Queen's visit to Guinnes Storehouse

kevin99

Why oh why do we Irish always expect visiting dignitaries to 'down' or to 'sip' a pint of Guinness?

My God, can we not grow up and avoid associating alcohol with everything we do in this country?

This morning I watched on television the barman in the Guinness Hopstore show the Queen and Philip how a pint of Guinness is pulled. He left it on the bar. Did he think she was going to pick it up a sip or knock it back? She stood slightly awkward for a few seconds and moved on.

Philip did the same.

Was the barman and his bosses not warned beforehand that on no account place the Queen and PHilip in an awkward situation where they have to turn down an offer or invitation to take a drink of the stuff?

I remember the media reporting on and showing photos of Ronald Reagan drinking a pint in his home town of Ballyporeen in Tipperary and Bill Clinton drinking a pint I think Cassidy's in Dublin. I think Tony Blair was also persuaded to have a pint, in Fagans?

But can we not just cut out drink as part of official visits to this country? God knows we have an unenviable reputation worldwide when it come to alcohol.
Why did she go to the Guinness Hopstore anyway? Who thought that one up?
And I didn't know Ryan Tubridy was double jobbing. Remember RTE Primtime earlier this week highlighted a bus driver double jobbing by driving a taxi.

Later in the day I hear some reporter on RTE radio recapping the day's events of the Royal visit, saying some journalists at the press centre in Dublin Castle were willing the Queen and Philip to drink the pint. I mean for God's sake. Have we nothing else to be proud of in this country than alcohol?

alan85

Tubridy was cringe. He was so patronising! The man who served them is called Fergal Murray. Fancies himself as the face of Guinness Brewing and calls himself head brewer or something. I thought it seemed awkward. No jokes.... Feckin 6 hoops to jump before you can drink it. Why not get Philly to pour his own? That would have given some great shots for Guinness!

flogen

kevin99 wrote: »

Why did she go to the Guinness Hopstore anyway? Who thought that one up?

Well given that the Guinness brewery is the most visited paid-for tourist attraction in Ireland, and so very valuable as a tourism asset, I'd say it was Fáilte Ireland that thought it up.

Later in the day I hear some reporter on RTE radio recapping the day's events of the Royal visit, saying some journalists at the press centre in Dublin Castle were willing the Queen and Philip to drink the pint.

Of course they were because it would have been a great visual / photo op - I doubt many thought it was going to actually happen (though Philip seemed to give it a fair bit of thought before walking away).

A Dub in Glasgo

Very good business for Diageo as well

IRE60

Great for Ireland Inc.

Great for the Guinness Storehouse.

And as flogen said, the most popular single tourist destination - so more of that please. I hear tills. Tills of Sterling (and come Monday tills of Dollar - 'love you long time')

@Kevin99: Are you recording this whole event so you can review it and pick holes in your fellow countrymen at every turn.

We're Citizens, not subjects and because of that we are bestowed certain "latitudes" in dealing with subjects, albeit these particular subjects are subject to themselves and, well, it gets terrible difficult after that.

So, as Citizens we are granted certain levels of gaiety and frivolity only dreamt of by subjects. We have cast off the shackles of subject-dom (Websters - please note a new word) and donned the happy and tattered trench coat of, well, ourselves.

'Native' was the term that His Maj used only yesterday to describe this particular bunch of citizens. Honest: speaking to a girl in Trinity he asked her was she Irish because as her accent didn't sound like 'the Natives'.

Umm - and all we did was grab her by the elbow once and on another occasion encourage (non verbally) her to take a sip of the black stuff (or dark ruby red stuff to be accurate - but it doesn't have the same ring).

Thank God the two 'gaffs' didn't collide!

I wonder can you still be beheaded for physically forcing (b' the elbow, as they'd say in the Pale) a Monarch to drink Stout before the Angelus has peeled.

Dubs 2 Royals 1 we, and that's a Royal “we” b.t.w., make the etiquette infractions at this point.

AND, on another post earlier today you dreamt up 'NickyGate' all on your own and went at that like a rabid dog for a bit.

Now, in this post, is "St James' Gate".

Would you not get out of the house for a bit? The air would do you something special.

jdivision

It's a British company, Guinness hasn't been Irish for a couple of generations but trades on it to maximise profits.

Batsy

jdivision wrote: »

It's a British company, Guinness hasn't been Irish for a couple of generations but trades on it to maximise profits.

Correct. Guinness has been based in London since 1932. In 1997 it merged with British company Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo, the world's largest producer of spirits and one of the largest producers of beer and wine.

jdivision

A legacy of De Valera's economic lunacy that turned this country into a backwards bywater for decades

Ash.J.Williams

Diageo have moved brewing back to Ireland, but they'd be gone in a heartbeat if it made economic sense. I'd say they are still reeling after failing to sell James' gate during the boom. That hurt them badly i'd say.

padd b1975

alan85 wrote: »

Tubridy was cringe. He was so patronising! The man who served them is called Fergal Murray. Fancies himself as the face of Guinness Brewing and calls himself head brewer or something. I thought it seemed awkward. No jokes.... Feckin 6 hoops to jump before you can drink it. Why not get Philly to pour his own? That would have given some great shots for Guinness!

Fergal Murray is actually a Master Brewer.
Ironic thing about him, he is one of the last people on earth I would want to go for a pint with.

jdivision

They never moved brewing away, the just did it elsewhere if you know what I mean. They're not Irish. It's a con.

kevin99

But why do we have to promote alcohol if such a way when the country is awash with alcoholics, young and old?

Nolanger

It's called 'playing up to the stereotype'. That Book of Kells isn't Irish either. It's from Iona in Scotland - as Prince Philip pointed out in TCD to embarrassed laughter!

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

jdivision wrote: »

It's a British company, Guinness hasn't been Irish for a couple of generations but trades on it to maximise profits.

Given that the Guinness family were among the most prominent southern unionists for many decades. I don't think they ever fully saw themselves as being Irish.