WHAT TYPE OF DRINKER ARE YOU?
ENJOYS A DROP JAMES NESBITT, 40 Actor, famous for his roles in Ballykissangel, Cold Feet and Murphy's Law
How much do you drink?
I drink quite a lot of wine. I'd say four to five bottles a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I drink daily. After doing the play I always go across to the bar to have a glass of wine.
What's your favourite drink?
I like very good Bordeaux. I also like nice New World whites - I drink a lot of New Zealand sauvignon blancs.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
The suffering has changed - it takes a lot longer to recover then it used to, which makes me drink less.
How would you define your relationship with alcohol?
It used to be carnage, but now I like to see myself as a more sophisticated drinker - that is, I spend more money to get drunk now.
Will you be taking advantage of the relaxation of licensing laws in England?
At my age I get too tired to go through the night - it's very hard to get up in the morning with a hangover with kids. Believe me, I've tried. But the odd night, all-hours drinking might come in handy. We'll only be able to tell if it's a good thing after a period of time.
THE LATE STARTER NEIL DELAMERE, 26 Stand-up comic and a regular on RTE's 'The Panel'
How much do you drink?
Probably 10 or 12 drinks a week, five or six on both weekend nights.
What is your favourite drink?
Vodka probably - with 7-up or coke. I didn't put in enough training to get into beer.
How often do you get drunk?
Not that often. Because then the next day is a complete write-off.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
I didn't drink at all until I was 21 or 22. I just didn't like it. A friend and I started off with Tequila. It was an interesting night. One of us ended up getting sprayed green - now it has calmed down a bit.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
Not really.
How would you define your relationship with alcohol?
Flirtatious. Sometimes friendly - but sometimes she lets me down. She doesn't respect me at all. She runs roughshod all over me if I let her - and sometimes I let her.
Should Ireland have 24-hour drink licences?
If they did, I think eventually we'd get used to it and not be hammered all the time. But it might take 50 years.
HEALTHY APPROACH PAULA MEE, 42 Nutritionist with The Health Squad. Co-author of The Health's Squad Guide to Health and Fitness
How much do you drink?
It varies. A bottle to a bottle and a half a week. I love a night out with the girls. It would be a good chat with wine over a meal.
What is your favourite drink?
Wine definitely. Full-bodied reds in the winter - a St Emilion, maybe, and in summer I like white - a sauvignon blanc or a chablis.
How often do you get drunk?
Rarely. I've gone beyond the days when I can handle hangovers. I know the point where I lose control and try to stay below it.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
Considerably. At college it was lager and Guinness with blackcurrant. I'm more likely to eat while I drink now - and I'll have water, too. I'm no longer into rounds.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
You can't not be in my job. It is important, I think, not to make it a daily habit. All the health risks - there's cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, digestive problems, and birth defects if you are pregnant and don't know it.
Cutting down always helps people.
How would you define your relationship with alcohol?
A healthy respect. I really enjoy it, but I would never want to be dependent on it. It can lead to such misery.
Should Ireland have 24-hour drink licences?
I don't think they should. Though I'd love to see us have a cafe society.
THE WINE EXPERT PAOLO TULLIO Wine expert and restaurant reviewer
How much do you drink?
A lot less than I used to. I would rarely drink more than three bottles of wine a week now. A glass or two at dinner.
I'm not one for self-control, so I give my body what it asks for.
What is your favourite drink.
Wine. I've loads of favourites, but probably Chateau D'Yquem. It's wildly expensive, but I drink it when I can.
How often do you get drunk?
I got quite tiddly recently. I had four glasses of wine, which these days is quite enough to turn my head.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
Hugely, yes. Three years ago I was drinking easily a bottle of wine every night - and maybe one-and-a-half on a Saturday night. I felt fine - until my kidneys stopped working.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
Not the way I drink it now. I think it's probably good for me.
Should Ireland have 24-hour drink licences?
It should be the obvious solution, but our attitude to drink is wrong here. People think it's cool to vomit on the pavement.
Nobody I know on the continent finds that a remotely attractive prospect.
THE STUDENT CLAIRE HENNESSY, 19 Teen author - latest novel Afterwards, and student of English and History at Trinity College Dublin
How much do you drink?
A drink or two if I'm at a concert, and between three and eight on a night out.
What is your favourite drink?
Probably Bulmers.
How often do you get drunk?
About twice a month I'll be tipsy enough to feel it the next day. I'm rarely extremely drunk.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
Not hugely. I wasn't a big underage drinker.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
I'm not too worried. I've never had a 24-hour-plus binge-drinking session, so I think my liver's safe.
How would you define your relationship with alcohol?
Fairly healthy. I can enjoy myself without alcohol.
Should Ireland have 24-hour drink licences?
I don't see why not. It seems silly to stop serving if the demand is there.
ON/OFF RELATIONSHIP ALAN MCGEE, 45 Founder of Creation Records
How much do you drink?
I haven't had a drop of alcohol in six months.
What's your favourite drink?
My only vice now is Diet Coke. I'm addicted to it. My wife says it's really bad for me and I should stop drinking it.
But I've been addicted to everything else under the sun at some stage in my life and I don't think a bit of Diet Coke is going to do me much harm. It's not as bad as cocaine.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
I've stopped and started drinking all my life. From 14 until 1994 I was getting pissed all the time. I realised I had to stop when I was drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel's a day.
I started again in 2001. But six months ago, I decided it was time to stop for good now that I'm in my 40s. I'm in my forties and I can't go around being off my tits for ever.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
Since I stopped, I've lost two stone and I feel great.
How would you define your relationship with alcohol?
I don't go near it any more.
Will you be taking advantage of the relaxation of England's licensing laws?
I may have given up drinking, but I'm pretty libertarian when it comes to others. I don't care what nick someone is in as long as they do their job properly. Obviously, if you're p***ed up it's easier to step on stage than to go into an office.
THE PIONEER MICHEAL MAC GREIL, SJ, 74 Chairman of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
How often do you drink?
I've never drunk alcohol, but in the pioneers we don't condemn it. We're for sobriety and the responsible use of alcohol.
What is your favourite drink?
Milk. I remember in the fifties there was a milk bar in Parnell Square. We'd go in there and take a pint on the way back from the theatre.
How often do you get drunk?
Never. I was an army officer for nine years before I became a Jesuit.
Not drinking was never a problem, but I did more voluntary work because if you don't drink you have to do something.
Have your drinking habits changed over the years?
I used to drink milk straight from the cow. Now I drink good mineral water, Cidona or low fat milk.
Are you concerned about the health implications?
Yes. How can we be so tolerant of the destruction of so many lives by this drug? And still we seem to just carry on.
Should Ireland have 24-hour drink licences?
No. I think it's terrible in England. And the real problem is the drink industry. It's too powerful. There wasn't a public demand for it, so I don't understand it.
