I've challenged myself to 'no beer for a year' for 2025 - there's one big reason

I decided to give up drinking for all of 2025 at the last minute - a New Year's resolution to end all resolutions. It can be easy after Christmas to turn your back on the drink and throw around bold 'never again' statements. The pints, the Baileys, the sherry trifle, the whiskey and whatever else you're having; Christmas is the drink Olympics such is the variety of drink we tackle. And yet here I am, dishing out that ultimate platitude.

That said, I didn't drink that much over Christmas and that's part of the reason I decided to take on this challenge. I became a father in 2024, so the time for drinking has certainly reduced. Parenting a newborn certainly makes you value every ounce of energy you have. I don't suffer from hangovers but even drinking a small amount can leave you more tired, irritable at times, and when it comes to a random beer or whiskey at home, what is the point of chipping away at those reserves?

Having a baby also puts your own life and health into perspective, and that is probably the main reason I've decided to tackle this 'no beer for a year' challenge. I wanted to take on a challenge that would have a positive impact on my health more than anything, and while I'm not one for the pub every weekend, the few beers at home are my vice. A few watching a match or when you feel you've earned them on a Friday night after work. Home is arguably the more dangerous drinking arena; there are no queues, it's cheaper, there's no measure (usually) and it's just so easy to fall into the habit.

I am not a big drinker really but I love a pint of Guinness and the odd whiskey. As John B Keane once said, 'I love the plop of whiskey into a glass. I love it. I love to listen to it. I love to see the cream on a pint. I love the first, powerful violent impact of a glass of whiskey when I throw it back in me, and it hits the mark below. I chase it then with a pint, and that’s even more beautiful still.' It is that ritual I enjoy more than the effects of it; basically I don't drink to get drunk so if I can replace it with something with a similar experience rather than effect, it'll be fine. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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The zero alcohol options available nowadays are so good and varied, that it really is a lot easier to give up if you're in the same boat as me. The thought of sitting at a wedding or a family party with a glass of coke or 7up just depresses me a little bit. You feel like you should be at the kids table and you're also overthinking what other people are thinking. The relationship between drink and social occasions is so intrinsic in Ireland that those abstaining can be put into the 'anti-craic' column very quickly. Irish people fear that label more than most others, let's be honest. And those not abstaining fear the sober surveyor in the room.

Getting older helps you care less about what others think but the facade of drinking 0.0 drinks is no harm. You can be standing at the bar sipping a pint of the black stuff or a beer or wine safe in the knowledge it has no alcohol in it, while others are none the wiser. You don't get the fourth degree on why you're not drinking or what antibiotics you might be on that are preventing you from having a 'proper' drink. Some people would nearly ask you to produce the box where it says you can't drink. It may be sad that you have to consider all of that but it is one of the most annoying things if and when you're not drinking for whatever reason. If people were as concerned about their own drinking as yours, we'd probably all be better off.

I'm writing this four days into this challenge so if I had broken it already, it would be very concerning. I've done the odd Dry January or Sober October so a few weeks off it has never been an issue for me. My wife has estimated I'll last until my own birthday which is at the end of January. I have higher hopes for myself than that and having no wedding invites on the horizon so far this year helps too. So we're off - literally off the drink, anyone joining the 'no beer for a year' brigade?