4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 November 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
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Ireland has become the first country in the world to introduce labels linking alcohol with cancer and liver disease. Some producers began re-labelling their products this year and they're already on sale in pubs and supermarkets across the country. The rest of the drinks industry was due to follow suit next year but the Irish government has decided to delay the compulsory introduction of these labels until 2028. They blame uncertainty with world trade, but critics believe it’s the result of lobbying by the drinks industry which claims the labels are both excessive and fearmongering.
Ireland has a complex relationship with drinking, with its pubs venerated in many parts of the world and huge brands such as Guinness and Jamesons major exports. But alcoholism has been a long running issue putting a strain on the Irish health service. While overall alcohol consumption in Ireland is falling, binge drinking and drinking amongst teenagers and young people is increasing. Are Irish people and the country as a whole developing a new relationship with drink, and if so, which direction will win out? Katie Flannery heads out with the drinkers and non-drinkers in Dublin to find out.
This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Thank you for downloading this podcast from the BBC. |
| 0:09.7 | I'm Katie Flannery and you're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:15.6 | In this edition of assignment, I'm in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. |
| 0:20.2 | The country has seen the introduction of some |
| 0:22.4 | of the strongest warnings on consuming alcohol anywhere in the world. So are Irish people changing |
| 0:28.8 | their relationship with drink? This is a drinking song from Cork called Johnny Jumpo, named after |
| 0:36.7 | mythical cider. |
| 0:37.6 | Well, oh never, oh never, oh never again if I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten. |
| 0:46.0 | I fell to the ground and I could not get up at the drinking a quart the Johnny Jump Up. |
| 0:57.3 | The traditional Irish pub Around the world |
| 0:58.7 | Home to a convivial |
| 1:00.0 | Sometimes rock as atmosphere |
| 1:01.6 | An alcoholic drink |
| 1:03.3 | Or 2 or 3 |
| 1:05.1 | And distinctive music |
| 1:07.3 | That's what gets people going |
| 1:08.9 | It's absolutely great to look down in a crowd when you |
| 1:12.7 | have them roiled up and people are just launching plastic pints around the place and there's beer |
| 1:17.7 | flying anywhere. I love that, you know, like that's what's all about. |
| 1:21.4 | Thomas Mulligan helps run the cobblestone pub, which his father owns in the Irish capital, Dublin. |
| 1:29.5 | It's a legendary music venue and Thomas is also a keen musician. Drinking though can lead to regret. |
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