is the most famous pub in Belfast. Recently it closed
due to inept administration, but only temporarily.
It is one of very few old fashioned bars left
and it was only when the closure got in the news
that I learnt that it's fittings were intact
because it was property of The National Trust.
With it's snugs and relative quiet and absence of television
friends drank there to enjoy each other's company,
rather than for the numbing effects of alcohol.
Modernised public houses usually afford no similar sense
of privacy and company. The purpose of their existence
is maximum profit with minimum maintenance; treat
your customers like cattle to the limits of their tolerance.
The floor space is enlarged to take as many as will stand
whilst drinking in reduced comfort. The bonus being
that being made to stand will make them drink more.
Add loud pre-recorded music, controlled by the chain
rather than the landlord, and/or television and this makes
sure that the idea of discussing anything is absurd,
except in sign language, and anyone not drinking
and looking in from without will sense the unstable,
building, aggression, and they know why they place
needs bouncers and why leaving at 11 pm is such a melee .
Turbo capitalism strikes where it will, at random.
In our passivity we accept it's agenda as 'the market'.
But the market for being civilised has yet to be started.
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