The law, signed into effect by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, also requires labels to warn about the risks of consuming alcohol, especially when pregnant, and relating to the risk of liver disease and cancer.

Ireland is the first country to introduce such regulations on alcohol products.

The law will apply from May 22nd of 2026, with a three-year period until then for businesses to adapt to the change.

Similar health information will be made available to customers on licensed premises too.

“This law is designed to give all of us as consumers a better understanding of the alcohol content and health risks associated with consuming alcohol,” Mr. Donnelly stated. “With that information, we can make an informed decision about our own alcohol consumption. Packaging of other food and drink products already contains health information and, where appropriate, health warnings. This law is bringing alcohol products into line with that.”

Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton, said: “Everyone has a right to be told about the risks associated with a product before we consume it. This law is designed to ensure all consumers of alcohol have access to clear and concise information about the risks of alcohol. The medical evidence is clear that a cancer risk applies even at lower levels of alcohol consumption.”

The law has received backlash from Drinks Ireland, who criticised that the legislation will have a major negative impact on Irish producers, not only in reputation but logistically and in terms of additional costs, particularly susceptible are small breweries and distilleries, who already face external pressure from inflation, notably.

Cormac Healy, director of Drinks Ireland, criticised that “this is an example of zealotry rather than evidence-based legislation. We would call on Government to urgently address these significant international concerns from the EU and beyond and explain why Ireland is going alone on alcohol labels at a time when harmonised labels are being planned across the EU. The Government have been staunch defenders of the harmonised EU market but is now clearly causing unnecessary tensions with important trading partners. We do not need two labelling systems. The logic remains that Ireland works with the EU on its plans for a harmonised approach.”

In January, Italy’s ambassador to Ireland, Ruggero Corrias, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ “There is nothing wrong with the warnings, the point is the warnings should be proportionate and, in this case, since you’re talking about wine, saying that drinking alcohol on a bottle of wine causes liver disease is totally disproportionate.”

Italy remains a major exporter of wine.