The 12 Pubs of Christmas may be a time-honoured tradition in Ireland, but one health expert is urging the public to think twice before embarking on a heavy festive drinking session in the days running up to December 25th.
With Christmas only a week away, revellers across the Emerald Isle are busy buying and wrapping presents, stuffing turkeys, decorating trees and generally feeling festive.
But there will be plenty also prepping for one of the more rambunctious Christmas traditions over in Ireland: the 12 Pubs of Christmas.
The idea is simple: 12 drinks in 12 pubs over the course of one heady night.
However, that one night of drink-led revelry over the last weekend before Christmas could end up doing you more harm than good.
That’s according to Dr Joe Barry, who slammed the 12 Pubs of Christmas to the Evening Echo as something that "flies in the face of all good advice around alcohol."
"Heading out for the 12 Pubs of Christmas does not always work out well for people," he said.
"For example, if 100 people do it, a certain number of people will have problems – some might get into fights, which might result in some people ending up in hospital."
Dr Barry urged revellers to exercise caution when drinking around Christmas.
He also expressed concern at the number of drinkers purchasing cheap alcohol from supermarkets to help save money during the 12 Pubs of Christmas.
“It is very hard not to drink at Christmas – alcohol is everywhere. The safest place to drink is in the pub,” he said.
