ALCOHOL is a far bigger menace in Irish society than illegal drugs and tackling the problem will form a key part of a new National Drug Strategy to be launched later this year, a government minister has said.

Ireland has a bigger problem with alcohol than with drugs, the Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy said yesterday. Róisín Shortall said she was particularly concerned about the availability of alcohol for young people.

Women are now being targeted by the booze industry, but even low levels of daily drinking come with health risks

ALCOHOL consumption has a "significant" influence on suicide levels among males at all ages and young women, research shows.

GROWING numbers of people are developing liver disease in their 20s and 30s because of heavy boozing, according to new research. A rise in alcohol abuse, including binge drinking, is fuelling a worrying increase in liver disease at a younger age.

ALCOHOL was listed on death certificates in almost 1,900 fatalities over a three-year period, statistics reveal.