Irish taxpayers forced to fork out after Dublin mayor spends entire beer allowance … twice

Ireland’s taxpayers have had to give an unusual bail out to the Lord Mayor of Dublin after the politician twice exceeded his yearly beer allowance, quickly burning through around 13,000 pints of Guinness.

Lord Mayor Nial Ring’s official residence, the Mansion House, was supplied with 120 kegs (around 10,560 pints) of free beer when his term began last June as part of a long-standing tradition with the manufacturers of Guinness, Diageo.

However Ring used up the first allowance by January – far outpacing the two lord mayors before him, the Dublin InQuirer reported. Upon request, Diageo agreed to supply an additional 30 kegs of free Guinness to the city center venue.

The second top-up then ran out in March and Dublin City Council was forced to spend €15,280 of taxpayers money to purchase an additional 71 kegs, the Times Ireland Edition reported on Wednesday. The latest restocking means the mayor is on track to serve about 24,000 pints during his one-year term in office.

The beer is served to guests at various social events throughout the year but Irish people appear less than impressed with the Lord Mayor’s rate of pint consumption.

When the story first hit the headlines earlier this year Ring said he’s simply more sociable than his predecessors and claimed that the Mansion House has played host to a “huge number” of “parties in the evening time,” before adding that “no one is falling out” of the government building.

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“I've had over 16,000 members of the public into the Mansion House and 8,000 at evening events. I want to say thank you to the people of Dublin,” he said to Ireland’s state broadcaster RTÉ.

Aside from the unprecedented beer spending, Dublin City Council has also reportedly spent almost €20,000 on wine, more than the two previous mayors spent during their terms combined. Thankfully, spirits aren’t served in the Mansion House.

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