Gay, the brother and the brewery

It's a case of the brother and the brewery

It's a case of the brother and the brewery. Gay Byrne becomes emotional, choking up for a moment when he rises to introduce his older brother's book, Guinness Times, My Days in the World's Most Famous Brewery.

The day Al Byrne was appointed to the top staff at the brewery was, he recalls, "the proudest day in our family. If there wasn't a brass band playing quietly in the background when the wonderful news was announced, there might as well have been."

Al's wife, Frances, and Gay's wife, Kathleen Watkins, both look on, smiling and proud. Also standing by is Mary Orr, the boys' only sister. "We were steeped in Guinness all our lives," says Gay, the baby of the family.

Al's daughter, Hilary, a PE teacher at Our Lady's Secondary School in Templeogue, says her father is "a very determined individual". Two former Guinness men are there too - Paddy Galvin, now a director of the Bank of Ireland, and Finbar Flood, now with the Labour Court.