Ireland now ranks third worldwide in the number of pubs per head.

That's according to a new report from the Health Research Board that analysed the impacts of alcohol on Irish society.

It found pubs were of easy access to people, with three in four living within walking distance of a licensed premises.

They also found a decline in the number of pubs in Ireland has been matched by an increase in off-licenses.

Report

Lead author of the report Anne Doyle said it was “the first time that we have looked at accessibility to alcohol in detail”.

“Using geospatial analysis, we also found there is a greater density of licensed premises in deprived communities,” she said.

“This is significant because evidence shows that people in deprived areas are more likely to experience alcohol-related harms, despite consumption being lower or equal to affluent areas.”

An off-license Photograph: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The report's findings show the average person aged 15 years and over consumed 9.9 liters of pure alcohol in 2023.

This equates to 37 bottles of vodka (70cl), 104 bottles of wine, or 400 pints of beer.

The report found alcohol use is the 8th leading cause of death in Ireland with one person dying every day due to alcohol-related liver disease, and more than one in three road user fatalities had been drinking prior to the incident.

One in five emergency department hospitalisations is due to alcohol and almost 19,000 hospitalisations are attributable to alcohol alone in 2021.

There were also 5,527 incidents of drink-driving, and 9,917 incidents of drunkenness recorded on the Garda PULSE system in 2022.

Positives

HRB Chief Executive Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll said there are some positives to take going forward.

“Legislation to address alcohol use in Ireland continues to be implemented,” she said.

“In the past three years, there have been restrictions on advertising, separation of alcohol from other products in supermarkets and shops, and the introduction of Minimum Unit Price.

“By 2026, Ireland will also have the most comprehensive health warning labels on alcohol products seen in the world.”

The report also found one in three people aged over 15 in Ireland do not drink alcohol.

Main image: Seans Bar, “the oldest pub in Ireland”, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Image: Ros Drinkwater / Alamy