Alcohol use and related harm is now a major public health problem in Ireland. The statistics do not make for pleasant reading. Annual per capita consumption increased by 41% between 1989 and 1999 to 11 litres of pure alcohol per head of population, the second highest level in Europe, and 1.9 litres higher than the EU average.

A more telling statistic, estimated alcohol consumption per adult (defined as 15 years and over), was 15.2 litres in the year 2000, the third highest level in the EU and the 12th highest in the world. The dramatic rate of increase in alcohol consumption in Ireland over the past decade, in a time when the vast majority of EU countries have seen a reduction in levels of alcohol consumption, means that Ireland is soon likely to top the EU drinking table.