I tried the ‘no and low’ alcohol trend – here’s what happened

It was the post-30th-birthday hangover that finally did it. I had planned every detail meticulously: a party bus weaving through the small villages of Kerry on New Year’s Eve, 50 of my nearest and dearest along for the ride. A full day and night of joyful debauchery lay ahead, and I wasn’t about to do it in anything less than full disco-era glam.

I wore a glittering, fringed red mini dress by Queens of Archive, paired with gold platform heels and a matching cowboy hat. There wasn’t a moment of the day when I didn’t have a bottle of champagne in my hand. It should have been the party of my dreams. I envisioned heralding in my thirties feeling glamorous, charming, sexy, and brandishing a new perspective on life.  Unfortunately, while it was a day filled with laughter and sing-alongs, I ended the night crying drunken tears with my friends in the toilet of a small-town pub.

You see, I always thought alcohol was my friend, until it wasn’t. It had been there for all of the most sparkling parts of my formative twenties. Sure, we had our disagreements, but I could depend on it when I needed its conviction and the untethered wildness it provided. My 29th year was my first single in six years, and I threw myself into that freedom with reckless abandon. This liberation and release took the form of heavy nights, which turned into even heavier weekends.

Truthfully, I was drinking like a college student, no ounce of concern to be found for my body and soul. Although I was too stubborn to admit it, the corruption had taken its toll. By the time my birthday had rolled around, I was anxious, bloated and bone-weary. I woke up the following morning in my childhood bedroom with the cowboy hat next to my pillow, its glitter dusting the cotton, and an anxiety so intense it felt like my lungs were vacuum-sealed.

There are moments in your life when you realise that you need to change, or your choices will consume you whole. My birthday was the beginning of a colossal shift in my life and how I existed. The most pressing of which was my approach to alcohol. Over the years, I had sometimes considered cutting back, but the timing was never right. 2025 felt different. I realised early on that foregoing alcohol completely was not something I wanted to do. In moderation, I could enjoy it, and an evening spent chatting with friends over a glass of wine remains one of my favourite things to do.

For a time, my apprehension was due to societal expectations. Explaining to a fellow Irish person that you are drinking less or going teetotal can still be met with mild horror. However, the NoLo approach is a movement growing in momentum. To go “no and low” means to consume drinks with no alcohol (0.0 per cent) or choose low-alcohol alternatives (typically under 1.2 per cent ABV). It’s all about more mindful drinking rather than full-on abstinence. Recent research in Ireland has pointed to a shift in our drinking habits, albeit a slow one. The Healthy Ireland Survey 2024 revealed that 38 per cent of respondents drink at least once a week, a decrease from 41 per cent in 2018. Meanwhile, a survey by CGA by NielsenIQ found that 37 per cent of Irish consumers reduced their alcohol intake last year.

The non-alcoholic drinks market has also seen a boom, with non-alcoholic beer sales in Ireland growing by 18 per cent in 2023. Leading this wave are Nicola and Sarah Connolly, co-owners of The Virgin Mary Collective, a luxury wellbeing group dedicated to promoting alcohol-free socialising. Founded in 2019, the collective launched its first venue, The Virgin Mary Bar, on Capel Street in Dublin. This pioneering establishment was Ireland’s first entirely alcohol-free bar, and while the original closed in March 2023, the collective continues to operate through its mobile service.

The collective aims to inspire people to “drink different” by offering a range of mindful, mood-boosting beverages designed to restore, revive, and excite – think a spritz made with Korean ginseng to ignite energy and get the party started. Nicola says much of the brand’s success is down
to its phraseology. “We don’t focus on what we are removing,” she says. “We move away from words such as ‘non’ and ‘free’. Instead, we focus on what we are adding. We call it feeling and flavour. You get great taste and a great drink. There might also be either a wellness benefit or a mood-boosting benefit. We wanted to keep the good feeling of socialising without the pitfalls of alcohol. You still feel you are a part of it.”

When the business first opened in 2019, Connolly says the target market was broad. “We had people in their thirties and their forties,” she explains. “Some people were training for sports events, others were pregnant, and others had changed their lifestyles. Then you have that Gen-Z cohort who are simply drinking less and are more aware of how they’re perceived. The change is definitely happening.”

This substitution is also of great benefit for our well-being. Dr Sheila Gilheany is the chief executive officer of Alcohol Action Ireland and says cutting back not only aids our physical health but mental health too, and this is especially true for women. “Women are particularly vulnerable to alcohol-related liver damage due to physiological differences,” she says. “And there’s been a striking rise in liver disease among younger women
since the mid-1990s. These aren’t necessarily people with alcohol dependency either; they’re just drinking more regularly, so any shift in figures, no matter how small it is, is a good thing. “

Then, as we know, alcohol also impacts mental clarity. “Many women notice their mood, sleep and energy levels improve even after short breaks from drinking,” says Dr Gilheany.

Personally, although my NoLo journey is still in its early days, I’m already experiencing positive changes. My energy is better, and I feel more vibrant. I’m sleeping soundly and waking up refreshed, and I’m fitter than ever before, having completed my first half-marathon in April.

Mistakes have been made and many more will come, I’m sure, but I know that when it comes to my 31st birthday next year, I’ll still have the glamorous dress and party, but there will be no more tears, and the hangovers of yore will be a distant memory.

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