Regular drinkers: 70.4 per cent (they consume alcohol 2-3 times a month or more)
Occasional drinkers: 13.4 per cent (they drink once a month or less)
Abstainers: 16.2 per cent (including non-drinkers and exdrinkers)
Binge drinkers: 36.1 per cent of regular drinkers binge on a weekly basis (a binge is defined as consuming at least half of the weekly safe limit in one day). Males, younger age groups and lower social classes are mostly likely to exceed safe weekly limits and to binge drink
Dangerously uninformed drinkers: 50 per cent of regular drinkers have no idea how many alcohol units are in a pint, a glass of wine or a glass of spirits. (Which, by the way, are as follows: a pint, two units; a glass of wine, 1 unit; a glass of spirits, 1.5 units)
Drinking too much: 64.6 per cent of drinkers consume alcohol at safe levels (safe levels are defined as: women, 14 units or less per week; men, 21 units or less per week). About 28.6 per cent of men and women drink at hazardous levels (women, 15-35 units of alcohol per week; men, 22-49 units of alcohol per week). Furthermore, 6.9 per cent of men and women drink at dangerous levels (women: 36 or more units per week; men: 50 or more units per week)
Source: a study by Anne Feeney and Kevin Kelleher, Department of Public Health, Mid-Western Health Board, Limerick, "Drinking Patterns of an Irish Urban Sample: Our Greatest Risk Behaviour?"