‘Drunken Irish’ clothes criticised

Senior US politicians have contacted clothing retailer Urban Outfitters over a fashion range which plays on the stereotype of the ‘drunken Irish’.

Urban Outfitters launched the clothing line last month, with T-shirts and hats riffing on our reputation for enjoying a few pints — and the rest — in advance of St Patrick’s Day.

The clothing line, which can be bought online, features slogans such as ‘Kiss me I’m Irish, or drunk, or whatever’, and ‘Irish Yoga’ over a picture of a drunk man vomiting.

While it may have started as a joke, Irish-Americans are not seeing the funny side. It emerged at the weekend that members of the US Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs had written to the fashion company claiming the items had gone “a step too far”.

“We understand that such items may have been created with the intent of good humour,” the committee members wrote in a letter to Urban Outfitters.

“And, as members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, we know that Irish and Irish-Americans often revel in self-deprecating and blunt humour.

“However, we believe these items represent a step too far, crossing a line into stereotyping and denigration, which is why you are likely hearing from so many Irish-Americans about the matter.”

The action follows a similar letter sent last month to Urban Outfitters by Seamus Boyle, president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America.

Meanwhile, and with exquisite timing, an Irish consulate outpost has been set up in Las Vegas to deal with the number of holidaymakers who find themselves in trouble.

The existing San Francisco-based consulate has dealt with about 50 cases from Las Vegas in the past year, including one in which a young Irish woman ran naked through a casino.