Alcohol was a factor in 69 deaths at inquests heard at Dublin County Coroner's Court this year and represented "a very significant number," the Dublin county coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty said yesterday.
In 17 of the cases, alcohol intoxication alone was cited as the cause of death in otherwise healthy individuals, with a majority of the deaths involving young people.
In a further 26 inquests, alcohol was a major contributory factor, including incidents where people suffered falls, while they were intoxicated, or the exacerbation of existing medical problems, such as heart conditions, due to alcohol consumption.
Sixteen individuals took their own lives while under the influence of alcohol and a further 10 individuals died in road traffic accidents - mostly single-vehicle collisions where alcohol was a factor in death, the court heard."I think I should warn young people to stand out and not to be led by peers by drinking excessively. People should take responsibility for the amount of alcohol they drink, particularly at this time of year. This is the 17th case this year where a person who was otherwise healthy dies from drinking too much, and most of these cases involve young people. It's a real problem in this country," said the coroner.
The coroner made his stark comments at an inquest into the death of a 35-year-old man who died in the course of a late-night drinking party last August. The emergency services were called to Belvedere sports grounds in Dublin at about 6am on August 31st, 2008 when friends found they were unable to wake Jason Finn (35) of Westwood Road, Finglas, Dublin 11.
A postmortem found Mr Finn died of central nervous system depression of the cardio-respiratory centre due to alcohol intoxication.
He had a fatal level of alcohol in his system at 477 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, almost six times the legal limit for driving.
Source: Georgina O'Halloran, The Irish Times, 24/12/2008
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