DCU students who don’t or are advised against drinking alcohol have welcomed the setting up of Sober Soc on campus; a society offering social events which benefit the mind, liver and purse.
The creation of the society coincides with the release of Central Statistics Office data which indicates Irish people drank over seven per cent less in 2013 than in 2012.
Founder and Chairperson, first year Multimedia student Ferdia Mooney believes “a lot of students don’t know how dangerous alcohol actually is for them.
“The society is trying to counteract that by having less events on campus that focus on having alcohol to have a good time.”
Events organised by the society to date have included movie nights and a ‘Golden Oldies’-themed open mic night in collaboration with Music Soc.
Second year Multimedia students Aisling Sinclair and Sam Pearson have meanwhile submitted their “No Sleep Lost” campaign to the ‘Dare2BDrinkAware’ safe drinking competition.
The campaign’s video urges students to be mindful of where they wake up after a night out and was launched by TV3 presenter Caroline Twohig in March of this year on DCUfm.
The students have also released a drink calculator, showing students just how much they actually take in on a normal night out.
Overall figures from the CSO show the consumption of most types of alcohol has fallen in the same time period by almost three million litres.
In 2013 the average adult drank the equivalent of 411 pints of beer. This is around 100 fewer than the average in 2001. The average adult drank 10.73 litres of pure alcohol in 2013.
Almost 12 per cent less spirits were consumed in 2013 than 2012, with beer and wine levels falling by six per cent and nine per cent respectively.
Cider saw the least reduction, with a fall of 2.5 per cent drinking levels.
Aoife Bennett
Image Credit: Mark Kelly
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