Craic to the Future 🕰️🏎️

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic returns this rainy Friday, bringing you news and views of the Irish all over the globe. The Craic is the weekly newsletter from Shift, our app for connecting Irish people and people who tolerate Irish people around the world. Want Shift? Find it here, ma dear. And if you want to recommend The Craic to someone else, stick their wee email in here.

News from Home

A Lidl Embarrassing. Super-cheap supermarket Lidl opened its first-ever pub – the Middle Ale – in Northern Ireland this week. However, some of the patrons decided the best way to celebrate was with a scrap. Video of the fight went viral on social media. Not a great look on your opening night, and one that probably stretches the saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” to the limit.

A Special School. India has the Taj Mahal, the US has the Empire State Building, and Ireland? Well, Ireland’s favorite building has just been chosen, and it’s a wee school in Letterkenny, Donegal. It might sound like a strange choice, but Little Angels School is a gorgeous complex interwoven with gardens and sensory spaces, which can help some of the students with special needs. The public-voted choice feels more in line with our national character than a big, boisterous skyscraper.

Phoenix Falls. The Phoenix is – or was – the Irish equivalent of Britain’s excellent Private Eye magazine, known for its biting satire and commitment to holding politicians and corporations to account. Alas, it has ended its run after 43 years in print. While we haven’t agreed with all the political stances from the magazine down the years, it’s sad to see yet another nail in the coffin of quality political journalism, leaving us further at the behest of whatever Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg decide to fart out on their algorithms.

The Craic Recommends…..Fleadh Uladh. If you’re visiting Ireland in July and upset to miss the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in August, you might still be in luck. The Fleadh Uladh (Ulster Fleadh) takes place in Warrenpoint, Co Down, from July 19th to 26th. Consider it like a wee warm-up for the main event, and you’ll get the chance to visit brilliant villages like Carlingford (hit PJs for a pint) and lovely, lovely Rostrevor. Oh, and Warrenpoint isn’t too shabby either. Check it out on Shift and make sure to share your stories and pics!

The Irish Influence

If you think Irish tech entrepreneurship starts and ends with the Collison Brothers, you’re way off the mark. As an example, global software giant Salesforce has just snapped up Irish startup Fin (formerly Intercom) for a cool $3.1B (2.7 billion euros). We’ve been intrigued by CEO and founder Eoghan McCabe’s story, especially the fact that the 42-year-old Dubliner basically knocked down and rebuilt the company from scratch to anticipate the age of AI. It was a gutsy move, and a big gamble that paid off. As an aside, Eoghan also has the cutest personal website, which looks absolutely nothing like you would expect from a tech founder and boss of a newly-minted multi-billion-dollar company. 

Cúpla Focal

Grianstad an tSamhraidh {GREE-un-stad un TOW-ree} – Summer Solstice. Hey! Sunday is the longest day of the year (yay!), after which days will get shorter again (boo!). Anyway, Grianstad – literally sun stop – is a lovely little word, and you’ll find some lovely writing – and a bit of poetry to boot – on the meaning of it all from Eileen Ní Shuilleabháin right here.

Blast from the Past

It's the 45th anniversary of the coolest-car-but-worst-business in history. Around 150 DeLorean owners rocked up to the Stormont Estate (outside Belfast) in their DMC-12s this week, some of whom had come all the way from Australia. Production of the car began in Dunmurry in 1981, and, well, the story of the company’s struggles in Belfast is nearly as compelling as the rise and fall of Big John DeLorean himself. Thanks to Daryl Armitage for sharing the video of the Stormont event below. Have you ever seen so many DeLoreans in one place? 

And One Last Thing….

Postcards from Japan. One of the best things about Shift’s growth of late is hearing all the anecdotes of how – and where – people are using the app. Indeed, we were told this week of a US traveler using the app to locate the perfect pint while in Japan. That’s just one of the things you can do on the platform, of course, but we love the thought of people choosing Shift over options like Google Maps and TripAdvisor when on their holibobs. And the best thing is, as we continue to grow and get more and more crowd-sourced recommendations from all you lovely folk, it’ll only get better.