Social revolution - Dangers of the rural pub’s demise

For many elderly people living in isolated rural areas, the pub at night was their main social outlet.

Irish pubs became world famous, but they have been undergoing dramatic changes in recent years as a result of the smoking ban, the drink driving laws, and the cost of drink.

Pubs might have overcome any one of those difficulties, but the three together have been having a devastating impact throughout the country, especially on rural pubs.

People in urban areas can overcome the driving problem, either by walking to their local, using public transport, or taking a taxi, whereas those are not realistic options for people in isolated rural areas. In the midst of the downturn, many rural pubs have been closing, thereby further compounding the problem.

The secretary of the Ennis Mental Health Association reckons that the demise of the rural pubs in Clare has been a contributory factor in an increase in suicides. Unable to get to the pub, people have taken to drinking at home.

Drink purchased at off-licence outlets is much cheaper, with the result that people can afford to drink more at home. In a pub there would be somebody to refuse them more drink, or to encourage them to stop when they had consumed too much, but there may be no such control to act as a safety valve at home.

An initial drink of alcohol is a stimulant, but as more is consumed it becomes a depressant, and this can contribute to the level of depression among lonely people. There was a time when drinking at home was considered dangerous, and there was a certain stigma attached to it, but now many people are essentially being forced to drink at home, if they wish to have a drink.

This amounts to a virtual social revolution that has dangerous implications of which we should be acutely aware. This poses as definite challenge because it harbours very real dangers.