‘Parental drinking can shape a child’s every moment’

A DISTRAUGHT 15-year-old stranded at two o’clock in the morning in a petrol station forecourt was looking after her mother who was drunk and two younger children, one of whom was in a buggy.

This is one of the many disturbing stories that are becoming all too familiar to groups such as Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI).

“We do not know what happened to that girl, her mother or the little children, and whether they got the help they so obviously needed,” says Fiona Ryan, head of the alcohol lobby group.