ANYONE in the office want a trip to Dublin with the promise of lots of Guinness drinking thrown in? Aw go on, go on, go on. My hand shoots up immediately - I don't need much persuading.

Flying from Newcastle Airport on the new Ryanair Newcastle to Dublin route takes about an hour. The flight's a little turbulent on take-off, but speedily efficient and it's not long before we're in the Emerald Isle.

Dublin's a rapidly expanding city and there's plenty of evidence of that in the amount of road building going on as we arrive. The city also has all the hustle and bustle that you'd expect of a capital - the streets are thronged with shoppers neatly side-stepping the traffic.

We're here for little more than a day so having hopped on one of the buses which run every 15 minutes from the airport, we're whisked by taxi to our main port of call - the Guinness Storehouse.

Opened just three years ago, it now proudly proclaims itself as Ireland's number one visitor attraction and is in the heart of the massive Guinness complex which dominates the St James's Gate area of Dublin.

Built in 1904, the Storehouse was fully operational and used for fermenting and storing Guinness up until the late 1980s before being revamped for the tourist trade. Stepping inside, you are struck by the vastness of it all and the hugely impressive steel architecture which has been given a sleek, contemporary look.

Visitors to the Storehouse get a guided tour around the building, taking in how Guinness is made, the history behind the brand and those quirky advertising campaigns.

The man who started it all, Arthur Guinness, began brewing his famous 'Porter' in 1759. It quickly became one of Ireland's best known beers - the name later changed to Guinness - and was soon being exported across the water to England and further afield.

To work at the Guinness brewery in the early days was something of a privilege with the company offering its staff excellent wages and paid holidays - unheard of when Guinness began.

It wasn't all plain sailing though. In the brewery's formative years, Arthur Guinness faced a battle with the city authorities over the rights to a precious local water supply, which could have forced the company's closure. After a tense stand-off, he won and was allowed to carry on brewing the Guinness in return for a small fee for the use of the water.

The tour is interesting enough and professionally done with video clips and audio commentaries, but there is a lack of interactivity, for youngsters in particular. I had imagined stirring huge vats of Guinness and other such things.

The core of the Storehouse, if you can imagine it, resembles a giant glass pint split over six floors. There are bars and restaurants on the upper levels and we stopped for a bite to eat and, of course, a Guinness.

An occasional consumer of the black stuff, I was nevertheless keen to test the well held view that it tastes much better in Ireland. Something to do with the water, apparently. My less than sophisticated palate could hardly tell the difference.

At the very top of the Storehouse is Gravity, the bar in the sky, which has great views out over Dublin. It is kind of assumed you will be drinking Guinness in Gravity - nothing much else appeared to be served at the bar - but if you don't like it you're probably in the wrong place anyway.

A good way to get around Dublin is on the City Tour bus which picks up from outside the brewery. You can use the City Tour ticket as often as you like during the day and there are discounts too for some of Dublin's best-known attractions.

The tour takes in 16 stops around the city every quarter of an hour including Phoenix Park - the home of Dublin Zoo - the National Museum and Trinity College.

We were a bit pressed for time, but the 20-minute ride to O'Connell Street - one of Dublin's main shopping precincts - was worth it to hear the wonderful Irish lilt of our guide and driver Christy. This was a man who could probably find enthusiasm in watching paint dry.

We soon found ourselves ensconced for an hour or so in one of Dublin's many pubs, Mary Macc's, not far from our hotel, the ultra-modern Herbert Park. It's not hard. Turn around a street corner in Dublin and the odds are you'll spy a pub, one with a character all of its own.

The ubiquitous pub chains common in English cities are a rarer site over here and you're more likely to find a traditional oak-panelled bar full of pipe smoke than bright lights and banging music.

Our trip was nearing an end and our hosts had arranged a trip to a traditional Irish show to finish off the day.

Just time for another Guinness. Your round, I think.

FACTFILE

Ryanair has flights to Dublin from Newcastle and Teesside airports from £9.99 one-way including taxes, although prices are subject to change. Check the website at www.ryanair.com for latest details or ring (0871) 2460000. The Guinness Storehouse is open seven days a week from 9.30pm to 5pm. Admission is 13.50 euros adults, 6.50 euros senior citizens, 3 euros children between six and 12 and children under six go free. For more details and admission prices go to www.guinness-storehouse.com