The Union of Students in Ireland launched the new interactive phase of their alcohol awareness campaign mentaldrinking.ie, earlier last month.
The initiative makes up part of ‘USI’s Mental Drinking Roadshow’.
Along with Alcohol Action Ireland, the campaign aims to explain the link between binge drinking and mental ill-health.
It encourages students, especially those who are older siblings, to set a good example for the younger generations coming up behind them.
The roadshow traveled to colleges and universities across the country with merchandise and information packs for students, starting in University College Cork on February 23rd and ending in Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology on February 26th.
Speaking to The College View, USI President Laura Harmon said she was very pleased with the week-long event and with the feedback that they received from it.
She said that USI distributed over 10,000 alcohol awareness packs to students over the course of the event and received positive responses from those participating in the event.
Harmon also said that there was a strong media interest in the roadshow and support from professionals as it was the first independent alcohol awareness campaign in Ireland.
When asked about the future of the roadshow, Harmon said that they will give a 360 degree evaluation but are look to expand the event after the success of its inaugural year.
USI broke its links with the alcohol industry last year. and speaking at the launch of the roadshow.
USI Vice-President for Welfare Greg O’Donoghue said that this independence has been vital for creating a genuine and credible alcohol awareness campaign among students.
“We present no-holds-barred information, based on the best research, to students, so they can protect themselves from the industry’s marketing hype and unpick the conflicting messages which float around about alcohol,’ he said.
“We make it clear in our campaign that there can be a damaging impact for both the short and long-term mental health of young people when they binge drink…It’s simply not worth it,” he added.
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