Comedian Ensures the Craic Is Mighty at Irish Bar
Customers at a new Irish pub are being guaranteed fun night outs – thanks to a plan to give bar staff comedy charm school lessons.
Irish funnyman Paddy McCullagh has been hired to help staff at Biddy Mulligan’s provide a warm and witty welcome to punters when it reopens after a refurbishment next week.
Paddy will teach staff how to ensure the joke isn’t on them by giving tips and advice on how to welcome customers ensuring they get the best quality service and he will even throw in a few one liners they can use to help get the craic started.
He, said: “Working in a bar, it’s all become a bit mechanical really, too fast paced. You pour the drink and ask the customer for the money. ”The idea behind this is that we get people talking again and make visiting bars more of an experience rather than just something you do when you’re thirsty.” ”I know that I’m far more likely to revisit a bar if I know it’s a place I can go to talk to staff rather than sit there alone whilst they talk amongst themselves.”
As well as the charm school lessons in craic and the occasional conjuring trick, staff will also undergo extensive training across all areas of food and drink service, including product knowledge, how to pour the perfect pint and whisky knowledge. They will also learn traditional Irish dancing so they can join in with the bar’s live entertainment.
Donal Hurrell, fellow Irishman and General Manager of Biddy Mulligan’s said: “It is important that our customers not only get a real Irish experience when they come here, but that they also get the best quality service possible.
“We Irish are well known for our charm and the fact that many of us could talk for Ireland, so what better way of teaching the staff how to give top notch customer service than lessons from a real Irishman and a funny one at that!
“Hopefully this will be a bit of fun for staff and a great addition to their training which breaks from the normal stuff training associated with bar work. It certainly shows we have a great sense of humour and don’t take ourselves too seriously.
“Biddy Mulligan’s has always been a popular spot with locals and tourists and the new bar will build on this and offer customers somewhere which is very relaxed and welcoming, but above all it will be about having a real Irish craic.”
Biddy Mulligan’s in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh is set to open in the first week of July after a four week refurbishment which will offer a real taste of Ireland for locals and toursists alike. As well as traditional Irish food and drink the bar will also have live music seven nights a week.
More information can be found at www.biddymulligansbar.com
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
