Will new warning labels in Ireland turn people away from alcohol?

Jack likes a drink and a standard night out will probably involve several pints at his local.

“If you have three pints, it’s easy, easy,” says the 29-year-old. “Probably a busy evening, by the way, would equate to more than six pints.”

Jack grew up in County Galway where, he says, young people often start drinking at 14 or 15, “usually in a field with a horrible can of cider”.

“And then when you’re 17, your dad takes you to a pub, buys you your pint of Guinness, and that’s when it takes over.”

Ireland has a complex relationship with alcohol consumption and many view alcohol and socializing as inextricably linked, part of the social fabric of everyday life.

Pubs tend to be the focal point of communities where there is often live music, and many traditional songs celebrate or talk about the evils of having one too many. Major brands such as Guinness and Jamesons are important exports.

Since 2020, supermarkets and convenience stores across the country have had to erect physical barriers between sections selling alcoholic drinks and general merchandise, while some bottles and cans of alcohol now carry some of the strictest warning labels in the world.

First signed into Irish law in 2023, products bearing the new labels – which indicate that alcohol consumption causes liver disease and is linked to deadly cancers – are already on sale in pubs and supermarkets across the country.

But in a move condemned by public health advocates, the Irish government delayed their mandatory introduction until 2028, blaming the uncertainty on global trade – which some say is the result of lobbying by the drinks industry.

For its part, industry body Drinks Ireland said it expected the Irish government to give some “breathing space” on health warning labels and believed they should be agreed EU-wide.

It was when Jack moved to Dublin in 2015 to study journalism that he really discovered the capital’s nightlife.

“Dublin is a great place because you always drink spontaneously there, and that’s why it’s famous,” he says. “It’s very pub-centric, with lots of drinks.”

A big weekend night for Jack usually starts with drinks at someone’s house – perhaps a bottle of gin mixed with tonic shared between him and three friends – before heading to a club for shots.

However, even if he sometimes drinks a lot, Jack, who works in advertising, says he knows his limits and feels in good health.

“I’m a pretty fit person, I ran a marathon a year ago,” he says. “I know my limits. As long as you know what your limits are, I think it’s good, health-wise.”

Three-quarters of the population drink here and celebrations, from birthdays to weddings, often involve alcohol.

Consumption has fallen by around a third over the past 25 years, according to figures from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI).

Young people, on average, now start drinking at age 17, two years older than the average 20 years ago. But once they start, their consumption and binge drinking are among the highest in Europe.

A report from public health advocacy group Alcohol Action Ireland found that the proportion of young people aged 15 to 24 drinking alcohol had increased – from 66% in 2018 to 75% in 2024 – and that two in three young people aged 15 to 24 were drinking regularly.

Campaigners say alcohol warning labels in Ireland are having a progressive impact. But Amanda, 23, who saw the labels, isn’t so sure.

“You look at it and you’re like, ‘Oh, I just drank that. Should I drink another one?'”

Amanda doesn’t think people will pay much attention to the health warnings and believes they could even encourage some to drink more.

“I just don’t think they care,” she says.

On a night out in Dublin, Amanda says she usually limits herself to a maximum of three drinks.

“I like to be in control of what I do when I’m away,” she says. “I don’t really drink a lot to go wild.”

She is aware of how young people are perceived on social media, and this influences her own drinking choices.

“I don’t like taking photos with myself with a glass of wine or Guinness,” she says. “You don’t want to be in compromising positions, you don’t want people to have a negative image.”

Sean, 21, lives in the capital and likes to socialize with his friends: some drink, some don’t.

Unlike other parts of Europe, Sean says that if you want to socialize in the evening, there aren’t many options here apart from going to the pub.

“After a while there’s not much to do in Dublin,” says Sean. “Around six or seven o’clock, the town closes its doors. Sometimes you just say to yourself, “I’m really not in the mood for a pint, but I want to sit somewhere and see my friends” – then you need to get yourself a pint.

He’s also seen the alcohol warning labels, but he’s not sure they will stop him from drinking.

“Everyone knows it’s bad for you, but we do it anyway,” he says.

The warning labels on cigarettes are “much more graphic,” adds Sean’s friend Mark.

Ireland has been a pioneer in restricting smoking, and since 2004 smoking has been banned in the workplace, restaurants and bars.

Even before the new warning labels were introduced, some young Irish people in their twenties were finding that they felt better without alcohol in their lives.

Mark rarely drinks. It’s “one for my birthday, one for Christmas,” he says, partly because alcohol is expensive and it’s cheaper to opt for something else.

“I don’t really like the taste of it,” says the 21-year-old. “Guinness is probably the one I would have, but also the price: I save so much money just buying Club Orange.”

Helen is 27 years old and when she was younger she drank regularly. Although she hasn’t completely given up alcohol, like Mark, she says she can largely live without it.

“The last time I had a drink was in February,” Helen says. “It’s kind of diminished to the point where I’m more or less sober, but I just don’t identify as that because I might still have a drink — or maybe I won’t.”

Helen’s friend Sam – who started drinking when he was “16 or 17” – went even further.

“It was a bit of fun then [I] I went to university and the drinking took off,” says Sam, now 27. “One day I realized it had gone too far. My father said to me: “What are you doing with your life? You really need to put it away.’”

In 2021, Sam signed up for a year-long beer-free course and then quit alcohol completely. He hasn’t had a drink in three years and even gave up playing the accordion in pubs because it was so ingrained in his habit to have a drink during a session. When he goes to a pub, he opts for a non-alcoholic drink.

But he says it sometimes seems hard for people to accept that he’s sober.

“There are strange people you meet and you tell them you don’t drink and they kind of look at you sideways.”

Unlike Sam, Jack doesn’t like soft drinks and thinks it’s “a waste of time because it’s the same price as a pint”.

He considers quitting drinking, but his inner determination never lasts long.

“Honestly, it’s quite difficult trying to embark on a sober trip to Ireland because it’s so intrinsically linked to our culture,” says Jack.

“I always flirt with the idea of ​​going totally sober, but then I instantly talk myself out of it. [myself] and have a pint. »

The BBC asked the Irish government why it had delayed the mandatory introduction of the new alcohol warning labels until 2028. It said the decision to postpone was taken following concerns raised about the impact of their implementation in the current global trading environment.