A new survey carried out by Drinkaware shows that 72% of Irish adults believe drinking to excess is “just part of Irish culture.”

45% of people surveyed said we all drink to excess at some stage saying “it’s no big deal” and 31% of people would like to drink alcohol less often.

1000 Irish adults aged 18 and over were interviewed as part of a recent Behaviour and Attitudes survey on behalf of Drinkaware, which revealed the worrying trends.

Niamh Gallagher CEO of Drinkaware said: “We are encouraging people to follow the HSE low-risk guidelines which recommends at least two alcohol-free days per week.

The survey also revealed that only 2-3% of Irish adults correctly identified the low-risk weekly alcohol guidelines for men or women.

“From the results of our survey it is clear that there is still some more education needed around identifying and understanding the guidelines,” said Ms Gallagher.

We want people to understand the risks so they can keep health problems associated with alcohol to minimum,” she added.

Speaking ahead of the August Bank Holiday, Drinkaware Chief Medical Officer, Dr Liam Twomey said that bank holiday weekends are a prime time for alcohol misuse and for binge drinking episodes.

“Even when people aren’t ‘drinking to get drunk’, we see evidence of all-day drinking at parties, BBQs or family gatherings,” he said.

“Even drinking moderately over a long period of time can amount to excessive drinking when calculated over the whole weekend,” he added.