The post has since been removed.
Dublin pub The Bernard Shaw was at the heart of a social media row on Friday after sharing a meme that appeared to poke fun at people from the north side of Dublin.
The meme featured a side-by-side of two images: one showing five youths dressed in tracksuits, holding weapons, captioned "Northsiders before The Bernard Shaw moved," and a second image of hipsters playing piano and drinking juice, captioned "After."
The pub has recently been forced to leave its original location on South Richmond Street on Dublin's south side, before reopening at a new location in Glasnevin.
The post drew a lot of criticism on social media, with many arguing that it was a classist joke at the expense of working class stereotypes. Others defended the post as harmless. It was eventually deleted.
Yesterday evening, the pub apologised for any offence caused in a post on Instagram.
"Hey folks, Sophie here from the Shaw. The post earlier was my mistake, it was just a meme that got sent to us which I thought was poking fun at us at the Shaw," the statement read.
"I put it up mainly to show we can take a joke more than anything and being a Northsider myself (Donaghmede native) I shared it. Others didn’t so we apologise for sharing it & we have deleted it.
"Sorry for any offence caused, genuinely was not intended to be that. Sophie & Shaw Crew."
https://www.instagram.com/p/B45klUcnPQy/
