Students celebrating freshers week will be warned of the dangers posed by alcohol when they visit the toilet in college bars across the country over the coming days.
The 'You're drop dead gorgeous .... 'Til you drop down drunk' poster campaign is designed to attract the attention of students where drinkaware.ie says the effects of alcohol are often first felt - in the toilets of student bars.
Toilet cubicle floors in seven college bars nationwide will contain life-size images of people who have fallen unconscious as a result of drinking too much, while bathroom mirrors will remind students that while they might look 'drop dead gorgeous' now, this won't be the case if 'they drop down drunk'.
Drinkaware.ie chief executive Fionnuala Sheehan said the campaign would act as "a stark reminder to students that this is what they could look like or how they will end up if they drink beyond their limit on a night out".
Ms Sheehan said this year’s campaign follows a pilot project last year to which drinkaware.ie received “ very positive feedback” with many students saying it made them stop and think about their drinking.
“On a night out, students will invariably pay a visit to the bathroom. It is here, away from the party atmosphere, that you often start to notice the effects of alcohol”, she said.
Drinkaware.ie is also distributing its ’No Nonsense Guide’ to students in colleges across Ireland.
The guide offers students hints and tips on surviving the hectic college social scene but also challenges myths about about mixing drinks, lining the stomach before a night out, sweating off a hangover and how to sober up quickly.
President of the Union of Students in Ireland Gary Redmond welcomed the initiative and insisted it did not mean that students can’t go out and have fun.
He said that entering college for the first time “is an exciting time, introducing a newfound freedom away from the watchful eyes of parents and teachers.”
Calling on students to drink responsibly, Mr Redmond said the freedom to drink to excess can be “extremely tempting” but warned that if students don’t turn up for lectures as a result, the lecturers will probably not miss their attendance”.
“They won’t waste their time telling you what you can and cannot do.”
The floor and mirror vinyls will appear this week in the college bar toilets of UCD, NUI Maynooth, UL, WIT, UCC, NUIG and DCU.
