Monthly Archives: September 2010

Here at the Irish Pubs Global office we're busy tying up the loose ends following our convention last week. I'll post a full report on the event in a day or so, but I wanted to share this very nice letter sent to our sales director, Cillian McGovern, by one of the convention participants. I think it captures the marvelous spirit that was present at the first of many Irish Pubs Global Conventions of Owners and Managers. Dear Cillian, Once again I would like to congratulate you, Enda and your team on an excellent event. It was not only useful, inspiring, and informative but it was good fun too. Personally a wealth of opportunities presented themselves and for this I am thankful. The vast array of larger-than-life personalities that attended, and the wealth of knowledge, experience, ideas and innovation that [...]

I'm writing from the back of the room here at the Irish Pubs Global first annual convention of Irish Pub Owners and managers around the world. It's been a great success so far - and it's not over yet! We had a packed day of great, useful content yesterday, Dave Magrogran of Rhino Living started the day with a most inspiring keynote speech and his exhortation to "Charge!" certainly set the tone for the day. We had talks from reps of Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board), Tourism Ireland, the Guinness Storehouse, and more... And today we had Mel McNally talking about his vision of the Irish pub. As I write our co-blogger Barry Chandler is talking about great ways that pubs can use social media to maximise their business. Patrick McDermott of Stocktaking.ie is up next, followed by PR [...]

I've already written about how excited we are to be having Rory Guinness as the guest of honour at our gala dinner in the Galway Bay Hotel on Wednesday, September 22. Well, we've got another special guest on board: Mr Tayto! How did we get this legend to attend the Irish Pubs Global convention? Well, his friends at Largo Foods are sponsoring the lifetime achievement award that we'll be presenting to a leading figure active in promoting Irish pubs abroad. So they've asked Mr Tayto to come along to help them present the award. And no better man! Every exiled Irish man and woman knows in his or her heart that what they really need is a packet of Tayto crisps to fend off the homesickness... There's even a Facebook page urging Irish people to send Tayto crisps [...]

We've got a lot of special highlights for people coming to our convention here in Galway next week. There'll be a lot of useful information on building your business through great Irish food and drink, focusing on tourism and heritage, and building your links with Ireland. But we've got one talk that will be different: It's aimed at inspiring you to take control of your business in a new way - by charging like a rhino! Dave Magrogan will address us on "How to Build, Expand, and Grow Pubs in ANY Economy". As Dave himself promises, "This substance-packed Rhino keynote address is guaranteed to profoundly impact your pub's effectiveness - boosting productivity and profitability. Charge!" "It will be a memorable, results-driven approach to building businesses, achieving goals, and strengthening teams, allow participants to engage and prepare them and [...]

It's more bad news from the pub trade here in Ireland, as the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland reports a 14.1% decline in the first seven months of 2010 as the nation continues its economic crisis. [Visit the DIGI website.] DIGI chair Kieran Tobin says that pubs are in crisis, with pub closures and job losses looming. 'The 14.1% decline in the value of pub sales in the first seven months of 2010 comes on top of an 8.8% decline in 2009. Of particular concern are the ongoing prospects of weak consumer demand for the immediate future and the ongoing cost pressure being generated by Government-related costs such as commercial rates and regulation. As a consequence, the sector is in a crisis situation. 'This is part of a wider trend of decline in the on-trade over the last [...]

It's more bad news from the pub trade here in Ireland, as the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland reports a 14.1% decline in the first seven months of 2010 as the nation continues its economic crisis. [Visit the DIGI website.] DIGI chair Kieran Tobin says that pubs are in crisis, with pub closures and job losses looming. 'The 14.1% decline in the value of pub sales in the first seven months of 2010 comes on top of an 8.8% decline in 2009. Of particular concern are the ongoing prospects of weak consumer demand for the immediate future and the ongoing cost pressure being generated by Government-related costs such as commercial rates and regulation. As a consequence, the sector is in a crisis situation. 'This is part of a wider trend of decline in the on-trade over the last [...]

With less than two weeks to go, our convention planning is at fever pitch! We're nearly there now, with just the final bits off to the printers and only the polishing to do on our planning. We're not the only ones who have been hard at work: the Guinness people have been planning the Arthur's Day festivities in Ireland and around the world. Here in Galway the lineup is impressive: David Grey is topping the bill, but if that's not enough for you, he'll be playing alongside The Magic Numbers, Newton Faulkner, Sharon Shannon and the winners of the Guinness Our Thursdays band competition - plus a special guest or two. Arthur's Day, of course, is the global celebration of Guinness that was first held last year to celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the lease on the [...]