Irish lead the party as Guinness celebrates 250th birthday
DUBLIN — Ireland's unofficial national drink celebrated its 250th birthday Thursday, with Prime Minister Brian Cowen hailing the anniversary as "an excuse for having a great party."
A scion of the Guinness brewing dynasty was also on hand to lead toasts to the "black stuff." The brand is a huge commercial success around the world.
DUBLIN — Ireland's unofficial national drink celebrated its 250th birthday Thursday, with Prime Minister Brian Cowen hailing the anniversary as "an excuse for having a great party."
A scion of the Guinness brewing dynasty was also on hand to lead toasts to the "black stuff." The brand is a huge commercial success around the world.
Rory Guinness, a great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, who brewed the first pint of the dark ale in 1759, said it was a great day for the family and the company.
"One of the keys to Guinness is the fact that it comes from Ireland, because the country is what supplies the wonderful barley, the water, all the magic ingredients to go into making such a delicious pint.
"One of the keys to Guinness is the fact that it comes from Ireland, because the country is what supplies the wonderful barley, the water, all the magic ingredients to go into making such a delicious pint.
"That is Ireland and those years of history and those years of scientific expertise that has gone into perfecting the drink," the 34-year-old told RTE state radio.
Dublin is the hub of worldwide hype to toast the Guinness founder, with millions expected to down a celebratory pint of the world's most famous stout in pubs from Cork to Cotonou and Hong Kong to Honolulu.
Live music was organised in 33 Dublin pubs and Rory -- jokingly describing himself as a "tour guide" at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland's top tourist draw -- said he would "dearly love to have a pint in each of them."
Taoiseach Brian Cowen marked the occasion in a speech at the Storehouse shortly before the main party event at 17:59 pm (1659 GMT) -- to mark the year the firm began.
Calling Guinness a "global phenomenon," he said: "The Dublin celebrations are, of course, special because this is the home of the black stuff and Guinness is an iconic Irish brand -- one that we are very proud of."
Calling Guinness a "global phenomenon," he said: "The Dublin celebrations are, of course, special because this is the home of the black stuff and Guinness is an iconic Irish brand -- one that we are very proud of."
"Anniversaries are important occasions. They allow us to come together to celebrate achievement, while looking forward with confidence to the future.
"They can also provide an excuse for having a great party!" he added.
"They can also provide an excuse for having a great party!" he added.
Some 10 million pints of the black stuff are now downed every day in 150 countries.
Guinness first started to flow when its founder, equipped with a small inheritance left by his godfather Archbishop Arthur Price, signed a 9,000-year lease on a run-down brewery in Dublin's St James's Gate and started one of Ireland's biggest commercial success stories.
4 comments:
so is mac dintons participating in the great guiness toast tonight? and what time does this monumental event happen?
maybe we should have a flip game tonight where our cups are filled only with the good stuff
I second that.
ok now i'm really confusing myself... if i'm reading this correctly, the toast is at 16:59 GMT. Eastern time is 4 hours before that right? so the toast happened at 12:59 pm today?
Officially ya i suppose it did already happen at home, but what not to say we cant have our own one tnite? Just for the larf like
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