The export of faux Ireland — and its re-importation back.
In the last 15 years, Dublin-based IPCo and its competitors have fabricated and installed more than 1,800 watering holes in more than 50 countries. Guinness threw its weight (and that of its global parent Diageo) behind the movement, and an industry was built around the reproduction of “Irishness” on every continent—and even in Ireland itself. IPCo has built 40 ersatz pubs on the Emerald Isle, opening them beside the long-standing establishments on which they were based.
IPCo’s designers claim to have “developed ways of re-creating Irish pubs which would be successful, culturally and commercially, anywhere in the world.” To wit, they offer five basic styles: The “Country Cottage,” with its timber beams and stone floors, is supposed to resemble a rural house that gradually became a commercial establishment. The “Gaelic” design features rough-hewn doors and murals based on Irish folklore. You might, instead, choose the “Traditional Pub Shop,” which includes a fake store (like an apothecary), or the “Brewery” style, which includes empty casks and other brewery detritus, or “Victorian Dublin,” an upscale stained-glass joint. IPCo will assemble your chosen pub in Ireland. Then they’ll bring the whole thing to your space and set it up. All you have to do is some basic prep, and voilà! Ireland arrives in Dubai. (IPCo has built several pubs and a mock village there.)
And don’t forget hiring some folks with Irish accents and giving the place a good Irish name.