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| Do the Irish feel compelled to drink Guinness on St Patrick's Day? | Do the Irish feel compelled to drink Guinness on St Patrick's Day? |
| (25 days later) | |
| I've just been doing the Guardian's early weather story, a process a bit like quilting where you sew together bits and bobs from the avalanche of news pouring in. One titbit was about the Cheltenham Gold Cup meeting which looks like going ahead all week in spite of the ice and snow, with inter alia an estimated 220,000 pints of Guiness expected to be downed. | I've just been doing the Guardian's early weather story, a process a bit like quilting where you sew together bits and bobs from the avalanche of news pouring in. One titbit was about the Cheltenham Gold Cup meeting which looks like going ahead all week in spite of the ice and snow, with inter alia an estimated 220,000 pints of Guiness expected to be downed. |
| Hey Presto! In comes info a few minutes later from Northumbria University about an academic study of shopping habits which includes the forecast that 13 million pints of the black stuff will be drained worldwide to mark St Patrick's Day, this coming Sunday. | Hey Presto! In comes info a few minutes later from Northumbria University about an academic study of shopping habits which includes the forecast that 13 million pints of the black stuff will be drained worldwide to mark St Patrick's Day, this coming Sunday. |
| It posits the idea that: | It posits the idea that: |
| Irish people will feel compelled to drink alcohol to celebrate St Patrick's Day this Sunday whether they want to or not; even those who declare themselves as teetotal for the rest of the year. | Irish people will feel compelled to drink alcohol to celebrate St Patrick's Day this Sunday whether they want to or not; even those who declare themselves as teetotal for the rest of the year. |
| The author of the study Matthew Kearney, a marketing lecturer at Northumbria who is himself from Coleraine, says: | The author of the study Matthew Kearney, a marketing lecturer at Northumbria who is himself from Coleraine, says: |
| Alcohol consumption, when placed in the context of Ireland becomes instantly romanticised, attributed to one's underlying Celtic soul. Ireland is synonymous with alcohol; although Ireland boasts world heritage sites, titanic museums and the birth and death sites of numerous authors and poets, its most popular tourist attraction is the Guinness Storehouse. | Alcohol consumption, when placed in the context of Ireland becomes instantly romanticised, attributed to one's underlying Celtic soul. Ireland is synonymous with alcohol; although Ireland boasts world heritage sites, titanic museums and the birth and death sites of numerous authors and poets, its most popular tourist attraction is the Guinness Storehouse. |
| When Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip make a point of publicly enjoying a Guinness experience while visiting Ireland, it starts to become even more apparent that alcohol consumption is so completely intertwined with 'Irishness.' | When Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip make a point of publicly enjoying a Guinness experience while visiting Ireland, it starts to become even more apparent that alcohol consumption is so completely intertwined with 'Irishness.' |
His evidence, over and above a lifelong experience of the phenomenon, is a collection of shopping diaries kept by 70 Irish men and women in their twenties and thirties, which record both purchases and the group's feelings and analysis of the things that they buy. In-depth interviews followed with a third of the example and all manner of interesting findings emerged. | His evidence, over and above a lifelong experience of the phenomenon, is a collection of shopping diaries kept by 70 Irish men and women in their twenties and thirties, which record both purchases and the group's feelings and analysis of the things that they buy. In-depth interviews followed with a third of the example and all manner of interesting findings emerged. |
| The St Patrick's Day one is timely, obviously, but the correlation of alcohol and especially Guinness with Irishness has counterparts in, for example, Northumbria's neighbour Newcastle Brown, an Englishman's pint of bitter or the Scottish obsession with whisky. Should Alex Salmond win the day in 2014, he will surely be toasted by many who screw up their faces in disgust as they knock back the mixture of fire and medicine. | The St Patrick's Day one is timely, obviously, but the correlation of alcohol and especially Guinness with Irishness has counterparts in, for example, Northumbria's neighbour Newcastle Brown, an Englishman's pint of bitter or the Scottish obsession with whisky. Should Alex Salmond win the day in 2014, he will surely be toasted by many who screw up their faces in disgust as they knock back the mixture of fire and medicine. |
| Kearney's work for his doctorate found that every one of the 70 participants spent heavily on drink on St Patrick's Day which all of them celebrated – as opposed to St Valentine's which some did not bother about. The idea of 'lad's culture' was dispelled by the fact that the sample was half men, half women and the latter included someone who spent £350 on largely alcoholic celebrations last year. | Kearney's work for his doctorate found that every one of the 70 participants spent heavily on drink on St Patrick's Day which all of them celebrated – as opposed to St Valentine's which some did not bother about. The idea of 'lad's culture' was dispelled by the fact that the sample was half men, half women and the latter included someone who spent £350 on largely alcoholic celebrations last year. |
| Kearney says: | Kearney says: |
| Many of the people who took part in the research seemed to feel an inescapable pressure to drink as though it is part of Irish consumers' culture and heritage. When this is combined with the expectations of others, created by the concerted efforts of marketers, the result appears to be inevitable. | Many of the people who took part in the research seemed to feel an inescapable pressure to drink as though it is part of Irish consumers' culture and heritage. When this is combined with the expectations of others, created by the concerted efforts of marketers, the result appears to be inevitable. |
| However, many of those I interviewed expressed extreme regret in the aftermath of the day while others demonstrated a learned helplessness towards stopping drinking on the day. There seems to be a perception that it's their duty. | However, many of those I interviewed expressed extreme regret in the aftermath of the day while others demonstrated a learned helplessness towards stopping drinking on the day. There seems to be a perception that it's their duty. |
| I had a cousin, now departed, who made a non-alcoholic wine on Guernsey called Green Spot. Maybe we could revive it as a wholesome alternative way of celebrating the great saint, with Matthew Kearney in charge of the marketing. | I had a cousin, now departed, who made a non-alcoholic wine on Guernsey called Green Spot. Maybe we could revive it as a wholesome alternative way of celebrating the great saint, with Matthew Kearney in charge of the marketing. |
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