Tipping in Ireland

While travelling, especially in China people did not tip...to the point that after one dinner, we were chased to the street to return our money. I tried to get the server to keep it, but she would not.

While in Ireland, I notice most people do not tip. I asked one fellow off to the side if tipping in the pub was expected. He told me "Why tip, does someone pour a better pint than another?" I also noticed in restaurants most were not tipping.

Any input?

Firefly

Hi....&
We usually leave a tip in Ireland (N&S), if the service is OK.
Not at the bar though - only in the restaurant.

Yeah, not at the bar, I'll tip 10% in restaurant as a habit. In cash though to better ensure it goes to the staff on top of wages.

It's the same in the UK - tip in restaurants around 10%, but never ever in pubs. (You can offer to buy the bartender a drink, which is a kind of disguised tip, but it's far from obligatory.)

You should tip in pubs with table service though. Again about 10% if you're ordering food, just rounding up the change is fine if they're just bringing you drinks.

Tipping Waiter/Waitress service in bars and restaurants is the norm. But I know Irish people who don't do that anymore, even in their most favourite restaurant they now round up to a euro or two at most. They have no real defence why they have stopped tipping more generously. With their income my friends can still provide a better tip.
On a number of occasions they have tried to persuade me to tip less and they have given the reason the the service was not good enough. The service was fine.

It has always astonished me that Staff/Employees that work with customers directly and face-to-face ALWAYS get paid the least amount. There is a obnoxious snobbery in Irish Business that meeting customers is a menial task. In Diplomatic Service, Consular work is seen as a poor career choice as the Officer is dealing with individual queries e.g. Lost Passports, Immigration applications. And not the A-Stream of Policy/Decision Making.

#5 Ha. Across the Irish civil service, the units that actually do things are viewed with disdain compared with the ones that deal with policy, legislation, or better still policy about policy.

^ that's a little weird

I think the Irish tip poorly by comparison to Americans....I know nothing about the British, or European tourists.

For Ireland; add 10% in a restaurant, no tip needed in a bar.

As to Americans tipping better than the Irish (#8): Tips in many western countries are related (unconsiously I think) to the wages paid to those serving them. Waiters and bar staff in the US earn feck all (often less than needed to live on), those in many mainland European countries (The Netherlands, France and Switzerland come to mind) are often professionals and earn a decent wage, Ireland falls somewhere in the middle (as with many things) with staff earning enough to live on but not generously. Therefore the Americans tip generously for everything, the Irish some for many things and the French, Dutch and Swiss only when the service/food etc. has been exceptional. Of course these are gross generalisations and one meets stingy Americans and generous Dutch, though by exception.

Tipping in restaurants in Ireland is just about the same as anywhere else in Europe...just round-up or calculate approx 10%...

Bartending is actually a trade in Ireland and relatively well-paid so there is no particular expectation of tips but sometimes a customer will offer the barman a drink for exceptional service or whatever and this will normally be taken in cash terms rather than liquid intake...))