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“Who Doesn’t Love Dodging Vomit and Flying Fists?” Australian Journalist Posts Scathing Attack on Irish Pubs Down Under

Published 13:04 2 Aug 2013 BST

Rebecca McKnight

“Who Doesn’t Love Dodging Vomit and Flying Fists?” Australian Journalist Posts Scathing Attack on Irish Pubs Down Under

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"Irish pubs are great. Who doesn't love dodging vomit and flying fists?"

So begins a scathing attack on the Irish in Australia by writer Anthony Sharwood, in a piece which is quickly attracting attention online for all the wrong reasons.

You'll find Irish bars in every corner of the globe, but with so many of our young men and women now heading Down Under in search of employment and opportunities, more of these establishments have sprung up in Australia in recent years.

In his piece, published on www.news.com.au, Sharwood writes about the closure of two Irish pubs, asking if they've now 'had their day'.

Some of the more offensive lines include:

"You meet the loveliest people in Irish pubs. When police release the annual list of the state's most dangerous drinking venues, there's usually just a paltry two or three Irish pubs in the top 10.

"To be sure, to be sure, the music in Irish pubs is uplifting. Who doesn't love the mournful dirges of those traditional Irish minstrels Sinead O'Connor and Bono? Who doesn't want to watch frumpy middle-aged couples dance to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl?

"...we thought the biggest problem was raucously drunk backpackers who travel halfway round the world to behave even worse than they do in Cork and Dublin.

Sharwood also takes his opportunity to point out that hurling is a sport, and "not organised vomiting".

Sharing the article on his Twitter account Sharwood said: 'Dear oh dear, I appear to have offended... well... everyone. Again." When questioned on racist elements in the piece, his replies included:

"I'm kinda wondering what an Irish echo sounds like. Guessing it kinda goes "to be sure... to be sure... to be sure... etc" and "Dear Ireland, I was writing about the awful Aussie pubs bearing your country's name, not your country or people. Top of the evening to y'all"

Dear oh dear, I appear to have offended... well... everyone. Again. http://t.co/KD2y1Do75K
— Anthony Sharwood (@antsharwood) August 2, 2013