- Strongly dislike the cultural glorification of getting excessively drunk, but can't deny it's there - the stereotype is not based on fiction. - Also strongly like the international reputation we have as being hospitable, fun, and friendly (as evidenced by the comment above), which is essentially a positive stereotype. - In my experience when meeting new people, acknowledgement-that-the-Irish-are-drinkers (in a non-antagonistic way) is not in itself harmful, and can often be a good ice breaker and rapport builder. As in, the stereotype itself is not the harmful part. Most people I've encountered tend not to make negative assumptions, are smart enough to reason about group vs individual behaviour, and give the benefit-of-the-doubt, and those who don't have a being-an-asshole problem, not a infected-by-a-stereotype problem. - My reading of the comment above was that the spirit was non-asshole-y.
Just my two cents