Licensees prefer St George

Two thirds of licensees would prefer to see St George's Day become a bank holiday rather than St Patrick's day, according to a poll on thePublican.com.

The battle between the English and the Irish began when a high-profile campaign by pubco Six Continents to make St Patrick's Day a British bank holiday was launched last month.

But Bedford-brewer Charles Wells urged the country to come out in favour of England's patron saint and support the campaign to make St George's Day, on April 23, a national holiday.

Although 6C's petition has received overwhelming support from its O'Neill's pub customers, with around 10,000 signatures already, licensees do not seem to agree.

At the time of posting, sixty six per cent of respondents said that St George's Day should be made a bank holiday, and 26 per cent preferred St Patrick's Day, which takes place next Monday (March 17).

Meanwhile a new website has been launched by Charles Wells to help licensees make the most out of St George's Day. For practical ideas, easy to download forms to highlight the campaign to customers, local press and MPs, and much more log on to www.thevalueofstgeorge.com.

Related articles:​

England v Ireland: the Saints battle it out (6 March 2003)

Still time to vote!​