Paul (name changed to maintain anonymity) has been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous for 18 years. of We sat down with Paul to discuss what AA will look like in 2026.
Like most people who struggle with addiction, the roots of the problem began in Paul’s childhood. He comes from a large family where alcoholism was rampant.
“I couldn’t really relax within myself.”
He started drinking when he was 12 or 13. When she was younger, “everything felt off and everything felt a little different. When I picked up this drink at that young age, it gave me a little bit of confidence.”
It wasn’t until his late teens that he started drinking heavily.
“When I was 17 or 18, my life was pretty chaotic and out of control because I was drinking.”
He continued, “I liked the effect the drink had on me. It gave me confidence.”
He “almost” “slipped” through college.
Still, he knew that his drinking habits in college were different from those of his peers. He continued drinking for “a couple of days” after the night was over.
“When I graduated from university, Ireland was a crazy place. There were a lot of good things happening and there were a lot of jobs.”
Despite his drinking problems, Paul went on to have a successful career in the business sector.
But the 2008 financial crisis was devastating for Paul and he “lost everything”.
But, he says, “That was the best thing that happened. When material things are gone, you’re left alone. It made me reevaluate my drinking.”
Paul considers himself “one of the lucky ones.” His father paid for him to go to treatment. He spent 28 days in treatment. When he left, he suggested I go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
Before attending his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Paul thought it was just for “hanging around town.” He compared his drinking to what he thought of an alcoholic. He didn’t think he was addicted because he was young and didn’t drink every day. He had no idea who was attending the meeting.
“I walked into a room of people who had gone through the exact same pain that I had gone through, some of whom had been sober for two months, which was amazing to me as I used to drink every day,” he said.
“The moment you walk in, people know where you’re coming from and the hell no one else can understand.
“It was a very warm welcome. People offered me tea and coffee and introduced themselves.”
In Waterford alone, there are 30 meetings a week. Each meeting follows a similar format. The meeting chair shares his or her story for about 15 minutes, then everyone else speaks for a few minutes each. However, there is no pressure to speak if you don’t want to, but some people just come to listen.
When they first met, Paul looked around the room and couldn’t believe that people who had been in his position were now holding jobs and having loving, stable relationships.
“The most important thing about the gathering was the fellowship.”
Small things like having someone to go for coffee with before or after a meeting.
“I built a friendship group from the meeting in Waterford. My life has been good since I started the meeting.”
The structure and goals of Alcoholics Anonymous may be the most utopian in the world. It’s completely free, there’s no hierarchy, and it just works great. They don’t have marketing campaigns or “new and exciting” innovations to keep people coming to meetings. Everyone there is there because they genuinely want to participate.
The Fellowship was founded in 1935 and has since spread to all corners of the world. Paul himself attends meetings all the time when he travels, but the meetings themselves remain the same.
Paul believes the success of this fellowship lies in its simplicity. AA isn’t trying to open treatment centers or start a low-key revolution.
“We have no purpose other than to help struggling alcoholics. We are not allowed to bring politics or anything like that into the room.”
Each group is autonomous, but all are organized under the same constitution.
“There’s no ego.”
Holding members accountable is an important step toward recovery.
Paul says, “If you think about it, if you’ve been living your life with no purpose, no kindness shown to you, no trust in anything. Well, it’s nice to make tea for a group. Little by little, it increases people’s self-esteem.”
There are many other things that say, “This will work.”
If you know someone in your life who could benefit from this, but you don’t know how to tell them, you can call AA headquarters in Waterford and two members of the Fellowship will actually call you at their home and tell you their story.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to the person, but we can deliver it to their home.”
Paul said that people need not be nervous about going to meetings.
“When you walk in the door, people know you’re new and they talk to you. People in their 60s come in, get sober, get their grandchildren back on track, and live really happy, fulfilling lives.
“Young people come in whose lives are in turmoil and they don’t have much to rely on, but they get jobs, they go back to college, they get degrees.
“People who used to live on the streets are now building homes, getting married, and having children.
“If someone comes to a meeting and they’re homeless… someone who can say, ‘I was homeless, look where I am now.’ Or if there’s an older person, you know there are other older people there.
“Life is still going to happen to these people, they just have the tools to deal with it now.
“For every problem you have in life, there is someone in that meeting who has overcome it.”