Ireland: Into The Drink

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By Newsweek Editors

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Around the tables in Dublin's Temple Bar area, the sense of resignation is as thick as the plumes of smoke wisping toward the ceiling. "If it happens, it happens," says Mark Collender, an off-duty policeman, as he drains his second pint of Guinness. He's referring to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's vow to crack down on alcohol abuse. Warning labels would be slapped on bottles; there would be restrictions on alcohol advertising on radio and TV. Ahern has even proposed banning happy hours. Ireland will also, as of Jan. 1, become the first European country to ban smoking from all places of employment, including pubs and restaurants.

Much of the Irish public supports Ahern. They worry that alcohol consumption has gone up 46 percent in Ireland since 1990, even as it's declined elsewhere in Europe. A quarter of Ireland's emergency-room cases are now alcohol-related. Lisa Carley, the bartender at the Hairy Lemon in Dublin, considers drinking to be Ireland's national sport. "It's just what we do," she says with a shrug--helping to prove Ahern's point.

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