[originaltext]Irish Students’ Drinking Causing High Dropout RateExcessive drin

Irish Students’ Drinking Causing High Dropout Rate
Excessive drinking in Irish universities is a major contributor to an alarming dropout rate at some campuses, education officials said. Higher Education Authority chairman told a conference that data indicated students were spending a significant proportion of their time and money on alcohol, newspapers reported. World Health Organization figures showed that Irish per capita consumption of beer, the preferred drink of young men, was 142.5 liters per year, or almost twice the European Union average. Some campuses are losing almost a third of their students, education officials said. But the dropout rate in Ireland is in line with international trends.