The recent Twinning of Bushmills with Louisville by Diageo and the promotional campaign around it was criticised by a resident of Bushmills in a letter posted in the Belfast Newsletter on 22nd April 2008, which you can read here  From talking with local people, it appears the twinning was not the reason for the dissent. It was the lack of consultation by Diageo with the local  community about this twinning combined with the failure of  local councillors to inform their electorate.  A similar letter has been posted in shop windows locally, which indicates the strong feelings about this. 

In investigating the  facts further. A letter in response was posted  to the Belfast Newsletter on April 23rd 2008 by Diageo's Director of the Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. You can read that reply here  

In it you will see  the following  statements:  'Plans for the Twin City programme were shared in detail with local community associations from Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway'  and also   'At all times, Old Bushmills Distillery consulted the representatives of local people – whether in the council or through the elected officers of the local community association'

The following groups have been contacted locally and officers from them have categorically said that plans for the twinning were not shared in detail with them nor indeed were they aware of these details.  These groups were: The Bushmills Ulster Scots Heritage Group (who met with Diageo at the Distillery), Giants Causeway Community Association (referred to in the statement), Bushmills Residents & Environmental Forum (who met with Diageo at the Distillery) and the Bushmills Community Association (referred to in the statement). The recently formed Village Forum where also not told in detail about the plans, although they have been offered a  noticeboard for the village from Diageo through their representative. Moyle District Council are receiving £12,000 from Diageo to theme the bridge in Millennium Park..

This is a matter of fact.....and therefore the statement in response to the criticism is not accurate on these accounts and needs to be pointed out publically, hence this article..

Who are Diageo?

As not many local people know who Diageo is, the following background information will help to introduce the organisation. A flyer  circulated to all homes through the post office would have cost approximately £200 but in light of that not taking place...this will have to suffice.

DIAGEO: Pronounced (Dee-ah-zhay –oh). The name comes from Dia, the latin word for Day and Geo, the Greek word for world. So Diageo means Day World.   On first hearing the name you could be forgiven for thinking it was  Latin–American, Italian or  Hispanic. Diageo is a actually a British multinational company which came into being with the merger of Guinness PLC and Grand Metropolitan PLC in 1997, Guinness had already absorbed several companies into its base including Distillers PLC.  Bushmills Distillery was absorbed into that company base in 1995 when it was bought for 200 million from Pernod Ricard.

 Diageo is one of the biggest producers of alcohol in the world. The company projects a very clean, friendly and ethically-oriented image who care about local communities, the environment and the third world.  

To give an idea of how big Diageo is, the gross turnover in 2004 was £8.90 Billion with a profit of £1.87 billion. Their sales in 2007 was £9.9 billion. It owned Burger King until recently and still owns Gleneagles (where the G8 summit took place) along with many other well known global assets. The company has strong lobbying abilities with the British government, this has been greatly strengthened by  the PR campaign of ‘corporate social responsibility’ which has been ongoing since 1997.  It also has the ability if it so wishes to make significant investments into local communities through its foundation.

Anyone interested in reading more about the company and its balance sheets can check out Diageo’s website:  http://www.diageo.com  With all things in this world, there are always two sides, two opinions and two stories. If your interested in reading about the other side of this corporate giant you can find some background reading and links here: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=1705

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Bushmills and North Antrim are associated with the Ulster Scots cultural identity due in part to its close proximity to Scotland and the migration of people back and forward since man first appeared in these parts. The tongue spoken in the area is unique and reflects this cultural rooting, the dialect of which varies across North Antrim, sometimes a distance of a few townlands will see a word used for specific item change.

Unfortunately the  essence of  this linguistic diversity is being threatened by people who firstly, do not come from North Antrim, secondly, do not speak the North Antrim tongue and thirdly have not carried out the most elementary of research into the tongue locally.  These people seem hell bent on the standardisation of our spoken tongue without consultation with those who speak it day in day out. Standardisation in the way it is spoken and spelt, even if that mean making up words that never existed in our townlands.  This is more to fulfil their own personal ambitions and strategic aims rather than the preservation of linguistic diversity and the recognition of a minority tongue  that is as unique to North Antrim as the  Blue Flower of Dunluce.

This threat showed up recently in North Antrim in a  language course being rolled out by the Ulster Scots Agency. It introduced a new greeting term to North Antrim . 'Fair fa ye' ,  there is no doubt  that it may or may not have rooting in Scotland or indeed have been heard in County Down with the first planters. It is contained in context within a poem by Rabbie Burns. But I challenge anyone to find me one speaker of the tongue in  North Antrim who is familiar with this term?  I for one know for a fact, my mother, grandparents, great grandparents and I am sure their parents before them never used this term and they spoke the tongue every day of their lives. They never wrote it but they spoke it.

Why are we suddenly being treated like idiots who have forgotten how to say welcome in our own native tongue? 

If you speak the tongue challenge those who are creating this myth, correct them and do not allow the linguistic diversity of North Antrim to be dissolved by gulpins.  If your learning the tongue be aware you might be learning something that has nothing to do with the authenticity of the tongue in North Antrim but more to do with the strategic objectives of boys in big offices up in Belfast.

Bushmills is a lovely village where you will be warmly welcomed, it hard to believe it is a Designated Conservation Area with over ninety listed buildings, lots of interesting shops, traditional bars, a riverside park and walks. Please, please, do not be alarmed by the visual state of  some of the village buildings.  No!!, it is not the result of rioting or rampaging mobs nor is it a reflection of our community.  The reason for this unsightly vision of dereliction is 'developers', these are individuals and syndicates who will tell you they are investing in Bushmills, they will  tell you they want to attract visitors and see tourism develop for the benefit of the community, they will argue every last tear to secure funding for their projects but unfortunately they miss the point when it comes to making the village attractive for visitors. While the community voluntarily tries to improve the environment by decorating the village with interesting banners, these people cannot stretch to a few imaginative mural boards or even coloured paint that would help improve the look of their derelict buildings.  No!,  good old fashioned, cheap, building site plyboard.....that'll do!. Sure the visitors will never notice!  So please if you are visiting the village understand that the community are as embarrassed and concerned about this  as you may be, please do not let it put you off coming to and enjoying our village.