Politics and money
Let’s hope the executives at Interbrew knew what they were doing when they announced their plans to close down the Belfast brewery, the former Bass Ireland’s Ulster Brewery, if no buyer can be found by September. Should this be the case, production will cease in Northern Ireland, taking with it at least 80 jobs and, as some media say, "ripping out the heart of a community".
The leader of the Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, has put his case to the taoiseach (the head of the Irish government), who was said to have intervened on the brewery’s behalf. Union leaders at the Belfast plant will consider a boycott of Bass and other Interbrew products if the production line closes.
Opened in 1897, the brewery is a piece of Belfast history. Now tell this to the Irish..
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