Conference tallis::celt

1546.0. "desparate measures..." by MKTCRV::KMANNERINGS () Fri Feb 02 1996 06:56

    
    
    From today's Irish Times
    
    US mayor backs Bushmills boycott 
    
    
    By Frank McNally 
    
    THE newly-elected mayor of San Francisco has thrown himself behind a
    campaign to boycott Bushmills whiskey, by
    pouring a bottle of Antrim's finest down the city drains.
    
    The action by Mr Willie Brown, a Democrat, came in response to a call
    for a boycott from an Irish-American group which
    has accused Bushmills of anti-Catholic employment practices. Latest
    figures from the Fair Employment Commission suggest
    that only 10 of the distillery's 108-member workforce are Catholics.
    
    But Irish Distillers, owners of the brand, expressed ``surprise and
    disappointment'' at the allegations, which it said were
    without foundation.
    
    The company said that improved technology in the industry has left
    little room for new employment in recent years and that
    in Bushmills' only expanding area - the visitors centre - Catholic
    employment runs at 27 per cent.
    
    In any case, the company added, the village of Bushmills and its
    hinterland are overwhelmingly Protestant.
    
    This argument was rejected by Mr Joe O'Donoghue, president of the John
    Maher Irish-American Democratic Club, which is
    spearheading the boycott. ``If you used that argument in a San
    Francisco court, the judge would hold you in contempt and
    probably exact damages. The whole basis of the conflict in the North is
    that Catholics cannot get employment.''
    
    Mr O'Donoghue predicted the boycott would seriously affect Bushmills'
    sales. He said the campaign had already
    ``leap-frogged'' into Boston, and would shortly extend to New York and
    New Jersey.
    
    ``This is major, make no mistake. I estimate we won't hurt them in the
    first quarter of the year, because most bar-owners
    have already done their inventories for St Patrick's Day. But come the
    second quarter, they're going to feel the pinch.''
    
    The barman at San Francisco's Irish Culture Centre said last night he
    had seen no evidence yet that the boycott was taking
    effect. ``Nobody's told me we shouldn't be selling it,'' he said.
    

    I hope it was a bottle of the cheap blended grain stuff and not a bottle of
    the sigle malt, that would be sacrilege.  I wonder what the NI trade
    unions say about it. It seems unclear to me why they have picked
    Bushmills in particular.
    
    Kevin

I guess they picked Bushmills because it is in the North. I don't think there
are any other distilleries still working there, although I may be wrong.
There used to be one in Coleraine.

If they want rid of any of the good stuff, I could find a home for it...

Dave

    Its a bit of a shame as Bushmills 10 is one of my favorite chaser
    malts.
    
    Shaun.