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David Donnelly

Dublin pubs: Niall Quinn learns to pour 'Ireland's best Guinness' at Gravediggers in Dublin

Niall Quinn was renowned for being able to get a good head on things so learning to pour the perfect pint of Guinness should come naturally.

The former Ireland striker dropped into the Gravediggers Pub in Glasnevin on Tuesday and was schooled on the perfect pour by manager Niall Kavanagh.

Perrystown man Quinn watched his son Mikey, a goalkeeper who spent last season at Cabinteely, graduate from Dublin City University with a degree in psychology.

And the pair celebrated by heading to Glasnevin's most famous pub to learn from the masters in how to pour the perfect pint.

The pub tweeted the news on Wednesday morning, saying: "Legend overload, two Nialls behind the bar. Our legendary Niall The Manager Kavanagh giving a tutorial to football hero and gent Niall Quinn. Congratulations to Mike Quinn on graduation from DCU."

The Gravediggers was recently given the title of "Ireland's best Guinness" by Guinness guru Daragh Curran, alongside Bowe's on Fleet Street..

So it's natural that Quinn, who worked for a decade under the legendary Ireland manager and Guinness lover Jack Charlton, should seek out the best to learn his craft.

Quinn, who had a long career in England with Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland, played 92 times for Ireland, scoring a onetime record 21 goals.

He played for Ireland at Euro '88 and the 1990 and 2002 World Cups, and would have played at a third in the USA in 1994 only to miss out with a back injury.

Quinn was just 19 when he was handed a surprise call-up for the Reykjavik 200 Tournament, which this writer spoke at length about on the new Back to Jack podcast.

The late Jack Charlton and Quinn together at Ireland training (©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan)

He had made his breakthrough for Arsenal earlier that season but expected to link up with the under-21s before Liam Brady, then of Inter Milan, dropped out with injury.

The legendary Charlton couldn't help initiated the teenager to the squad with his typical dry sense of humour, as Quinn later recalled.

"I was queuing up [in the airport] and in front of everybody he went ‘Maurice, we haven’t picked him, have we? Alright, we better put up with him then'."

"I froze. Everybody knew it was a joke except for me and I was there going ‘oh my God, did the club get it wrong? I knew I was with the under-21s and I’m after making a fool of myself.'"

Quinn made his debut as a late substitute for John Aldridge in the opening game of the tournament, a 2-1 win over Iceland.

Three days later, he started against Czechoslovakia, bizarrely tipping off with Iceland's freshly-crowned Miss World, Holmfridur 'Hofi' Karlsdottir, rather than Aldridge.

Quinn said: “My second cap against Czechoslovakia, I kicked the ball off with Miss World — George Best didn’t even do that!"

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