Ireland Into The Drink

Much of the Irish public supports Ahern. They worry that alcohol consumption has gone up 46 percent in Ireland since 1990, even as it’s declined elsewhere in Europe. A quarter of Ireland’s emergency-room cases are now alcohol-related. Lisa Carley, the bartender at the Hairy Lemon in Dublin, considers drinking to be Ireland’s national sport. “It’s just what we do,” she says with a shrug–helping to prove Ahern’s point.