I see the Vancouver Sun has taken me to task for calling the Irish House a fake Irish pub.
It is the centerpiece of the Olympics after hours, the place where athletes hang out, the paper says, but I continue to say it is as Irish as Canadian bacon or curling. It is the Stephen Colbert of Irish pubs, pretending to be something it isn't. It is fitting that Colbert appeared there this week.
The defenders of Irish House, a prefabricated drinking pit, say it's real because the Irish team hangs out there.
What they won't admit is that there is barely an Irish team, six in all, and they have as much chance of winning a medal as I do. Most have likely gone home already.
Let me repeat: "Irish House has as much to do with Ireland as fish have to do with bicycles."
The Sun quotes George McDonnell, B.C., vice president of the Irish Heritage Society (which has a booth at Irish House) who "also dismissed my claim as a bunch of malarkey."
"This is the Irish House, which Doolin's built for the Irish community," he said. "There's nothing fake about it."
With all due respect, George, the Irish community wouldn't be caught dead in it, and you know it as well as I do.
Tell the truth. It is a fake.
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