Monday, September 20, 2010

Priest urges people to celebrate Arthurs Day with prayer not pint

Arthur Guinness fans should hail him with a prayer rather than a pint next Thursday a priest has said.

Speaking this week, one of Ireland's leading social commentators Fr Michael MacGreil who is a former spiritual director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) has claimed that plans encouraging people to have a pint of Guinness at 17:59 on September 23 on so-called Arthurs Day is merely a gimmick employed by drinks group Diageo.

Fr McGreil, who is based in Westport in County Mayo said, “”thur Guinness was a good man and he did a lot for the people of Ireland, but all of this talk of 'to Arthur, to Argur, to Arthur' is just a nonsense.”

“It's just a gimmick by Diageo to sell more drink and it smears the good name and character of Arthur Guinness. Moreover, I people really think that much of Arthur Guinness and his memory , they should say a quiet prayer at 17:59 to him during the Angelus instead of drinking.”

Fr McGreil has published a number of reports in recent months including a major study of discrimination against travelling people in Ireland.

SIC: CIN/IE