Worrying figures.

Approximately one in four Irish farmers have admitted to driving after consuming three pints in the last six months. According to an Irish Examiner/ ICMSA opinion poll, 23% of respondents admitted to driving after consuming two or three pints in the last six months, while more than one in five said that they would feel “safe enough” driving home after consuming up to four pints. The vast majority of those surveyed (68%) said that they wouldn’t drive after drinking three or four pints, but it was noticeable that at one particular location where farmers were surveyed, the Bantry Show, 52% said that they had driven home after two or three pints in the last six months. The comparable figure at the Virginia Show, meanwhile, was 10%. People in rural areas don’t have the same access to public transport available to people living in urban areas and commenting on the poll, Brian Farrell of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said that “there is still a stubborn cohort of older drivers still risking the few in the local pub”. The findings in the Irish Examiner/ ICMSA opinion poll follow on from recent figures released by AA Ireland, which revealed that 13 per cent of Irish motorists have admitted to drink driving in the last 12 months.