takes the stereotypical drunken eejit away with it.