Irish three times more likely to binge-drink

THE average Irish adult drinks 13.4 litres of pure alcohol every year in a growing national trend of alcohol use and abuse.

By comparison, the European average is a little more than nine litres, while the Irish are also three times more likely to binge-drink — measured as having five or more drinks at one sitting — than the average European.

A study by the Health Research Board reveals the results of the country’s love affair with alcohol, finding that a minimum of 177 deaths are directly caused by drink each year.