IT looks like being a pretty dismal St Paddy's Day for Irish expatriates in South Korea supplies of Guinness for O'Kims Irish Pub in Seoul have dried up, thanks to the Korean government.

The local customs men, it seems, have banned a shipment of draught Guinness allegedly for health reasons. But local cynics suggest that this is just another part of the government strategy of curbing luxury "foreign" imports. Guinness a luxury... well, at a fiver a can, it probably is it) Korea.

The ban on Guinness came after local health inspectors said the brew-failed a pressure test that is supposed to show how fresh it is. The fact that draught Guinness isn't very gassy and is usually flat seems to have escaped the health inspectors.