SOBER

Sober is a documentary about alcohol, sobriety, and what happens to your sense of community when you stop drinking.
Beginning with one simple thought - the sudden feeling that it might be nice to have a pint with new colleagues - Dave Hackett explores what alcohol has come to represent in Irish life: friendship, confidence, masculinity, grief, escape, ritual and belonging.
Through deeply personal testimony alongside voices from medicine, sociology, music, recovery and the Irish pub, Sober asks what we are really looking for when we reach for a drink, and whether the things we fear losing when we stop drinking might be found somewhere else.
At its heart, it is less a documentary about giving up alcohol than about learning how to belong without it.
CHAPTERS
00:00 — The Pint
Why can the idea of “a pint” still mean something long after you stop drinking?
03:45 — This Is What We Do
Growing up with alcohol, the unwritten rules of the pub, masculinity and belonging.
09:40 — What It Does For Us
Confidence, escape, friendship, intimacy and why alcohol can become more than a drink.
17:10 — When It Stops Working
Dependency, physical and mental health, loss and the moments that make people stop.
26:20 — Learning to Be Sober
Recovery, counselling, mindfulness and learning to deal with emotions without escaping them.
35:20 — What Do We Keep?
If drinking has been tied to friendship and community, what happens when alcohol is removed?
42:40 — The Pint Again
What we miss, what we don’t — and what that imagined pint might really represent.
CONTRIBUTORS (In order of appearance)
Eoin Fray — Freelance researcher.
Liam Mullaney — Owner of Myo Café in Cork.
James Browne — Irish Actor.
Keith “Smelly” O’Connell — Drummer with The Revolt and formerly Nun Attax and Five Go Down to the Sea.
Kiera McMahon — Co-founder of Teetotal Cork.
John O’Brien — Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at University College Cork.
Fergal MacGabhann — Publican and long-time operator of the Corner House in Cork.
Dr Eric Kelleher — Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist.
Ian Lynch — Musician and member of Lankum.
Richie Egan — Musician, producer and songwriter.
Bríd O’Donovan — Freelance photographer.
Shauna Smith — Co-founder of Teetotal Cork.
Professor Orla Crosbie — Hepatologist at Cork University Hospital.
George O’Mahony — Alcoholics Anonymous facilitator.
CREDITS
Sober was presented, produced and edited by Dave Hackett for UCC 98.3FM.
Original music composed by Dave Hackett.
Made possible with funding from Coimisiún na Meán through the television licence fee.
With thanks to everyone who contributed their stories, experiences and expertise.