The Irish are drinking less Guinness

From The Chicago Tribune:

Diageo PLC, the world's biggest liquor company, may stop making Guinness at a 250-year-old Dublin site after reviewing its brewing operations in Ireland, where sales of the stout are dropping.

The company is "considering a number of important investment decisions on upgrading and renewing its brewing facilities in Ireland in the coming years," according to an e- mailed statement released today. "No decisions have been made or will be made until the assessment is completed," it said.

The St. James' Gate site, near the River Liffey, exports Guinness extract, the "essence" of the drink, to more than 45 countries. The site, where production began in 1759, also makes all Guinness for Ireland and the U.K. since Diageo closed its Park Royal brewery in London in 2005.

The amount of Guinness sold in Europe fell 7 percent in Diageo's fiscal first half as demand waned in Ireland and the U.K. Andrew Morgan, president of the London-based company's European division, said in April that Diageo is reversing cuts in its marketing budget for the region in an effort to boost sales of the dark brew.

Astronomers should begin scanning the skies for the giant asteroid which will soon obliterate the earth.