Australian journalist says Irish pubs for those “dodging vomit and flying fists"

An Australian journalist has offended thousands of Irish people in his home country and online after an article he wrote claimed that Irish pubs Down Under are most suited to people who love 'dodging vomit and flying fists.'

Anthony Sharwood's remarks about Irish pubs and their patrons in Sydney have seen him seriously reprimanded by offended commentators on Twitter and other social media platforms.

The controversy erupted after Sharwood, who writes for news.com.au, published an opinion piece claiming that Irish pubs have had their day.

The good reason for this, he wrote, was that the typical Irish pubs were 'old-school dives which are as dark and dingy as the Guinness beer they serve' for people who love 'dodging vomit and flying fists.'

Irish pubs are magnets for anti-social behavior and count among some of the most dangerous watering holes down-under, he wrote.

'When police release the annual list of the state’s most dangerous drinking venues, there’s usually just a paltry two or three Irish pubs in the top 10.'

According to the Irish Mirror, Sharwood, whose Twitter profile shows him swinging a cricket bat, describes two very distinct types of Irish pub saying: 'Either you’ve got a miserable, stinking booze den as cold and dank and filthy as a sewer, or you’ve got an upmarket place full of plastic people and faux-memorabilia. Either way, you lose.'

Confronted by one enraged Irish commentator he attacked the poster's spelling skills.

'Hey mate, your fabulous country spawned literary giants like Swift and Joyce. The least you could do is learn to spell you're,' Sharwood scoffed on Twitter.

In response to the growing controversy Sharwood eventually tweeted a 'clarification' of his offending article, insisting he was not talking about the Irish people, just the Irish pub culture in Sydney.

But first he referred to the 'problems' Irish pubs face including the 'raucously drunk backpackers who travel halfway round the world to behave even worse than they do in Cork and Dublin.'

He signed off his grudging apology tweet with a taunting 'Top of the evenin' to ya.'

This caused one angry tweeter to reply: 'If you knew anything about Irish culture, you would know that absolutely nobody says Top of the... anything. Ever.'

Another angry reader wrote: 'I am not sure what’s more shocking, the fact an article full of racism was published or the fact someone actually wrote it.'