Newsagent couldn’t pour pint of Guinness when he took over running of neighbouring bar
Published: 7 January, 2011
by JOSH LOEB
Pub mine host who’s known to regulars as ‘the Indian Irishman’
AN Indian, an Irishman and an Islingtonian walk into a pub…
This not the start of a politically incorrect joke but the story of how a popular Holloway newsagent became the landlord-in-waiting at one of the borough’s best-known Irish pubs.
Nash Patel is all three identities – Indian, “Irishman” and Islingtonian – rolled into one.
He was born into an Indian Hindu family in Uganda but moved to this country because of the discrimination Asians faced from Uganda’s then president, Idi Amin.
In England he attended the same Shropshire grammar school as Islington North Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, and, although he has never been to the Emerald Isle, patrons of The Flóirín affectionately refer to him as “the Indian Irishman”.
Since September last year, Mr Patel and his son Jaynesh have been running The Flóirín in Holloway Road, next to Whittington Park. Formerly The Marlborough, the pub has been associated with the area’s Irish community since at least the 1950s.
This week, Mr Patel told the Tribune that he was trying to purchase the freehold and was helping to launch a series of open-mic events with charity Rowan Arts in an effort to boost trade. “We have lots of ideas about how we are going to make this pub a success,” he said. “Twenty-five years ago this was the busiest pub in the area. Then it declined, and now it is starting to become popular again.
“It’s a people’s pub. I’m just the person behind the bar, but it’s the people that make it what it is.”
When he took over the management of The Flóirín, Mr Patel “didn’t even know how to pour Guinness, let alone do the other things involved with running a pub”.
However, he has learnt along the way. “The customers are so cheerful,” he said. “This is a novelty for them. They call me the Indian Irishman.”
Mr Patel, who owns Nash newsagent and Cappuccino café (both opposite The Flóirín) has already won praise from Rowan Arts by agreeing to let it stage events at the pub – and has been immortalised in a drawing by local artist Laurie Lipton as a token of his standing in the community.
Rowan Arts coordinator Ruth Robinson said Mr Patel’s help could prove crucial as the charity is suffering because of funding cuts.
She said: “Our aim is, through using venues like this, to build up a regular following and do things for less money. Having Nash help us promote our open-mic nights will make all the difference.”
Rowan Arts Culture Nights will be staged at the pub at 8pm on the second Friday of every month. For the first event on January 14 a few 20-minute slots are available to musicians eager to have their music heard in a supportive setting.
Performers should contact culturenight@therowanartsproject.com or visit www.therowanartsproject.com.