Derry Girl’s moderation message for St Patrick’s Day… and how to pronounce her name

It comes as the Derry Girls star encourages everyone to “make it a St Patrick’s Day to remember” by enjoying a Guinness 0.0.

As part of Guinness’ message of moderation, the famous Guinness Gates at Dublin’s Rainsford Street have been painted blue — Guinness 0.0’s official colour — for the first time since 1988.

The actress, who played Erin Quinn in Channel 4’s award-winning sitcom, has released a 60-second video on her social media channels as part of the campaign to make “sure the people of Ireland celebrate right once and for all”, according to the campaign.

In the clip, Saoirse-Monica is faced with one of the many mispronunciations of her name that she’s had to endure when she encounters tourists in a pub who are in the festive spirit, decked out in green for St Patrick’s Day.

During the encounter, she uncovers a few home truths about the holiday before setting out on a journey of discovery, “getting her thinking about some of the other things that we have got wrong over the years”.

“She’s here to set the record straight, starting by celebrating our national holiday with a pint of Guinness 0.0 this weekend,” explained the campaign.

“The famous gates are seen by over 30,000 people during the week of St Patrick’s Day celebrations, which is the busiest period of the year at the home of Guinness. This is the first time since 1988 that the gates have been painted Guinness 0.0 blue — a demonstration of the brand’s commitment to moderation during Ireland’s national holiday.”

Saoirse-Monica said she was “delighted” to partner with Guinness 0.0 “to address some of the biggest misconceptions around Irish culture”.

“Since the early days of my career, I’ve encountered countless people having trouble pronouncing my name,” she added.

“So, from mispronunciation of our names, to misunderstanding how we should be celebrating, I’m delighted to team up with Guinness 0.0 to encourage people to give moderation a seat at the table this St Patrick’s Day.”

Guinness Ireland’s marketing director Alan McAleenan said: “It’s great to work with Saoirse-Monica, one of our most exciting actresses, to rights some wrongs associated with St Patrick’s Day and encourage everyone to make it a day to remember.”

In the largest ever sampling of its non-alcoholic beer, Guinness is making free pints of Guinness 0.0 available across the island of Ireland until Monday, in over 800 different locations.

Pints are available via the FANZO app and in select pubs and Tesco stores nationwide.

Consumers are now able to download the FANZO app, register themselves and redeem a free pint of Guinness 0.0 by showing the voucher in one of the participating pubs.

Tesco will be running a half price promotion for members in Northern Ireland.