The Dock Bar and Grill in Montauk, New York has caused outrage after putting up a sign with the message “no Irish drunks”.
The sign reads in full: no yapping mutts, no Irish drunks, no screaming kids, no cell phones, no strollers and no public restrooms.
Pauline Turley, vice chairperson of the board of Irish Arts Centre in New York, noticed the sign and told IrishCentral.com that she was upset by it.
Ms Turley, from Co. Down, said “I was taken aback by the way that kind of stereotype was so blatantly displayed. “No Irish Drunks,’ that’s very pointed”.
She went on to say: “As a nation we tend to be very self-deprecating, and our humility and humour are parts of what make us so likable,” she said in conversation with IrishCentral.
“But I do wonder what messages we are sending to our children, what stereotypes we are allowing to persist to the broader population, if we don’t push back. What other ethnicity would laugh off such a sign?”
The owner of The Dock Bar and Grill, George Watson, is of Irish descent and in a short biography on the venue’s website, he elaborates on the sense of humour at The Dock.
“At The Dock, we feel that in order for a joke to be funny, it must be told at someone’s expense. We tell ethnic, sexist, and racial jokes – everyone gets their turn in the barrel”.
Image via Twitter
