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

Jack likes to drink and a standard night out will probably include a few pints at his place.

“If you’ve got three pints it’s easy, easy,” says the 29-year-old. “Probably a heavy night, casual, would be like six-plus beers.”

Jack grew up in County Galway; here he says that young people usually start drinking around the age of 14 or 15, “usually in a field with a terrible box of cider”.

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

Ireland has a complex relationship with drinking, and many people see alcohol and socializing as inextricably linked, part of the social fabric of daily life.

Bars tend to be the focal point of communities where there is live music and many traditional songs celebrate or speak of the harms of having too many bars. Giant brands such as Guinness and Jamesons are major exports.

Since 2020, supermarkets and corner shops across the country have been forced to install physical barriers between sections selling spirits and general merchandise, while some bottles and cans of alcohol now carry among the strongest warning labels anywhere in the world.

The products, which were first introduced into Irish law in 2023, are already on sale in pubs and supermarkets across the country with new labels warning that drinking causes liver disease and is linked to fatal cancers.

But in a move condemned by public health advocates, the Irish government postponed this mandatory implementation until 2028, blaming uncertainty on world trade; some believe this is the result of lobbying by the liquor industry.

Industry body Drinks Ireland said it expected the Irish government to give it some “breathing room” on health warning labels and believed they should be agreed across the EU.

Jack really got to know the capital’s nightlife when he moved to Dublin to study journalism in 2015.

“Dublin is a great place because there’s always spontaneous drinking going on and that’s why it’s famous,” he says. “It’s very pub-centric, drinks-heavy.”

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

Jack, who works in advertising, says he knows his limits and feels healthy, even though he sometimes drinks too much.

“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 for health.”

Three-quarters of the population here drinks from birthdays to weddings, and alcohol is frequently used at celebrations.

Consumption has fallen by nearly a third over the last 25 years, according to figures from the Irish Drinks Industry Group (DIGI).

Young people now start drinking on average at age 17; that is, 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 15-24 year olds drinking alcohol has risen from 66% in 2018 to 75% in 2024, with two in three 15-24 year olds regularly binge drinking.

Campaigners believe Ireland’s alcohol warning labels are having a growing impact. But after seeing the labels, 23-year-old Amanda isn’t so sure.

“You look at it and you’re like, ‘Oh, I just drank this. Should I have another?’ you say.”

Amanda thinks people may pay little heed to health warnings and may even turn to drinking more.

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

Amanda says she usually limits herself to no more than three drinks on a night out in Dublin.

“I like to be in control of what I’m doing when I’m out and about,” he says. “I don’t drink that much to really let loose.”

Young people pay attention to how they are perceived on social media, and this affects their own drinking choices.

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

Twenty-one-year-old Sean lives in the capital and enjoys socializing with friends; Some drink, some don’t.

Sean says that unlike other parts of Europe, if you want to socialize in the evenings there aren’t many options here other than going to the bar.

“After a certain time, there’s not much to do in Dublin,” says Sean. “Around six or seven the city closes down. Sometimes you think, ‘I’m not really in the mood for a pint but I want to sit somewhere and see my friends’ – so you should have a beer.”

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

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

Sean’s friend Mark adds that cigarette warning labels are “much more descriptive.”

Ireland is a leader in restricting smoking, and since 2004 you can’t smoke in the workplace, restaurants and bars.

Even before the new warning labels were introduced, some young Irish people in their 20s were finding they were better off without alcohol in their lives.

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

“I didn’t like the taste very much,” says the 21-year-old. “The Guinness I’d probably have is the Guinness, but it’s also the cost; I save a lot of money by getting Club Orange.”

Helen is 27 and was a regular drinker when she was younger. Although she hasn’t given up alcohol completely, she, like Mark, says she can live largely alcohol-free.

“The last time I had a drink was in February,” says Helen. “It got to the point where I was more or less sober, but I don’t identify as that because I might drink again — or maybe I won’t.”

Helen’s friend Sam, who started drinking when he was “16 or 17”, went one step further.

“It was kind of fun back then [I] Sam, now 27, says: “I went to university and the drinking escalated rapidly. One day I realized it had gone too far. My dad said to me, ‘What are you doing with your life? You really need to pack it in.’

In 2021, Sam enrolled in a year-long no-beer course and then gave up alcohol completely. He hasn’t had a drink in three years and has even stopped playing the accordion in bars because drinking at sessions has become so ingrained. When he goes to a bar, he will prefer a zero-alcohol drink.

But he says sometimes it seems hard for people to accept that he doesn’t drink.

“There’s this weird person you meet and you tell him you don’t drink and he looks at you sideways.”

Unlike Sam, Jack isn’t keen on zero-alcohol drinks and thinks they’re “a waste of time because they’re the same price as a pint.”

He thought about quitting drinking, but his determination never lasted long.

“To be honest, it’s quite difficult to go on a sober journey in Ireland because it’s inherently intertwined with our culture,” says Jack.

“I’m always flirting with the idea of ​​going completely sober but then instantly dissuading [myself] and have a beer.”

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