"Irish House" is the big gathering place for the Winter Olympics, located just off the slopes in Vancouver. But what most of the 750 people who cram in there every night don't know is that it has nothing to do with Ireland or the Irish team.

Irish House is a giant extension of an Irish bar which is passing itself off as the headquarters of the Irish team in Vancouver. When there was a noisy celebration last week, it was blamed on the Irish team's partying and drew worldwide headlines.

This nonsense is in spite of the fact that there are only six Irish competitors at the Games, and they are all utter no-hopers who can just about ski to the local pub.

After all, Ireland is a country which was paralyzed by a few inches of snow throughout the Christmas holidays as natives struggled to grapple with the strange white stuff.

Mary O'Connor, a Canadian writer for Media Post, has taken the fake Irish atmosphere to task.

"The best I've seen thus far is 'The Irish House,' a giant tented extension of an Irish bar, which many think is the official house of the Irish team. While it's an excellent marketing ploy, it begs the question: Are consumers really gullible enough to believe that Ireland has a big enough Winter Olympics team to justify an official house, or are they simply taking full advantage of the opportunity to party with others from around the world at the Olympics?"

It sounds like the latter, Mary. Irish House has as much to do with Ireland as fish have to do with bicycles.

But never mind. Party on, people.