One in four Offaly youths tried alcohol by age 13, report finds

by Navjyoti Dalal

A landmark survey of young people across the Midlands found that 74% of respondents in Offaly had consumed alcohol at some point, with more than a quarter (26%) taking their first drink at age 13 or younger.

The findings were published in the first Planet Youth Report for the Midlands region, which was launched this week and gathered responses from 833 young people in Offaly.

Those surveyed were post-Junior Certificate students in secondary schools and some out-of-school settings such as Youthreach centres and community training centres.

Among the other key findings were that just over half (56%) of the young people surveyed in Offaly rated their mental health as good or very good, while 25% said they had watched pornography by the age of 13 or younger.

On Tuesday, Jennifer Murnane O'Connor TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, launched the first Planet Youth Report for the Midlands region.

The report was designed to provides an important evidence base to support the health and wellbeing of young people across Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath.

According to the first Planet Youth survey, 74% of Offaly respondents had used alcohol at some point, compared with 71% across the region, while 48% said they had drank alcohol in the previous 30 days.

Among those who had consumed alcohol at some stage, 60% said they had been drunk, and 36% said they had been drunk within the previous month.

The report noted that while 95% of Offaly students believed their parents would disapprove of smoking, only 64% believed they would disapprove of them getting drunk.

Antoinette Kinsella, Co-ordinator of the Midland Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force (MRDATF), which commissioned the research, said the report was "not just a collection of numbers and charts" but "a mirror held up to our communities across the Midlands".

It found that vaping was also widespread among the students in Offaly. Some 42% of the 833 respondents in the county had vaped, 24% in the past 30 days, and 15% daily, figures that match the regional average.

Cannabis use was less common - 10% of the students said they had used it in their lifetime and 4% reported that they had used it within the previous 30 days.

Offaly students were slightly more positive about their health than the regional average, with 71% rating their physical health as good or very good (69% regionally) and 56% having a positive view of their mental health, compared to 53% across the region as a whole.

There was a gender gap, however, with 62% of boys rating their mental health as good or very good, compared with 51% of girls.

Some 37% reported ever having had suicidal thoughts, compared with 39% across the Midlands. About one in five of the Offaly students had sought help with mental health issues, and 67% of those received professional help or support.

The survey also pointed to strong protective factors. For instance, 88% of the Offaly students said they had friends at school who care about them, 82% said their parents or carers know where they are in the evenings, and 71% said adults at school care about them (68% regionally).

There were also areas of concern. Only 52% agreed they feel good at school, just 46% said adults at school notice when they are having a hard time and offer help, and 41% said they had been bullied at school by someone.

Screen time too was addressed in the report, which noted that while 83% had a phone in their bedroom at night, 16% had been asked to send a sexually explicit image of themselves in the past year.

Access to facilities was another theme. Just 40% of those surveyed said there was a suitable outdoor youth space in their area, 49% live rurally and rely on parents or carers for transport, and 20% said there was no suitable public transport at weekends.

Speaking by video at the launch, Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor said: “We must ensure our younger population have the appropriate supports and care in place to build life skills, confidence, and the ability to make informed, healthy choices.”

Dr Una Fallon, Consultant in Public Health Medicine with HSE Health Improvement for Dublin and Midlands, said the survey had generated "an unprecedented local dataset" among our young people.

The survey was carried out in November and December 2025 and gathered anonymous responses from a total of 3,378 post-Junior Certificate students in 40 secondary schools and 12 out-of-school settings across Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath. It was funded by the Department of Health and the HSE.

A 26-member Midlands oversight committee drawn from 15 agencies, including Offaly County Council, Jigsaw Offaly and Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board, will now consider the findings.

Ms Kinsella said she looked forward to "moving to the next phase of this project where we consider the data and commence the action planning phase of this project".