The Booze

It’s a very bad idea to drink just before going to bed. It blocks REM sleep and leaves you feeling groggy and cranky the next day. It also means a lot of trips to the jacks.

This advice to avoid alcohol in the hours before sleep has been taken on board across the world. Except here in Ireland, where people use it as an excuse to start drinking earlier. “Sure, we’ll get it out of the way now and stop at nine o’clock,” said you, after which the whole thing became a bit of a blur.

Still, the more you read about the effects of alcohol on sleep, the more you realise we’ve been doing it wrong all along. A recent study by the University of Melbourne found that late-night drinking impairs the brain activity necessary for learning and memory formation.

This simple fact would seem to explain the Irish condition, in its totality. If you disagree and think we are good at learning and memory, then I suggest you look at house prices in Dublin. And try not to hum that country classic, Here I Go Down That Wrong Road Again (We’re back where we’ve already been).