When Coppers met Sobriety....

In a world where lewd and drunken behaviour is the norm, 15 brave young-adults decided to take on the challenge of a lifetime-going to Coppers sober. Admittedly, the idea of facing Coppers sober was not really one that I welcomed with open arms. Usually, I only feel ready to brave Coppers after I have drank myself in to a self-induced coma and am not really too aware of my surroundings. This was not a challenge that we devised of our own volition. It is all part of Des Bishop's new show on Rte1 called "Under the Influence", in which he tries (maybe successfully, maybe in vain) to change Ireland's somewhat unhealthy attitude towards drink. He wants to prove that you can enjoy yourself and have equally as good a night-if not better-when you remain sober. In conjunction with his Rte programme he has launched "Hello, Sunday Mornings", a new website that aims to encourage people to give up alcohol for a period of time, be it a week, a month, 6-months, or a year but to continue to go out with friends and rock the sobriety card. 

I'm ashamed to admit that this sober excursion to Coppers is probably the first time I have gone out sober in a very, very long time. Beforehand, as I got ready, it dawned on me how much my night is planned around alcohol. We had to meet at a specific time in town and I was already planning in my head what time pre-drinks would have to commence-until the sudden realization came that there were no pre-drinks. I was driving home midday and I very nearly stopped in a shop to pick up my drink for the night out, purely by habit. It even influenced my choice of hand-bag for the night as I weighed up my ability to be able to simultaneously juggle a bag AND a drink in my hand at all times. We arrived at the designated meeting spot in a hotel in town and made a beeline immediately to the bar. It was a sight to be seen, a bunch of 20-somethings all collectively dressed for a night out and sipping on cokes, fantas, lucozades and teas and coffees. Many expressed that they were nervous about the whole affair and had strongly considered having a drink before they left. Everyone had remained sober but it had obviously been a struggle having to break a deeply ingrained habit. After our team-talk with Des who pumped us up for our sober adventure, we entered in to the dark depths of Coppers. 

It was early and it struck me how subdued the crowd was. Evidently, enough Dutch courage hadn't been worked up to enable anyone to hit the dance floor, bar one extremely drunken girl. We were the sole people dancing for the initial part of the night and we were attracting some weird looks from our fellow Coppers' comrades. The group was identifiable by our large "Hello, Sunday Mornings" blue badges which attracted some attention. On explaining what the idea behind the badges was to a few very-drunken males, their response was to annunciate "lossssssersss" in one, drawn-out breath and disappear in to the crowd. I was surprised: I had been very cynical about the whole affair on the journey in to town and on more than one occasion had found myself saying "If we're having a shit time, we can just make our excuses and go home". I was shocked at how much fun I was having. Apart from the embarrassment of having cameras filming your disgraceful dance moves, it was just like any typical night out. 

The highlight had to be the return of the slow-set, where we managed to get the Coppers' brigade to pair up and slow-dance romantically with a partner of their choice. I also got to slow-dance with Des Bishop. No big. I hadn't noticed the time passing and at 2.15, we decided to leave as one of our group had an unfortunate 9am this morning. 

I woke up this morning without the nasty hangover and with the shocking revelation that I had a great night out without having touched a drink. I can't say I'll make it a new "thing" and continue the sober trend but maybe once every now and again, I'll sober it out. If anything, the night has given me the confidence that I can be sober and enjoy myself. To anyone who reads this and thinks that they categorically can't handle a sober night out, I ask you to try it. Once. And surprise yourself. 

Also, keep an eye out on Rte1 on February 28th at 10.15pm to see how the social experiment pans out and to laugh at my obnoxious dance moves.