WATCH: Viral video puts beloved Erris pub in global spotlight
A Belmullet woman’s love letter to an Erris institution has gone viral.
Entrepreneur and business coach Paula Short (nee Costello) is based in Virginia and was recently interviewed by business podcast, Innovate 757.
The Belmullet-native waxed lyrical about the much-loved McDonnell’s bar in Belmullet and a clip of her appearance has exploded.
“The clip has now been watched more than 135,000 times in Ireland, the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada. The comments have turned into a proper Erris debate. People are asking where the pub is, tagging McDonnell's, and arguing over whether it's the best in Belmullet,” Paula told the Western People.
You can watch Paula’s homage to McDonnell’s below:
Paula knows a thing or two about the pub trade having grown up in the Atlantic Tavern on Belmullet’s Main Street.
“Everyone at home would know it as Costello's. My parents are Breege Costello and my late father, Liam Costello. I look back with great fondness on that time and loved the people who came into the bar. On Thursday nights after bingo the card game of 25 would be on in the bar, and I can still picture it,” said Paula.
She left her homeplace when she was a teenager and went on to forge her own successful business career.
"When I was 16, my family moved to Lincolnshire in England, and I called the UK home for over 35 years. I owned hair salons in Lincolnshire. Out of one of them came a product we created called Glitter Lips, which started as a way to get more people through the salon door."
Within a couple of months we were supplying Topshop on Oxford Street, and it went on to Harrods, Boots, Jet2 and wholesalers in 15 countries. I went on BBC's Dragons’ Den. It was utterly terrifying and every one of the Dragons said ‘no’, but the day after the show aired we got investment from a company we had already worked with. I sold that business (BeautyBLVD) seven weeks before Covid,” said Paula.
“In my fifties I moved to Virginia, and I now work as a business advisor in the US, helping businesses get in front of the buyers they need in the American market,” she added.
Belmullet will always have a very special place in Paula’s heart.
“The core principles of business I use every day, I learned growing up in the pub. It's all about the people. As for McDonnell's, I know Padraig and his family well. My siblings and I went to school with him and his brothers and sisters, and I always call into McDonnell's when I'm home. No matter where I've travelled, and I've done a lot of it, there's nothing like going home to Belmullet. The warmth of the welcome from the people there is second to none.”
