The new owners of the Shamrock say they hope the venue becomes a 'second home' for their customers.

Steven Wells and Gus Chrysomalis completed the takeover of the Upper Brook Street establishment on Monday, September 5.

"This is about creating a community," said Steven.

"Not only is it the best place for a Guinness in town, but it's also an establishment that's comfy and safe.

"We want this to almost become our customers' second home."

%image(15263023, type="article-full", alt="The new owners say they hope the venue becomes a "second home" for their customers")

Gus, a former US marine from New York, works front house alongside floor manager, Frank McFadden – a former British marine from Northern Ireland.

"It's all about talking to people, having a laugh and making sure everyone feels relaxed," said the pair.

"We've got no plans to radically change anything inside because we like the feel of the place.

"It feels lived in and homely."

Since opening, the trio have said business has been good and that their first week was busy.

"We get regulars here but we're also starting to see new faces," said Frank.

"There's such varied demographic.

"We get people of all ages and it's great to see everyone mix together and feel relaxed."

Looking ahead, plans are in place for the Shamrock to start serving traditional Irish food, while Gus hopes the venue can become a place for live music.

"We want to host special events such as musical acts and comedy nights," he said.

"We want to eventually have different entertainment every day."

%image(15263031, type="article-full", alt="The owners said they will "remain faithful to the traditional feel of the place, while providing service that's centred around customers"")

Steven highlighted that the establishment will pride itself on customer service and its loyalty to the traditional design of the pub.

"Our USP is Frank and Gus," he said.

"Hospitality has changed and people like these two are so rare nowadays.

"We don't care about trends. We're not going to pretend to be what we're not.

"We will remain faithful to the traditional feel of the place while providing service that's centred around our customers.

"That's what this is all about."