Alcohol prices: Supermarkets are flooding the market with cheap alcohol, the result is that it now costs 50 per cent less to drink at home than it did in 1996.
While the price of everything else was rising at sometimes frightening speeds during the boom years, the cost of alcohol, one thing that might be considered fairly integral to Irish society was falling dramatically. In 1990 a night out in a pub could be had for no more than a fiver, with pints of lager costing around £1.50 (€1.91). If you were going to a house party you could easily pick up five cans of fairly low-grade lager – some might have had scantily clad ladies on the side – for around a pound a pop.
While the price of drinking in a pub has increased by well over 300 per cent in the intervening years, the cost of alcohol in an off-licence has fallen precipitously and, in real terms, it now costs more than 50 per cent less to drink at home than it did in 1996.
According to the Rand report, commissioned by the European Commission’s Department of Health, Ireland is one of six countries in the EU where alcohol has become over 50 per cent more affordable than it was 15 years ago. Furthermore, alcohol prices in Ireland are falling at a much faster rate than average prices. According to CSO figures, alcohol prices fell by 4.6 per cent in Ireland between July 2009 and July 2010, while average prices fell by only 0.1 per cent.
Source: Conor Pope, The Irish Times, 18/10/2010
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