Ireland is one big pub and we all live in it.
Every third house was an olfactory wonder of cigarette smoke and heady hops. The clack of pool balls, the thud of darts, the ping and jangle of video games, the plummy voiced English commentators remarking on West Ham, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur.
So is it any surprise that half of the country ended up half addicted to the drink. The curse of the Irish, they say, but maybe not always a curse. We are social beings. Anyone in doubt of that can cast your mind back to lockdown 1 and the horror of the 2km limit.
And there’s nothing wrong with a few beers so long as it doesn’t drive you crazy.
But accosted I was by The Whirlwind Wonder on the school run Monday morning when I sleepily confided that I’d met a friend in the pub Saturday night.
“You went to the pub again. Is this a weekly, regular thing now?” the 10-year-old purred.
The truth is, it is.
I’ve been going out most Saturday nights lately. Working from home all week and suffering from grief and all kinds of stress, it’s great to get out of the house to hear a band play while enjoying a few pints.
It was a sudden notion that gripped me at 8 on Saturday (pm I should add) and I WhatsApp’d a friend, who replied with startling haste in the affirmative. Minutes later our long delayed reunion was happening and we had a great catch up.
Why am I blathering on about this, you may ask. Well, there has been a motion to reduce the legal age to drink to 16. The motion at a Cork City Council meeting to write to the Minister for Justice to reduce the legal drinking age in the State to from 18 to 16 was tabled by Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan. Perfectly reasonable to debate this, as we move from a patriarchal, Nanny state society to one of individual rights and freedoms.
Anyone who walks in a park will see that young teenagers drink. It’s always been the way. They do other stuff too, including drugs, in some instances.
Is it the correct approach to ignore this and hope for the best? I think not.
Education, as always, is key and so is parental responsibility. I’m honest with my two on the rare occasion (twice or thrice a year) when I am a bit the worst for wear after a night out, warning them of the tiredness, the beer belly etc.
They are Irish for heaven’s sake, and drink is a big part of our culture.
My two may be young now but they'll be 16 before I know it and I doubt I’ll have any hang up about them trying a glass of wine or beer in my company once they reach that amazing age.
That, in itself, would be a reason for a toast.
So, I say, yes, let’s debate the age of consent for alcohol use. Our empowered, TikTok, Youtube generation will be more independent than any before, so we all need to be ready for them!
I think the German model could be Das Good in Ireland.
In Germany it’s legal to purchase beer or wine in Germany at 16, but it isn’t legal to purchase spirits until you turn 18.
This gradual introduction to less harmful drinks first is a far cry from the naggin culture I grew up witnessing, prior to partaking in to my inevitable peril.
