Irish Examiner View: Breaking the silence on alcohol abuse

Reality TV star and influencer Vicky Pattison, will speak at the House of Commons on the isolation induced by growing up with an alcoholic. It’s a matter we need to talk about more openly, and more frequently, in Ireland. Picture: PA

While it may have slipped some people’s attention that this is International Children of Alcoholics Week, the painful and consistently depressing facts behind the requirement for such an anniversary should not escape us.

New data released in the UK to mark the 2023 campaign discloses that half of children whose parents are alcoholics keep it a secret, and do not discuss their problems outside of their family. A quarter of young people talk to no one at all, not even their closest relatives, about the challenges they face at home.