It's a normal reaction from everyone to get jumpy and mistrustful about something from a macro claiming to be this, that and the other. Especially when we all know what a real Pale Ale is and should taste like.
But the reality is that within every segment of every channel of the Irish alcohol business, selection is a dumbed-down version of what is available in any other country in Europe. Just take a look at the back bar in any pub and see the spirits selection is a handful of regular brands and a few crusty bottles of oddball crap like Advocaat and Black & White (in case some pervert wants to drink scotch). To the vast majority of Irish consumers, booze should be served fast, cold and regularly. For most it serves a single purpose and is consumed for it's transformative effects, not for its taste.
The challenges we face as micro brewers is that our audience care so little about flavour, that us trying to move them closer usually has a repellant effect. Therefore, anything which challenges their taste buds to try something new is a positive move.
I doubt very much that Smithwick's Pale Ale was designed so that the good members of Beoir could have a bit of choice on one of the rare occasions that they choose to not socialise in their living room/shed, in fact it has everything to do with introducing a small amount of new flavours and interest into a segment (Lager) which has been declining at an uncontrollable rate for the past 3 years. So Swithwick's, as TheBeerNut pointed out is aimed at the lager drinker (is there such thing as an Irish ale drinker as a general consumer profile?).
In short, lets hope that this evil child is a success. Not only could it broaden the minds of the zombie consumers, but it could also have the potential to show publicans and proprietors that other things are possible and that their customers may be willing to try something new which in turn makes it worth while stocking.
Flavour wise, I've tasted it and i would describe it as "pleasant", nothing more, nothing less.
