Isn’t it time that we grew up a little bit? I don’t mean to be that old grumpy bastard, but to me this whole 12 pubs of Christmas thing is what’s wrong with Irish society.

I have a number of reasons for thinking about it like that. Here they are;

1. What was wrong with pub crawls? Heading out with your mates, having a bit of craic and having some Christmas scoops. Is that too simple now? Are the rigorous rules and whistles really necessary?! Not to mention the groups which are comprised of half hard core drinkers and half people who are afraid to admit they can’t hold their booze so just get too drunk and fall into everyone or puke all over the place instead.
2. We have a problem with alcoholism in Ireland. It’s not getting any better. We are sacrificing our futures for blurry nights and empty wallets. The 12 pubs to me clarifies that we know no other way. Wanna see your mates this festive season? Sure ya have to be blind drunk to really enjoy that, don’t ya? No.
3. We don’t deal with our issues. How many times have you been out and one of your mates has lost it. They’ve broken down or their personality has switched completely. I know that has been me in the past and I know it has been some of my mates as well. We’re a fragile nation and we’re kind of starting to see that now. Things like the 12 pubs “tradition” endanger people, both physically and mentally, isn’t it time we copped on?!

I don’t want to seem like I’m holier than thou here. If anything I have made all the mistakes that will happen on a 12 pubs night. I certainly know I have drank more than 12 drinks in one sitting. What I do know is that I hit a low with my drinking. I got to a point where it wasn’t enjoyable and it was kinda like the monkey on my back, making things much harder than they had to be. I’m not saying I was an alcoholic, but I wasn’t far off.

Maybe it was becoming a father that made me really think about it. Is a drunken fool the role model that I really wanted to be to my daughter? Not really, no.

I’ll still have a couple of drinks. If anything I appreciate them a hell of a lot more now. I also enjoy the lack of hangovers that stretch into 2 or even 3 days.

So when you’re considering the 12 pubs maybe you should stop and think why first? Surely the unique thing to do would be to not get completely bladdered and maybe be able to remember your night.