Belfast man Andrew McGibbon was “horrified” to discover an ice-cream cocktail labelled “Sundae Bloody Sundae” on the drinks menu of Adventure Bar in Covent Garden.
McGibbon ordered the cocktail to see what form it took and found further insult in the decoration of a toy soldier in firing position which was placed on top of the drink.
“The cocktail arrived - ice cream, chocolate sauce and a little toy soldier toting a rifle on top,” said the Belfast man who described the concept as “grossly offensive.”
“I decided to publicly shame them over it. They should remove the cocktail. I’m disgusted by it, I think most Irish people will be disgusted by it, and I think the people of Derry will be disgusted by it too,” the Derry Journal reports.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was among those shot dead in Derry on Bloody Sunday in 1972, called the drink “bloody well scandalous.”
“For anyone to make a profit by naming an ice-cream cocktail after the murder of our innocent people is totally disgraceful and insensitive,” Kelly said.
“They should be ashamed of themselves and they should withdraw this from their menus now. No-one with an ounce of human respect should buy this; it’s an insult to the memory of our loved ones,” reveals the Derry Journal.
When McGibbon challenged the bar through social media, Adventure Bar’s response seemed to say that the cocktail was intended as a “tribute” to those lost. Management later retracted this and claimed a social media intern had been trying to rectify the situation.
In a statement posted later on the bar's website, it said the name of the cocktail was in reference to a scene about the U2 song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in the Steve Coogan TV comedy series “I'm Alan Partridge”,” reports the IrishNews.
"It's easy to see how one or two ill-chosen quotes from an Alan Partridge episode can be taken so entirely out of context," the statement said.
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Colum Eastwood has also expressed his distress at the cocktail’s name and has written to the bar to request its removal writes the Derry Journal: “Any right thinking person will be shocked and annoyed that such a drink is being sold in London,” he said, “The drink’s symbolism is hurtful to the true memory of Bloody Sunday and hurtful to the families who still bear the burden of the horrors inflicted that day. I have written to the bar in question to request that the drink is immediately removed from sale,” he said.
Eastwood also said that following the release of the Saville Report, “It was hoped that many of the untruths and perceptions about Bloody Sunday had been washed from the face of history,” the Derry Journal reveals.
“This incident is perhaps a small reminder that more work is required so that the truth of that day, of the unjustified and unjustifiable killings, is fully accepted and understood,” he added.
The Adventure bar website no longer advertises the “Sundae Bloody Sundae” among their cocktails and the owners have apologised through the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.
A spokesperson for Adventure Bar told the Belfast Telegraph: "Perception in London is very different, and to those people who are upset we are highly apologetic."
"We are not in the business of trying to upset people," he added.
However, the apology was dismissed by the families. Kate Nash, whose teenage brother William was one of 14 men and boys shot dead in Derry’s Bogside said: “You can understand somebody maybe naming a cocktail without knowing what they were doing, but to put soldier on top — that is obviously a dig at what happened.
“That took a fair amount of thought and it was intended.
“They better not try to apologise to me personally, because I wouldn’t accept it. It’s disgraceful.”
Nash revealed to the Belfast Telegraph that she now intends to talk to her lawyer over the matter.
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