England’s Christmas Gift to Ireland: Cheap Beer and Bites - Bloomberg

England’s Christmas Gift to Ireland: Cheap Beer and Bites - Bloomberg: "Stouts sell for 2.50 euros at the bar, compared with about 5 euros for a pint of Guinness in the city center. The company’s Irish bars don’t sell Guinness because Diageo wouldn’t supply it at the right price, according to Gershon.

Diageo says it reflects higher costs in Ireland than in the U.K. and that it’s up to landlords to set prices. Guinness accounts for about one in three pints sold in Irish bars.

“Guinness said, ‘well, you aren’t going to open without Guinness,’” Gershon said. “‘Well,’ we said, ‘we are.’ It hasn’t been an issue at all.”

At the darkened interior of Buck Henry’s Bar and Grill on Dun Laoghaire’s main street, locals at the bar discussed the new arrival around the corner.

“It’s not realistic for us to charge those prices,” said Derek O’Brien, who runs the bar. “If we did, there wouldn’t be any pub, it just wouldn’t be sustainable. We offer things they don’t: table service, sports.”

O’Brien can see an upside, suggesting Wetherspoon will bring in customers, and that his bar, which opens until 2:30 a.m., can draw drinkers once Wetherspoon closes at around midnight."



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