Um, can you say drinking problem?

Then while searching for a few famous Pubs, I came across this little gem of an article. Three things to point out here... (as of 2006)

A) A report funded by the European Commission and produced by the UK Institute of Alcohol Studies, has said a higher proportion of income in Ireland is spent on alcohol than in any other European Union country.

B) The European Union is the heaviest drinking region of the world, with each adult drinking 11 litres of pure alcohol each year – a level over two-and-a-half times the rest of the world’s average.

C) This high level is in fact a considerable fall from the highest point of over 15 litres in the mid-1970s