London bar forced to abandon ‘Bloody Sundae’ cocktail

A ‘Sundae Bloody Sundae’ cocktail has been removed from a bar menu in London after provoking outrage among relatives of those killed.

The ‘Adventure Bar’ stopped selling the drink, which was topped with a plastic British soldier, after issuing an apology to “everyone offended”.

There was anger last week when it emerged the bar was serving a cocktail named after one of the most traumatic events of the conflict.

Relatives of the 14 killed in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry in January 1972 called for it to be withdrawn.

The drink’s name had been highlighted on social media by a Belfast man who lives in London and described it as “grossly offensive”.

Andrew McGibbon said he was horrified to discover the ice-cream cocktail labelled “Sundae Bloody Sundae” on the drinks menu of the bar in trendy Covent Garden.

McGibbon ordered the cocktail to see what form it took and found further insult in the decoration of a toy soldier in firing position which was placed on top of the drink.

“The cocktail arrived - ice cream, chocolate sauce and a little toy soldier toting a rifle on top,” said the ex-pat, who described the concept as “grossly offensive.”

“I decided to publicly shame them over it. They should remove the cocktail. I’m disgusted by it, I think most Irish people will be disgusted by it, and I think the people of Derry will be disgusted by it too,” he said.

John Kelly, whose brother Michael was among those shot dead in Derry on Bloody Sunday in 1972, called the drink “scandalous.”

“For anyone to make a profit by naming an ice-cream cocktail after the murder of our innocent people is totally disgraceful and insensitive,” Kelly said.

“They should be ashamed of themselves... it’s an insult to the memory of our loved ones,” he said.

When McGibbon challenged the bar through social media, Adventure Bar’s response seemed to say that the cocktail was intended as a “tribute” to those lost. Management later retracted this and claimed a social media intern had been trying to rectify the situation.

Urgent Appeal