Society's relationship with alcohol has been branded a national tragedy by Ireland's Catholic bishops today.
The bishops appealed for a serious discussion on Ireland's drinking habits ahead of a day of temperance this Sunday and just days before the beginning of Lent.
The Catholic Church leaders issued a pastoral letter on alcohol in English, Irish and Polish. They marked the event in Dublin's O'Connell Street below a statue of Fr Theobald Mathew, the Cork-born Capuchin Friar who founded a major temperance movement around the time of the Great Famine.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, announced the pastoral letter, "Alcohol The Challenge of Moderation", with Bishop Eamonn Walsh, vice chair of the bishops' alcohol and drugs initiative.
Dr Walsh said Ireland has a destructive relationship with alcohol and asked how society here should respond. "Do we just shrug helplessly, leave it to others to do, or do we assume responsibility ourselves?
"Moderation is a responsible approach to consuming alcohol. Some may choose abstinence which is equally laudable.
"However if we look at international research on alcohol consumption, Irish society's use of alcohol is nothing short of a national tragedy," Dr Walsh said.
"Ireland tops two recent international league tables which measure the level of binge drinking amongst those under the age of 20, and, separately, in terms of alcohol consumption for those aged 15 and above."
PA