Meath pub sells tokens for pints

Louise Walsh

A Meath pub has come up with a novel gift idea for Christmas - selling tokens for pints.

Paddy Fitzsimons' Bar in Navan has sold hundreds of tokens in the past few weeks, with people loving the idea of buying a token for people who are usually hard to buy gifts for.

Owner Jarlath Fitzsimons said the idea started as a "default", but then more and more people started asking for them.

"People would buy pints for other people and then forget if they did, or the other person would go home before they drank the pint and then people would forget whether they asked for the pint that was bought for them," he said.

"It got a bit messy, so to keep it simple, I came up with the idea of giving them a token."

Mr Fitzsimons said that the tokens can be used at any time, alleviating the pressure to drink, and they allow people to buy several tokens on the night instead of "tapping your card four or five times".

Another benefit is that people don't end up with pockets full of change.

"It's very popular, especially now in the run-up to Christmas," Mr Fitzsimons said. "I've been inundated!"