rgouette wrote:
I confess myself 100% ignorant of Arthur's Day, until 5 minutes ago..
The lads didn't take to the Diageo merger then..?
The Diageo factor was only part of the issue. Much had to do with Christy's success in overcoming his own issues with the demon drink, and his insight into how we are manipulated into thinking that drink is an intrinsic part of the national cultural heritage. Add to that a growing national awareness that drinking in Ireland (and the UK) seems more and more to be a binge thing indulged in by people at ever-younger ages. While raising a glass to Arthur at 17:59 as a once-off in 2009 seemed like a fun idea, turning it into an annual orgy of drinking from 6pm and vomiting in the streets till past midnight just looked like overkill. And there's enough of that done on Patrick's Day without setting up a competing event.
Diageo gets vast amounts of free publicity on practically every State visit to Ireland, with photos of everyone from Obama to the UK's Prince Philip with a pint of Guinness in their hand. But the suits didn't do themselves any favours by threatening to pull brewing out of Dublin altogether a couple of years ago. They've already been pricking around with the brand in increasingly desperate efforts to make it trendy, because it's seen as a mature man's drink. Closing the James's Gate brewery would have been the final chapter in a transition from the era when Guinness's was a paternalistic and sectarian (no Catholics above middle management) but highly-regarded provider of thousands of well-paid and secure jobs in Dublin. </rant>
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