From Northern Ireland: Sober truth: What do we think about our booze culture?

Men and women in Northern Ireland are drinking too much alcohol – but do we really care? New statistics for 2013 show that 53% of women admit to drinking more than the recommended safe limits each day. And with twice as many men drinking like this, compared to women, it seems that health warnings aren't getting through.

According to NHS guidelines, men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day, which is equivalent to a pint and a half of beer, while women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day – the same as a 175ml glass of wine. But are these guidelines a realistic aim in today's society? We speak to five well-known women and men with ages spanning three decades to find out their real attitudes to drink.

'Safe partying means not hurting yourself'

Rachael Adamson (18) from Holywood, Co Down will be heading off in three weeks time to the University of Glasgow to study English Literature and Film and TV. She was one of the guest editors in our special, week-long The Young campaign in April of this year. She says:

To us, safe drinking is more about ensuring you don't end up being sick, or don't hurt yourself when you are out. I don't really understand or think about what a unit of alcohol is and I don't think many other people do either.

It's not really how much you have drunk or keeping track of units, I see it more as how somebody is behaving physically and mentally at the time.

For a lot of people going to university, it might be their first time going out partying and they might not know their limits when it comes to drink.

But I've already been out drinking and partying for some time now. I've made my mistakes and I've learnt from them.

So I do think that I know my limits and have grown up a bit about it. I can have between 8-11 tall drinks of beer or cider, along with a few shots, but I take it easy if it's having a real effect.

What would make people of my age think about moderating their drink intake is seeing what an absolute state that some people can get into or seeing girls walking at home at night, vulnerable to anything that could happen to them as they are not in the right state of mind to look after themselves.

Obviously, for Freshers Week I'll go a bit mad, but that's just because everyone else will be getting into the spirit of things."

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Source: Belfast Telegraph, 21/08/14