Young women now being treated for chronic alcoholism as a result of chaotic drinking at college, writes Allison Bray.
Ireland is sliding back to dangerously high levels of alcohol consumption to rival the hedonism of the Celtic Tiger era, shock new figures reveal.
Young men are drinking more hard spirits and more women in their early 20s are seeking residential treatment for alcohol dependency.
As the economy recovers, we're drinking with a vengeance and increasingly hitting hard liquor, according to figures from the Revenue Commissioners.
The nation knocked back close to 1.3m litres of spirits during the first quarter of this year - a dramatic 16.5pc increase over the same period last year, excise duty figures show. There is strong anecdotal evidence that many young men are now eschewing traditional pints of beer, stout and lager in favour of spirits, especially vodka.
Wine consumption is also up by 6pc this year, compared to the corresponding period in 2014, to 2.1m litres. Meanwhile, beer consumption is up only marginally by 2.2pc to 3.5m litres. Only cider consumption was down this year by 2.1pc to about 495,000 litres.
Source: Allison Bray, Irish Independent, 25/05/2016
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