Ireland is drinking less alcohol than it once did. This is not a new observation.
Consumption here has fallen by more than a third since the year 2000.
However, something interesting has happened. While many pubs have indeed gone to the wall over a difficult period for them, the drinks industry has not.
The latest source of sales here, and around Europe, for the likes of Guinness owner Diageo and Dutch brewing giant Heineken is the rise of zero-alcohol beers and spirits.
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Big sums have been spent on the marketing and advertising of “zero-zero” products. They are portrayed as drinks for people who want to drive safely, get up in the morning without a headache and who are concerned about the size of their waistline.
In Ireland, it seems, such promotion is beginning to pay off.
Sales of zero-alcohol beer here increased by 25 per cent last year, according to industry figures, and has risen 150 per cent over the past five years. At the same time production rose by 77 per cent in 2024.
On the other side of the slate, total beer sales fell by 1.6 per cent - the second consecutive year of decline. Consumption per head of population dropped by almost 3 per cent.
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This, says the Drinks Ireland group, “reflects a clear and growing consumer appetite for products that support a culture of responsible consumption”.
Ireland still lags behind the European average, with sales of alcohol-free drinks still representing a low single-digit share of the overall drinks market. However, there is clearly growth here.
Publicans say they have witnessed increased sales of alcohol-free drinks at the taps.
“If someone had told me a few years ago that in a pub like mine in Dublin city centre I’d be serving zero-alcohol beer - I’d have put them in a straitjacket,” says the owner of Bankers Bar on Trinity Street, Dublin, Alan Campbell.
“I would have understood someone driving to a golf club and having a few - or maybe a GAA club - where they want to drive home afterwards, but not in a city-centre pub like Bankers. Very few people, if any, would drive into town to go to a pub.
“People like the idea of having a beer, and all the drink manufacturers have embraced it.
“Previously if lads weren’t drinking,they’d have a rock shandy or a blackcurrant and Ballygowan. Now they can have a pint in their hand.”
The publican says the drinks manufacturers have been clever both with the branding of zero-alcohol products and the efforts to make them widely available.
“All the glasses are branded as ‘zero-zero’ now - so people don’t get them mixed up with alcoholic drinks at a table - and the taps are generally set apart at the bar.”
The rise of the zero-zero has dovetailed with the healthier lifestyles being propagated on social media. As people become more concerned about their appearance and weight, the option of a night out that doesn’t involve the high calories associated with alcohol has some appeal.
People also want to be able to get on with their day the following morning, spared from a hangover.
Kildare-based health and nutrition coach Jennifer Mugan says the drinks have been embraced by clients of hers who are looking to achieve freedom from alcohol but who also want to remain socially active.
“Clients are leaning into them heavily,” she says.
“The appeal of freedom from alcohol is all about the gains. They see an improvement in their digestion, their focus and energy.”
Mugan has seen the growth in popularity of these drinks within her own social circle.
“Last Saturday, for example, I met up with five of the girls in a restaurant on Dawson Street in Dublin. Previously that would always have meant drink. Three years ago, I would have been thinking, what am I going to have?
“Last week I opened up the drinks menu - and it was 50-50 between alcohol and alcohol free. Cocktails, wines, spirits - everything.”.
[ Advertising zero-alcohol drinks ‘flagrant breach’ of laws, campaign group claimsOpens in new window ]
The drinks industry has put a heavy emphasis on the claimed health benefits of alcohol-free beverages. The message from the manufacturers focuses on how their widespread availability is helping to facilitate “moderation”, and that the demand for these types of products is being entirely led by consumers.
However, there is some scepticism. Alcohol Action Ireland questions the overall narrative being presented by the industry.
According to its chief executive Sheila Gilheany, zero-alcohol beers still make up a tiny segment of the overall market but the industry spends an inordinate amount of money in marketing them.
“They are used by the industry in a number of ways,” she says. “Because these products have identical branding to the alcoholic ones, you can see them in spaces that are restricted for alcohol advertising.
“By using this identical branding, they are being very strategic. It is a very intentional move by them to market both products simultaneously.”
She says this kind of marketing brings alcohol branding into spaces where children are exposed to it - and she claims that brewing companies are deliberately targeting younger age groups through the back door.
The industry, she says, is also clinging to the zero-alcohol message to create the impression that problem drinking is on the decline.
“The industry uses these products to essentially say there is now no problem with alcohol in Ireland, that we’re all on the zero-zeros so there is no problem, no need for further regulation from government.
“But are we really moderating? Overall yes, there has been a reduction in consumption - but we still have very high rates of binge drinking.”
Drinks Ireland - the representative body for the country’s big drinks companies - dismisses these claims as “completely unfounded”.
A spokesperson said zero-alcohol brands were clearly marketed as adult products and the idea that they were being pushed as a means to circumvent advertising restrictions was “not credible”.
“Zero-alcohol products support responsible drinking, provide adults with choice and promote moderation. Restricting these products would be counterproductive, undermining decades of progress in moderating alcohol consumption.”
Senior Diageo Ireland figures, including managing director Barry O’Sullivan, met with the Taoiseach in Government Buildings in April. According to notes released under the Freedom of Information Act, O’Sullivan briefed Micheál Martin on “the success of the Guinness 0.0 brand”.
A briefing note had informed the Taoiseach that Diageo could raise concerns that provisions of the Public Health Act dealing with advertising and sponsorship might too be applied to nonalcoholic products “such as Guinness 0.0”.
The industry clearly feels it is on to a winner with such products.
Alan Campbell of Bankers Bar agrees.
He thinks the prospect of nonalcoholic Guinness might not necessarily entice people into pubs by itself - but the option of buying one keeps them there longer. “It’s hard to sit there and just drink mineral water all night.”
