Alcohol Uncovered

Being a child or adult child of parents with problems alcohol or drug use can be an isolating and lonely experience. Children grow up in a strained and emotionally charged environment which can hugely affect their sense of self. By speaking out about this issue Alcohol Action Ireland’s Silent Voices campaign aims to lessen the shame these children and adults may feel, and to help them find su...

One of the most prominent areas of alcohol advertising is in the sports sector, which seems contradictory to the health and fitness associated with sport. Tobacco has been distanced from sport for a very long time but today we hear why alcohol isn’t given the same treatment, despite being a harmful substance. We hear from a sports star who believes alcohol has no relation to the work he and his te...

Online safety for children is a huge issue in our digital society and here at Alcohol Action Ireland we want to shine a light on how damaging digital advertising of harmful commodities, such as alcohol, can be.  Currently in Ireland, through a new body called Coimisiún na Meán, we are developing new online safety rules for video sharing platform services, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,...

New studies have shown a strong connection between alcohol and a rise in domestic abuse reports. With new legislation in Ireland seeking to liberalise alcohol opening hours and density of licensed premises, who is looking out for those impacted by domestic abuse? Today we take a look at the dangers of increased trading hours and alcohol availability and ask are policy makers really staying true to...

We are exposed to alcohol advertising everyday, and unfortunately the main target audience is often those most vulnerable to alcohol harm. Today we shed light on an important but overlooked issue - how the alcohol industry shapes our culture, policies and even our health. You'll gain a new understanding of how marketing imbeds harmful norms and the shocking power that the industry has at policy ma...

End the Silence is an initiative to raise awareness of issues arising from growing up with parental problem alcohol use. In Ireland, an estimated 271,000 children under 15 years of age are living with parents who are regular risky drinkers. This can lead to social and emotional issues for vulnerable children. Today we hear the importance of giving these young people a voice, and what kind of supp...

Voices of Recovery (VoR) is an initiative of Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) which has a mission to reduce harm from alcohol.  The initiative aims to bring together people with lived experience of alcohol addiction to champion recovery and spread the message that change is possible.  In this episode, we speak to three long-term recovery advocates and members of Voices of Recovery, board mem...

Marion Rackard, psychotherapist, addiction counsellor and co-founder of Alcohol Action Ireland's initiative Silent Voices , discusses the psychological impacts arising from growing up with parental problem alcohol use with Mick Devine, Clinical Director with the Tabor Group. Mick has a particular interest in families that alcoholic people emerge from, as this was the experience with his own family...

With the proposed 'Sale of Alcohol Bill' likely to be approved by government in the autumn, will greater availability of, and access to, alcohol into the early morning alleviate any pressing societal issue or merely extend commercial opportunity for alcohol producers, merchants and retailers? The expansion of the night time economy is desirable but should the reward for cultural expression be sust...

This podcast explores the world of alcohol marketing: how effective are their campaigns, and who are the principal targets for their strategies and why self-regulation is not meaningful control. The podcast features: Dr Amanda Marie Atkinson, a Senior Researcher within the Public Health Institute, at Liverpool John Moores University; Dr Nathan Critchlow, a SSA academic fellow a...

This podcast marks the launch of a policy paper from Alcohol Action Ireland | University College Cork, which draws attention to the rich store of alcohol related data in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database. The podcast features speakers from public health research and advocacy including Dr Zubair Kabir (UCC School of Public Health), Anne Doyle (Health Research Board) and Dr Lesley Gra...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Alison Douglas of Alcohol Focus Scotland and Nic Taylor from Deakin University in Australia, the early indications from both Scotland and Northern Territory, AU, the effectiveness of this public health measure in addressing harmful alcohol use and reducing related harm. This discussion is introduced by Minister Frank Feighan, TD, Minister for Public H...

In this episode Marion Rackard, co-founder of Alcohol Action Ireland's initiative: Silent Voices, continues her discussion on the psychological implications of growing up with alcohol harm in the home with Stephanie Brown, PhD, licensed psychologist, researcher and author of Treating Adult Children of Alcoholics: A developmental Perspective. This 2-part podcast is supported by the Irish Associatio...

In this episode Marion Rackard, co-founder of Alcohol Action Ireland's initiative: Silent Voices, discusses the psychological implications of growing up with alcohol harm in the home with Stephanie Brown, PhD, licensed psychologist, researcher and author of Treating Adult Children of Alcoholics: A developmental Perspective. This 2-part podcast is supported by the Irish Association of Counsellors a...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Dr Denise MacCarthy and Dr Eleanor O'Sullivan, two women who over the last decade have been at the vanguard of raising public awareness about mouth cancers, about the real risk to alcohol users of attributable cancers, the work of Mouth Cancer Awareness Day and the importance of prevention and early detection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

 In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Sara Cassidy, Aiseiri, Mick Devine, Tabor Group and Jennifer Hough, Alcohol Action's policy officer, the themes and recommendations within a new report of the survey of residential alcohol treatment services conducted by Alcohol Action Ireland in 2020 and published in June 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Dr Deirdre Mongan and Anne Doyle, Research Officers within the HRB National Drugs & Alcohol Strategies team, the detail of the HRB's recently published Overview Series: Alcohol consumption, alcohol related harm and alcohol policy in Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Dr Matthew Lesch (University of York), Lauri Beekman (NORDan) and Dr Peter Rice (SHAAP), what were the major learnings from the advocacy experience in Ireland to advance progressive public health alcohol policy, and what interdependent strategies - coalition building; health messaging and political tactics - could be adopted, more widely, to...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Carol Fawsitt, Marion Rackard and Barbara Whelan, the founders of 'Silent Voices' - an initiative by Alcohol Action Ireland - that aims to break a peculiarly Irish taboo on discussing the impact of harmful drinking on children. It explores their motivation to sustain this initiative, reflects on what has been achieved so far and examine...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Carina Ferreira-Borges, Programme Manager, Alcohol and Illicit Drugs & Prison Health, WHO European Office for Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases; Colin Angus, Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Alcohol Research Group, University of Sheffield, and Prof. Karine Gallopel-Morvan, School of Public Health (Rennes, France); and Honora...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Aveek Bhattacharya, Chief Economist at the Social Market Foundation (UK), and Professor Joe Barry, Adjunct Professor of Public Health Medicine at TCD, a number of issues relating to the economic impacts of our harmful alcohol use; what is the economic cost to a society that leaves such excessive use of alcohol unchec...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Prof. Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Professor in Health Promotion, NUI Galway, Dr Norah Campbell, Associate Professor in Marketing at Trinity Business School and Dr Sheila Gilheany, CEO, Alcohol Action Ireland, a number of issues relating to children and alcohol; the experience children have with alcohol...

In this episode, Eunan McKinney discusses with Prof. Frank Murray, former President of the RCPI and chair, Alcohol Health Alliance Ireland, Dr. John Ryan, Consultant Hepatologist and Dr. Bobby Smyth, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, a number of issues relating to how damaging alcohol can be to our physical and mental health - a brief ‘A to Z’ to understanding the specific issues and the imp...