Beer necessity of life

Date: 03/10/1996

The public relations side of the Irish presidency has been running so smoothly that it is surely time to chalk up one black mark - and this is it: one Irish journalist, proudly showing a fellow EU hack around Dublin during the recent Ecofin informal, led his visitor into a typical Irish pub.

They strode up to the bar and asked for a couple of pints of that black stuff with a creamy froth on the top which, more than anything else you can think of, is synonymous with Ireland.

“I'm sorry sir,” said the barman with a shake of his head. “We don't sell Guinness.”

There is now growing speculation that Scotsmen don't wear kilts and that the Welsh can't sing.