Members of a social club in Co Tipperary are preparing to lead a walk with a difference this weekend in what is being called a "sober social hike" in the Slieve Bloom mountains.
It is the first of many public events planned by two lifelong friends from Roscrea who set up a local branch of Narcotics Anonymous last May.
The pair, from the Roscrea Ramblers Club, have been speaking out about their own experiences of addiction to help others.
42-year-old James Gleeson is a married father-of-five from Roscrea who works as a commercial sales representative.
For him, "drinking was the norm from his late teens" as he spent long weekends in pubs, gambling regularly too, with his problems getting worse during Covid-19 lockdowns at home.
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Mr Gleeson told RTÉ's Drivetime: "I couldn't stop once I started. If I was at home on a Friday night with a box of beer, I couldn’t go to bed until it was gone."
Drinking and gambling came "hand in hand" he outlined, starting off with "soccer bets, then betting "possibly €100 or €150 a week" on the lottery numbers at the bookies.
"If I missed a lotto, I'd freak out," he explained, adding that he had also "lost 50% of his money in his life" to betting on horseracing even though he did not "know the front of a horse from the back".
Mr Gleeson "always said" he was not addicted to drugs but "ecstasy (tablets) was a big thing" when he started drinking in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
"Anytime I drank I would have done drugs, so I can't be a hypocrite and say I wasn't," he added.
With mounting financial problems and family arguments, Mr Gleeson said "what brought it to a head" was when his five-year-old daughter witnessed "a massive argument" between her parents, confronting him about things he had shouted after he woke "one Sunday morning at the kitchen table" beside an empty wine bottle.
He said: "I felt guilty, ashamed, depressed, it broke my heart."
Mr Gleeson said he realised he was "going to lose my family and nearly did" before finally seeking help from Alcoholics Anonymous as he "had to stop" as he did not want his "kids growing up watching me like this".
He is now 27 months in recovery and "life is great", with his "happy family" even welcoming a new baby in recent months.
His best friend Richard Loughnane described Mr Gleeson’s story as the reason he sought help for his own drug and alcohol addictions.
Speaking to the same programme ahead of the "Sober Social Hike", the 49-year-old building contractor paid tribute to his own family for their support though years of drinking and taking drugs at a cost of "up to €1,000 a week".
With cocaine becoming "commonly available" in their local community, like other areas, it became easier to get than a takeaway in his local town, Mr Loughnane explained.
"Once I took a drink, I took cocaine, it was just it was so readily available," he said. However, the drug "masked his emotions".
"The man you see with the big ego and having a bit of craic and all that in the pubs was actually a broken man when he went home", depressed "when the drugs were gone", he said.
Breaking down in tears to his best friend, it was Mr Gleeson who brought Mr Loughnane to his first AA meeting 16 months ago.
He has been going to meetings ever since, encouraged by how everyone there helps one another and wants you to be well.
Richard and James spoke to RTÉ’s Drivetime to raise awareness of addiction and to highlight their planned "Sober Social Hike" this Sunday morning at 10am.
The event is expected to be the "first of many" they say, and was inspired by other outings they have participated in organised by Dublin man John Boland, who has also spoken out about his own addiction and mental health issues previously.
"It's about life without drinking and drugs," according to Mr Gleeson.
However, it is not exclusive to those in recovery as they want to promote sobriety and positive mental health for everyone who is "struggling on their own" with addiction or just loneliness.
For Mr Loughnane, it is about promoting "a life outside of the pubs" without drugs and alcohol and for those who may be what he describes as "sober curious" too, with the aim of providing support and letting people know "there is help there".
Some 16 months ago, when Mr Loughnane "started his journey" of recovery, he said he "didn't realise there was so much help there".
But now he tells others, it is "just as simple as a text message or a phone call to make, and "that’s the hardest part. Once you make that, the sky’s the limit".
The Roscrea Ramblers Group will lead a walk through the Slieve Bloom mountains, leaving Kinnity Castle in nearby Co Offaly at 10am and is free to everyone.
If you’ve been affected by issues in this article, support details are available by looking up rte.ie/helplines.
