Sad, sad, sad

[Ad@m]

Wow - that's a relief.  When I saw the thread title, then the title of the link I thought it was going to be much, much worse!

[eamonn]

I wonder when he starts off drinking, do/should bartenders refuse to serve him when he walks into a bar just because it's common knowledge he's an alcoholic?

I have seen him at close quarters start the night out on diluted orange (do ye Brits call it 'squash'?) but with the prospect of a public speaking engagement to do, and people queueing-up to order "and whatever Paul's having", slowly give into temptation and break down sobbing and apologising when called upon to make the speech. Absolutely heart-breaking to witness. Never meet your heroes...poor fella. Being a loner for a lot of his life has likely affected his behaviour towards drink in a desperate way.

I don't know his domestic situation currently but it must be so much harder for him if he doesn't have a partner to help. He did become a Grandad a couple of years ago, which clearly thrilled him and seemed to be living a peaceful life in rural Wexford. It's a ticking time bomb though isn't it? Let's hope he gets back to the good days soon.

Mind you, on clicking the thread and seeing his name I was thinking something far worse.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

But Paul McGrath will never completely stop until Paul McGrath himself makes that decision and  really understands that he can never ever go near alcohol again.

I've always wondered about this. Is total abstinence the way to solve the problem? It doesn't seem the most healthy way to deal with it to me, to live a life with a monkey permanently on your back.

There must be a reason why a person has become dependent on alcohol. I can see why a period of abstinence is necessary and the reason for that would be to work on whatever caused the drinking problem in the first place.

Anybody who is an alcoholic should never have even one drink again. It is an illness and there may be all manner of reasons for each individual that is the trigger or cause. We are not talking about people who maybe drink a bit too much than is good for them and should maybe moderate things a bit. An alcoholic is somebody who is either heading for the bottom or have reached it and like my other half looked over the edge and stopped. She has not had a drink for 14 years but she is still an alcoholic, in the sense that if she ever had a drink it could potentially take her down to the bottom again. Luckily for her, even the smell of alcohol now makes her feel ill. For an alcoholic, one drink is one too many but after that first one any other amount is never enough.

[rjp]

Every time I hear 'on the piss my lord' I want to hand everyone singing it a copy of his book.  In my view it's not just an embarrassing song, it's morally repugnant and utterly indefensible.  It doesn't make me cringe it makes me f***ing angry.

That's a bit over the top.

I really don't think so.  It's genuinely how I feel about it although I don't expect or need everyone to see it the same way.  Perhaps it's because alcoholism and its effects is something that I've witnessed first hand.  I also found his book very moving.  It's so honest it's quite harrowing in places.

[Ad@m]

Every time I hear 'on the piss my lord' I want to hand everyone singing it a copy of his book.  In my view it's not just an embarrassing song, it's morally repugnant and utterly indefensible.  It doesn't make me cringe it makes me f***ing angry.

100% agree.

[john2710]

How much of him getting arrested had to do with being loud and annoying and how much of it had to do with him being Paul McGrath?

Probably seen as a bit of a big shot in Offaly and a big scalp for the local plod to get their 15 mins of fame:  I nicked Paul McGrath for being pissed once- they can tell anyone who cares, or maybe doesn't .

I think that's highly unlikely, Paul is universally loved throughout Ireland & I believe a complaint was made to the Police about his behaviour, hence his arrest.  I suspect the arrest was only made as the last resort, as even the most likeable of people are often are real pain when drunk.

I hope he conquers his demons but many have to hit rock bottom to achieve that. For others rock bottom is dying from this illness.

[Ron Manager]

But Paul McGrath will never completely stop until Paul McGrath himself makes that decision and  really understands that he can never ever go near alcohol again.

I've always wondered about this. Is total abstinence the way to solve the problem? It doesn't seem the most healthy way to deal with it to me, to live a life with a monkey permanently on your back.

There must be a reason why a person has become dependent on alcohol. I can see why a period of abstinence is necessary and the reason for that would be to work on whatever caused the drinking problem in the first place.

Anybody who is an alcoholic should never have even one drink again. It is an illness and there may be all manner of reasons for each individual that is the trigger or cause. We are not talking about people who maybe drink a bit too much than is good for them and should maybe moderate things a bit. An alcoholic is somebody who is either heading for the bottom or have reached it and like my other half looked over the edge and stopped. She has not had a drink for 14 years but she is still an alcoholic, in the sense that if she ever had a drink it could potentially take her down to the bottom again. Luckily for her, even the smell of alcohol now makes her feel ill. For an alcoholic, one drink is one too many but after that first one any other amount is never enough.

Jimmy Greaves the greatest english player I ever saw is an alcoholic. Has been for many years. Says he often wants a drink but knows even one is a non starter if he wants to live.

[eastie]

Far from paying homage to possibly our greatest player if anything the song is taking the piss out of him ( no pun intended) .

Anyone singing it really is doing him and our club a disservice in my view - get bak to to the ooh aah  paul McGrath chant.

[stubbsyandy]

Paul's drinking problems are well documented and his book tells us all a lot. He has a problem, but bloody hell he's had a few and got a bit loud and  abusive...have you not seen the serious shit happening in our world today?
Give him a break.

[dave.woodhall]

Paul's drinking problems are well documented and his book tells us all a lot. He has a problem, but bloody hell he's had a few and got a bit loud and  abusive...have you not seen the serious shit happening in our world today?
Give him a break.

Giving him a break is what's got him into this mess.

[gervilla]

The song is an embarrassment and very disrespectful.
I would go so far as to say it's moronic .

[usav]

One of the biggest problems Paul has is, the never ending queue, of people willing to buy him drinks despite his problems.  It's nothing malicious just misguided gratitude.  Combine this with Paul's genial and inoffensive (when not drinking) character and it's an accident waiting to happen.  Just my opinion.

I had the pleasure of buying him a drink back in 1990 and glad to say he had orange juice , you are though of course quite right dave.

I tried to buy him one in the Dome in the mid-90's, but he insisted on buying me one.

I'm sorry.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

The song is an irrelevance, not singing it will make no difference to his condition.

I just think that part of the song, considering his condition, is in real poor taste. I know it wont make his condition better, but at least it'll stop me from cringing every time i hear it.

I think the whole song is cringeworthy not just the McGrath reference.

Totally agree Eastie, it's an embarrassment on so many levels.

[silhillvilla]

That song seems to be our main anthem at away games which is really depressing. We need to stop it or change the lyrics.
Met Paul in Prague in about 1996/97, it was about 2am and he was being carried out of a club by Townsend and Staunton. Not a pretty site. Love the guy but this is all so sad and tragic.

[Lizz]

Depending on what study you read, the success rates for recovery from alcoholism vary enormously. Suppose it also depends on what the definition of a successful recovery is.