A major new report looking into attitudes to drinking in North Dublin has found teenage girls are more likely to engage in drinking than boys.
The North Dublin Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force study found a quarter of 14 to 16 year-olds in the area drank alcohol in the last year.
The survey, run in conjunction with Trinity College, also found proximity to suicide, COVID‐19 and death caused an increase in drinking among respondents.
It showed most teenagers are getting the alcohol from their parents, other adults or friends. Over 1,200 14 to 16 year-olds had been drunk in the last year, with most drinking outdoors in fields, parks and on the street.
Report author Professor Jo-Hanna Ivers specialises in addiction. She says teenage girls find it difficult to get support:
"The women we spoke to tended to go around in a cycle trying to find help and it was only either through somebody by chance that told them something or that they happened on a service."
This report includes data from 2,677 children aged 14-16 years of age from the area.
