THE NORTH’S Department of Health has questioned some of the findings of a new report which suggests the peace process may be a contributory factor to an increase in alcohol consumption in Northern Ireland.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation-commissioned study found that Northern Ireland people engage in more binge drinking than British people while the consumption of alcohol has increased at a higher rate in Northern Ireland than in England, Scotland and Wales.
The study cited a number of factors for the increase in drinking, including relaxation of licensing laws in 1996 and the flourishing of pubs and clubs, and also referred to how the peace process may have contributed to more people drinking in the North.
“The peace process has led to increased investment, employment, urbanisation, improved financial status and independence among the population and among young people generally,” according to the study.
“The social and economic emancipation, when set against a historic low baseline of alcohol use because of religious and cultural norms, may have led to increases in alcohol drinking over recent years towards the levels in the rest of the UK,” it added.
The research, carried out by a team from Oxford Brookes University, looked at existing evidence on drinking trends in the general UK population over the last 20 to 30 years.
The latest report last year found that the proportion who drink above recommended weekly levels in the North has decreased between 2005 and 2008.
The report also found that the proportion of adults who drank above the weekly sensible levels significantly decreased from 29 per cent in 2005 to 24 per cent in 2008. The proportion of adults who engaged in at least one weekly binge drinking session decreased from 38 per cent to 32 per cent over the same three-year period, according to the department.
The proportion of young people aged 10-16 who had ever taken an alcoholic drink decreased from 60 per cent in 2003 to 55 per cent in 2007, it added.