When the party"s over

In this exploration of our nation"s drinking habits, Dr Mark Hamilton explores the effects and, in particular, the hidden health costs, of this national pastime When the Party"s Over provides a graphic illustration of how easily socially accepted levels of drinking can lead to long-term harm and unless we do something to address our levels of drinking, this hangover will be for life, not just for Christmas. An effect of the recent boom is the impact our newfound wealth has had on our drinking habits. As the amount of money in our pockets shot up, so too did the amount we were drinking and for much of the past 15 years we, as a nation, have been drinking well in excess of the recommended amounts. Between 1993 and 2003, alcohol consumption in Ireland leapt by 40%, with Irish people now consuming on average nearly twice the maximum healthy limit for alcohol. And while it"s probable that in the current climate we may have less money for alcohol, we"re likely to continue drinking well in excess of the recommended amounts. We"ve seen some of the damage that this leap in alcohol consumption has caused in the form of the increase in public order offences, A&E emergencies and alcohol-related road deaths as a direct result of drinking. But, unless we do something radical to decrease our alcohol intake, what we face now is a spiralling public health crisis that has been largely overlooked. It takes years for the effects of our long-term over-consumption of alcohol to be felt, but frontline health practitioners have already begun to see a significant increase in people seeking help for alcohol dependency and abuse issues. As the full impact of our excess begins to be felt, this upward trend is likely to continue. It may take another couple of decades for the full effects of our national binge to be felt, but it"s sure that we will soon see significant increases in people requiring liver transplants and suffering from some of the 60 chronic conditions associated with alcohol. This programme is not about alcoholism, but about real people whose personal consumption mirrors that of the nation. Mark meets with these people, normal individuals whose ever-increasing consumption eventually led them to the brink. The programme also features video diarists from a range of backgrounds as they catalogue their drinking habits. The results show how quickly a couple of glasses now and again can push us over the limit. When The Party"s Over is on RTE 1 on Sunday next at 9.30pm