After the European Union antitrust commissioner announced earlier this week that Apple received preferential treatment in terms of taxes and owes Ireland €13 billion or so for 10 years’ worth of back tax, Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling the whole thing “total political crap.” [More]
ireland
Cheapo Euro Airline Ryanair Goes Upscale, Wants To Get Into Corporate Jet Business
By 3.9.16
When we mention Ryanair on this site, it’s usually because the Irish discount carrier has come up with yet another misery-inducing way to save money, like charging for restrooms, selling standing-room tickets, and asking crew members to lose some weight to save on fuel. The airline’s latest venture is a spacious corporate-style jet with leather seats and fancy food. Wait, what? [More]
McDonald’s Can’t Use The Word “Artisan” To Describe Limited-Edition Burger In Ireland
By 9.1.15
In a world where marketers are constantly trying to catch the attention of shoppers with products that are seen as fresh, wholesome and healthy, there are some words that perhaps used to mean something more to people than they used to. Like “artisan” — in the past, this would’ve meant a skilled worker spending time and great effort on making something. Now, that could just mean more premium ingredients on your fast food burger. But in Ireland, it’s not so easy to use such words lightly, as McDonald’s recently found out with its first attempt at an “artisan” Irish burger. [More]
Burger King Tried To Block Trademark Application For 1,200-Year-Old Gospel Manuscript
By 8.11.15
While Burger King might be technically older than McDonald’s Corp., it’s certainly not older than the Book of Kells, a 9th Century illuminated manuscript of the New Testament Gospels. But when Trinity College Dublin tried to trademark the Book of Kells name and related “BK merchandise,” Burger King’s legal eagles objected, claiming it would infringe on the fast-food giant’s marks. [More]
Plane Forced To Return To Airport Because Crew Forgot To Unload Baggage
By 7.30.15
There are a lot of things on the to-do list whenever a plane prepares to depart from an airport: Passengers on board? Got enough fuel? Snacks and drinks stocked? How about all the checked baggage? Wait, what do you mean you forgot to take care of all the checked bags? [More]
Disruptive Passenger Leaves Fellow United Travelers Stranded In Belfast Terminal For Nearly 24 Hours
By 6.22.15
United Airlines had a decidedly less-than-stellar week when it came to dealing with larger-scale customer service issues. Just days after the company faced the ire of travelers who had to spend the night hunkered down at a cold Canadian military base, the airline found itself on the receiving end of more backlash after nearly 300 passengers and crew were made to wait five hours on the tarmac and sleep in a closed terminal after their flight was diverted. [More]
U.S. To Accept Irish Beef Imports Again, 15 Years After Mad Cow Scare
By 1.5.15
Americans loooove stuff from Ireland — rolling green hills, thatched roof cottages, saint’s days that give you an excuse to binge drink… But for the last 15 years, Irish beef has definitely not been one of them, after the mad cow scare that rocked Europe and ended beef imports into the U.S. from the countries affected. Until now, as the United States says it’ll start accepting imported beef from Ireland soon. [More]
Would You Switch Utility Providers For Free Nest Thermostat?
By 11.5.14
While the wireless industry is trying to abandon the practice of giving customers hardware discounts in exchange for agreeing to a two-year contract, Google is trying out that subsidized-device approach in Ireland with its pricey Nest thermostats. [More]
N.Y. Bar Changes “No Irish Drunks” Sign To “No Sensitive Drunks”
By 7.28.14
It’s time for us to make peace with our Irish brethren, America. A veritable war of words between our country and the Emerald Isle sprung up when a cafe in Ireland posted a sign telling “loud Americans” to stay away, a controversy that pulled in a New York establishment warning “NO IRISH DRUNKS” were allowed. The good news is we seem to have settled things and can all agree that anyone can be loud and drunk, we’re all humans, after all. [More]
Irish Cafe Tells “Loud American’s” & Other Tourists To Stay Away
By 7.22.14
Perhaps it’s a form of anti-publicity that the owners hope will turn them into the next Amy’s Baking Company, with people just coming by to see what all the hubbub is about, but a restaurant in Ireland has irked a good portion of its potential customer base with a sign telling tourist — and specifically American tourists — to get lost. [More]
Angry McDonald’s Customer Kicks In Glass Door, Pepper Sprays Staff
By 3.19.14
(In case you hadn’t guessed, the above video contains some NSFW utterances, so turn down your volume or put on headphones before everyone at work notices). We think we’ve found a soulmate for the Florida woman who torched her dining companion’s car after he refused to buy her a McFlurry. It’s this guy in Galway, Ireland, who kicked in the glass door of his local Golden Arches and then repeatedly pepper-sprayed the people inside. [More]
Why Dyeing Food And Beer Green For St. Patrick’s Day Is Actually Kind Of Sad
By 3.17.14
I’ll be the first to admit it: At one point in my life (read: college) drinking beer dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day felt like my genetic right as a Midwesterner with an Irish surname. And to be sure, every year there are probably millions of people eating and drinking green food and beverages to celebrate the day. But green food has another meaning for the Irish, one that makes the American dyeing tradition kind of… sad. [More]
My Web Host Bought Me A Domino’s Pizza Just Because I Asked
By 2.11.13
Glen is a web developer in Northern Ireland. He recently switched back to using a web-hosting company he’d left about a year before. And when the provider asked if it could help with anything else and Glen jokingly requested a pizza, he was in for a surprise. [More]
Burger King Decides To Not Take The Chance Of Horse Meat Ending Up In Its Whoppers
By 1.24.13
Burger King has decided to end its relationship with a meat processing company in Ireland that, last week, was among those found to be churning out some beef products containing small amounts of horse meat. [More]
Ryanair Launches "Child Free Flights"
By 4.1.11
Most proclamations by RyanAir, the Irish “jet strapped to a metal pole” low-cost airline, sound like April Fool’s jokes anyway but at least their attempt today is right on message. RyanAir announced they are introducing “child free flights” starting late this year. “When it comes to children we all love our own but would clearly prefer to avoid other people’s little monsters when travelling,” said RyanAir’s head of communications Stephen McNamara in a press release. Staying classy is not what this airline is selling. [More]
RyanAir Mighta Just Been Making Up Toilet Fee Idea
By 2.27.09
“Maybe O’Leary was just taking the piss this morning… Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and while this has been discussed internally there are no immediate plans to introduce it,” said a RyanAir spokesperson in response to the CEO announcing this morning they were thinking about having coin-operated lavatory doors onboard the aircraft.
RyanAir Thinking About Charging For Toilets
By 2.27.09
Ultra low-cost Irish carrier RyanAir is thinking about putting a coin slot on lavatory doors so passengers will have to pay when they empty their loose change from their coin slot.
RyanAir Employee Calls Blogger "Idiot," And Their Spokesperson Publicly Agrees
By 2.25.09
So blogger Jason Roe finds what he thinks is an error on the RyanAir site that would let you buy airfare from the zero-frills a-la-carte Irish airline for free. An employee decided t make nasty comments in Jason’s comments section, calling him “idiot and a liar!” and saying that he probably can’t get a date. Which was not that surprising. Nor was it surprising that a RyanAir PR rep responded to the situation. What was surprising was that the PR rep sided with the commenter and heaped further abuse on the blogger!
