An AI voice agent called every pub in Ireland to create an all-encompassing ‘Guinndex’ – highlighting the cost of the Black Stuff in different pubs and counties.
Over the St Patrick’s Day weekend in March, a friendly Northern Irish ‘woman’ called Rachel phoned more than 3,000 pubs across all 32 counties, from Donegal and Kerry to Belfast and Wexford.
Only a handful of the people Rachel spoke to seemingly realised they were talking to an AI agent.
The result is the Guinndex: the first comprehensive pint price index for the entire island of Ireland – which found the national average price is €5.95 (£5.14) and the most common price is €5.50 (£4.75).
Matt Cortland, an AI engineer and consultant who created the index, said: ‘I’m a former pub and bar owner, so I know what it’s like to be on the other end of customer pricing calls.
‘But I also know what it’s like to be on the consumer end and paying a kidney for a pint. I apologise to everyone I tortured over Paddy’s weekend. Rachel just wanted a wee drink.’
Unsurprisingly, Dublin was found to have the most pubs in Ireland, but also be the most expensive, with costs averaging €6.75 (£5.83) a pint.
The Guinndex points out the cheapest – and most expensive – pints in Ireland
Matt Cortland, who designed the index, was keen to share the price of Guinness around Ireland
The most expensive price currently is €11 (£9.50) at The Temple Bar, Dublin – also not a surprise.
Dublin doesn’t fare well on any measure. Of the 46 pubs in Ireland with a perfect 5.0 Google rating, not a single one is in Dublin.
The cheapest pints are in the west and midlands, with Laois at just €5.38 (£4.64).
Meanwhile, the cheapest pint in the entire index is €3 (£2.55) at The Dufferin Arms in Downpatrick, in County Down.
Despite the rising cost of a night out, the Guinndex unearthed 24 places across Ireland where you can still get a pint for a fiver or less, including one in Dublin.
They’re in places such as Augher (Tyrone), Kilmakilloge (Kerry), and Rathdowney (Laois).
Only a handful of the people Rachel spoke to seemingly realised they were talking to an AI agent.
When questioned, Rachel told them truthfully that she was putting together a price comparison list. Most people accepted that and moved on.
The Temple Bar, Dublin, is currently home to Ireland’s most expensive pint of Guinness
At Malzard’s Pub in Kilkenny, the bartender laughed and offered to buy the round: ‘They’re normally €6.20 (£5.35), but if you can’t afford one, we’ll buy you one. We’ll look after you.’
At Doogies in Northern Ireland, the bartender opened with: ‘£25. But if you’re coming in for a wee drink, I’ll give it to you for a fiver.’
At McIntyre’s Bar in Donegal, the bartender launched a full interrogation: ‘€5.80 (£5) – What time is it? How many are coming? Where are you coming from? What part of the country are you from? Who’s this I’m speaking to’
At Beaufort Bar in Kerry, the bartender played coy: ‘It’s far too cheap. You’ll have to come in to find out the price.’ Rachel persisted. €5.60.
At The Linen House in Lisburn, Rachel got trapped in a Premier Inn phone system. Two AI systems talked past each other, neither able to help the other. Rachel said ‘Oh, dear’ four times. The virtual receptionist kept apologising. Nobody got a pint price.
Pat Hayes, owner of The Arch Bar in Thurles, Tipperary, was one of the thousands of people who picked up Rachel’s call over the weekend. When he later found out he’d been chatting to an AI, he took it in good spirits.
‘It was a good laugh. I had no idea it wasn’t a real person,’ he said. ‘But look, knowing the price of a pint is important.
‘People want to know what they’re paying before they walk in the door. If someone’s putting together an index of every pub in the country, fair play to them. It’s good for the customer and it keeps us all honest.’
Meanwhile, The Dufferin Arms offers the cheapest on the market
Matt’s decision on personality and accent for the bot was inspired by Rachel Duffy from The Traitors, who is from Northern Ireland and was the first female traitor to win the show.
‘She played an absolute blinder,’ he said. ‘That’s what I wanted. Someone warm, someone you’d believe. A Northern Irish accent that makes “we were lookin’ to come in for a wee drink” sound completely natural.’
Matt added: ‘AI can’t (yet) pour a pint, it can’t read a room, it can’t tell when someone’s had enough. But it can call 3,000 pubs in a weekend and tell you where to find a decent pint for under a fiver. The physical work is safe. The information layer on top of it is where AI lives and where we all should be aware.’
The full dataset is live at guinndex.ai. You can search by county, town, or pub name to find the price of a pint near you.
The site includes an interactive map, county-by-county breakdowns, and the ability to compare prices across the country.
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