If anything, they and many pub owners say, Guinness' focus in the last few years on uniform brewing standards, rigid delivery and sales schedules, and scrupulous tap-cleaning regimens at pubs across Ireland have made Guinness better than it used to be.
The campaign to make Guinness as good as it can be, along with heavy marketing, helped last year to turn around the slump in Irish sales. So what if a third of all Guinness is now sold in Africa?
"People keep saying Guinness is in demise. Well, it's not. We're a global business, we're sold in over 150 countries. I've seen all those places go up and down, but our general trend has been inextricably upwards, and I expect that to continue," Duffy said.
"As far as Ireland goes, we continue to be happy with the progress we're making. We obviously need to connect to new consumers as they come into the market, but we're not aiming for this to be the fad drink for every new consumer that decides to embrace alcohol."
At Davy Byrnes, the conversation has moved on to whether John McCain inappropriately placated his Vietnamese captors ("He sang like a canary," Winter declares); the mass suicide and massacre of Jews in York in 1190; Stalin's execution of top army officers in the run-up to World War II; and a song by the Waterboys on a similar subject. Someone tries to remember how it goes. An argument ensues over whether the Waterboys ought to be considered an Irish band, or Scottish, or English.
Delany, the barman, looks to be of the opinion that he's not getting paid enough to keep pouring the Guinness down here, but pour he does.
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kim.murphy@latimes.com
