Dr Ciara Kelly, a GP and the Operation Transformation medic, attracted some opprobrium recently for her remarks about the alcohol consumption of one of the programme’s leaders.
In fact she was talking about all of us when she said: “As a doctor, I have a huge problem with how we Irish view and use alcohol. And on our national broadcaster’s flagship health show, I felt I had no option but to show my utter dismay at seeing one of our leaders go drinking. I felt that to not deal with the subject would have been irresponsible of me.”
Hear hear, Ciara: and for what it’s worth, here’s my tuppence worth on the subject. My particular beef is with the level of binge-drinking by third-level students: a situation I believe is getting worse despite public health efforts to address the problem. Let me illustrate with some examples I have come across recently.
Many foreign students come here for a semester of study under Erasmus and other exchange programmes. Some are still in their teens and, depending on their country of origin, may be quite naive in relation to alcohol when they arrive. US students may come from states where it is illegal to purchase alcohol until the age of 21. They arrive here and find the “get hammered” alcohol culture that is rife in Irish universities.
Source: Muiris Houston, Irish Times, 09/02/15
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