Guinness nearly ditched Irish links over IRA

Brewer Guinness was prepared to drop associations with Ireland and promote itself as an English company in the 1980s because of the IRA bombing campaigns, state papers have revealed.

The rebranding plan was prepared on the back of deepening resentment of Ireland and Irish brands in Britain, public relations chief Edward Guinness told embassy officials in London.

“Mr Guinness remarked that an association with Ireland was part of the Guinness image,” Paul D Dempsey of the embassy wrote.