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The Claire Byrne Show

Can alcohol ever be good for your health?

17 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What recent report has prompted a discussion on alcohol consumption in Ireland?

1.887 - 12.673 Claire Byrne

The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. Newstalk Summer Cash Machine.

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14.408 - 35.101 Clare Byrne

The Cash Machine is full to the tippy top with another record-breaking amount. It's €307,000. That's the amount you need to know. Get your entry in by 3 o'clock on June the 19th. That's this coming Friday. The Cash Machine will then randomly pick a number and it could be you were calling during Moncrief. Answer within five rings, tell us the prize amount and the cash is yours.

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35.361 - 54.322 Clare Byrne

To enter, you can visit newstalk.com forward slash cash machine where you can enter online. or text the word PLAY to 57557. The cost is €2.50 plus your standard message rate to play. You have to be over 18. You're playing across the Go Loud network of stations and full terms are on our website, newstalk.com.

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Chapter 2: What are the current Irish guidelines on low-risk alcohol consumption?

54.342 - 57.806 Clare Byrne

It's been another record-breaking night at the World Cup last night.

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59.087 - 67.495 Claire Byrne

Messi. Gonzalez. Back to Messi. Messi!

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70.383 - 74.687 Claire Byrne

His first World Cup hat-trick!

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74.707 - 89.983 Clare Byrne

And it's a record-setter! That's the Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, becoming the oldest ever player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. That also happened on the night where superstars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland led their respective countries to victory. John Bruin of The Guardian joins me now. Hello, John.

90.964 - 92.165 John Bruin

Good morning, Clare. How are you?

92.185 - 92.505 Clare Byrne

I'm good.

Chapter 3: How has the understanding of alcohol's health effects changed over time?

92.525 - 94.988 Clare Byrne

How are you surviving the hours of this World Cup, firstly?

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96.069 - 113.879 John Bruin

Well, I don't think I am, to be honest. It's... Yeah, I watched the Harlan show, but I couldn't stay up for the Messi show last night. It's pushing it to stay up all night. It's tough going. If you've got a job as well, that's the difficult part.

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113.899 - 129.706 Clare Byrne

That's the problem, isn't it? That is the problem. But just let's talk about Lionel Messi. I mean, I said that he was breaking records there, becoming the oldest ever player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup. But I was just reading some analysis of the performance and looking back on the videos this morning. He's just kind of tootling around the pitch.

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130.147 - 136.097 Clare Byrne

His only job is to get the ball in the back of the net if he can, if he's in the right place at the right time. And invariably that ends up happening.

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Chapter 4: What does the latest research say about alcohol consumption and health risks?

137.377 - 165.932 John Bruin

Yeah, yeah. I mean, spectacular strikes, weren't they? Just incredible. For a man of his advancing years, he has managed to pare down football to a series of, yeah, scoring spectacular goals. Though I should say, it should be mentioned, he probably should have been sent off before this. That's right. And are we to start switching the conspiracies about this? I don't know if you...

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166.199 - 181.395 John Bruin

If you saw the footage of when Messi's going for his hat trick and has a shot saved, we cut to Gianni Infantino with a big smile on his face because Messi scoring a hat trick, well, that washes away quite a bit of the controversy, doesn't it?

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182.276 - 196.071 Clare Byrne

It's like we were saying before the World Cup, you know, all of the controversies around it. Then once the football starts, everybody starts talking about the football. And if Messi scores a hat trick, that dominates the headlines today and probably tomorrow. So you can see where we're going with this.

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196.709 - 209.822 John Bruin

Yes, absolutely. So, yeah, Messi scores a hat-trick and stories of the treatment of the Iran team having to fly out of the US on the day of the game, that drops down the sidebar of shame or whatever, doesn't it?

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Chapter 5: How do cultural attitudes in Ireland affect conversations about alcohol?

210.643 - 233.532 John Bruin

And therefore, we talk about Messi, we talk about record-breaking, we talk about World Cup legacy and stuff like that. This is it. Football, the brilliance of some of the football played at World Cups and the brilliance of the World Cup... It was put to me that the sport washes itself, doesn't it? It washes away quite a lot of ills, but ills that we shouldn't forget.

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233.552 - 236.896 John Bruin

I think that it will be irresponsible to do that.

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236.956 - 238.798 Clare Byrne

And did you think that Messi should have been sent off?

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239.9 - 265.813 John Bruin

Yes, yes, I do. Yeah, if that was an Algerian, he'd have been sent off for it, you know, and that's it. You can't do that. And in an era of VAR... you know, that's a red card. Messi knew he'd done it as well. I don't know if he did it deliberately, but he knew that he'd committed the offence. It was nasty.

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Chapter 6: What are the implications of occasional alcohol consumption on health?

266.093 - 271.666 John Bruin

It was nasty. But, you know, he's a crotchety old man, isn't he? That's the thing. But he's also a brilliant footballer as well.

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271.786 - 272.768 Clare Byrne

What is he, 38?

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273.473 - 275.155 John Bruin

I think he's 39 during the tournament.

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275.435 - 286.689 Clare Byrne

Okay. He mentioned something, didn't he, John, about personal problems at the end of the match and thanks to everybody for helping me get through it. We don't know what he's talking about, though. He didn't elaborate.

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286.709 - 298.944 John Bruin

No, no. And this is the thing with Messi is he's unknowable, isn't he? That's the thing. He keeps himself... He's a superstar who no one really knows. That's it.

Chapter 7: How does alcohol consumption impact other lifestyle choices?

298.965 - 321.958 John Bruin

There is this... There are occasional flashes of personality. I don't know if you recall... back in the 22 World Cup, there was him speaking, being quite abusive, actually, towards the Dutch players, a side of him that we've never really seen. Obviously, there is this deep competitive edge. There must be if he's continuing on like this. But, yeah, we're not sure.

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322.445 - 347.395 John Bruin

And it probably won't come out or, you know, the back channels will reveal it perhaps, but that's just Messi. We don't know him. He's different to Ronaldo, isn't he? Ronaldo almost presents the sort of Stepford Wives version of himself, doesn't he, with all the social media stuff. Messi is on lots of adverts, but even in adverts, he sort of is unknowable there too, isn't he?

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347.415 - 349.397 John Bruin

He's just an unspeaking...

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349.782 - 371.807 John Bruin

guy uh you know um only only david beckham is more present for what i understand of all the advertising out there beckham is advertising everything chainsaws us i think that's really yeah that in itself is um extraordinary um and there's a whole there's a whole story to talk about there which we won't go into now with him and his family and all the rest of it but of course

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371.787 - 376.795 Clare Byrne

I want to talk to you about Iraq and Norway. I mean, Norway haven't been in the World Cup for 28 years.

Chapter 8: What personal experiences shape the guest's views on alcohol?

377.015 - 399.146 Clare Byrne

Iraq for four decades. I heard a gorgeous interview on the BBC World Service this morning with this American Iraqi fan who travelled six hours on a plane with his family to get to that game. And he said it was such a joy. to have people talk about our footballers and not our problems that we've experienced in our country for decades. And just the pure joy that they had from that experience.

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399.186 - 406.835 Clare Byrne

And this interview had taken place after the match when they were defeated 4-1 by Norway, but such a joy for them to be there in the first place.

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407.676 - 430.783 John Bruin

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, 1986 was the last time they were in the World Cup. And the Iraqi team actually has been quite decent. I remember them winning the Asian Cup at a time when the country was at its worst during, during the conflict, you know, back to 2000, mid 2000s. So there's, there's a lot of footballing legacy there, but same for Iran as well in, in that region.

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430.823 - 440.522 John Bruin

They're very strong teams, but it feels like this is, again, we go, we go to the sort of soothing balm of the world cup, don't we? That,

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441.329 - 470.593 John Bruin

nationhood can be expressed in a slightly different way by football it's not uh it's not military it's it's it's a national pride that a team can bring uh and yeah to people from the diaspora of a country can go and watch these their team play and enjoy them and even when they lose just to be at a world cup feels so precious i mean i remember the first world cup game i ever went to was saudi arabia tunisia which doesn't sound the most glamorous fixture does it

470.894 - 499.013 John Bruin

But I gained an understanding of how much it meant to the people that were there from Saudi and from Tunisia that would just, you know, to be at a World Cup, to be at the whole world looking at your team, it means so much. And again, it does. This is what... wipes away some of the stuff that Gianni and Trump and all these people, that's the sweet spot that they can feed off.

499.033 - 505.202 John Bruin

And that's the sort of unforgivable bit about the cynicism that goes on with the World Cup, isn't it?

505.322 - 516.257 Clare Byrne

So France beat Senegal last night. And I see people are saying now that we have seen in the second half of that match, the team to beat, that France have arrived. Do you agree? Yeah.

517.233 - 542.428 John Bruin

Yes, I think that's true. Yeah, I mean, MbappƩ seems to turn it on at a World Cup, doesn't he? But they've got MbappƩ, they've got Dembele, they've got this Michael Ollisay, who we in England regret. He's from South London. We regret that he chose to play for France because he is such a fantastic player. And he was a real talent at Crystal Palace.

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