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Sat 09 Sep 2009A nation's stout heart
WEEKEND REVIEW:The relationship between Guinness and Ireland is symbiotic, but as the black stuff celebrates its 250th birthday across the globe, is the love affair beginning to show its age?, asks PAUL CULLEN,Consumer Affairs correspondent
IT IS THE pint of plain of poems, the black stuff of sentimental songs. It has served as the lubricant for a thousand great nights out and caused many a man to rue the day he first took a sup. For some, it is an aphrodisiac, for others the opposite, for others again a laxative. Its image and that of Ireland are so closely intertwined that they both share the same emblem, a harp. It once claimed to be good for you, but is now firmly in the bad books of health professionals.
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