Our alcohol problem - We drink far more than is good for us

TWO new pieces of research, one Irish and one British, remind us of how powerful and insidious a drug alcohol is and how it can so easily become a damaging part of our lives.

Researchers at University College Cork have confirmed what most of us already knew but maybe wished away: one in five of us drink “excessively” every week. A “significant number of the population” drink far more than is recommended by international health experts. And, before you pour yourself a celebratory glass of wine, telling yourself that we’re talking about someone else, “excessively” in this instance means anything more than 10 pints or two bottles of wine a week.

As even the most responsible of social drinkers among us knows, you wouldn’t have to start with wine at lunch to cross that particular threshold, a finding confirmed by the UCC research.