THEY were wearing Guinness at Waxy O'Connor's when Ireland scored.

At the instant Robbie Keane's last-gasp equaliser hit the back of the net a crowd of green and white bedecked supporters leapt as one into the air.

Bars stools were knocked over, tables pushed aside, caps sent flying, and the black stuff went everywhere.

With one involuntary punch skywards, jubilant Noel Wray showered the contents of his glass over Ursula Doherty, his girlfriend. The couple danced and hugged as if they had just won the lottery, oblivious to the drink dripping from Ms Doherty's Ireland shirt.

When the bedlam had subsided, Ms Doherty hurried off to the ladies' room and slipped into something more comfortable before re-joining the crowd to celebrate the draw that felt like a win.

There were more than 100 of them: genuine Irish, so-called plastic paddies, Celtic supporters, and a few grey-suited businessmen who had surreptitiously taken an extended lunch-break.

All were shoe-horned into the main bar of one of Glasgow's leading Irish-style pubs to watch on a giant television screen as Ireland gained a World Cup lifeline against Germany.

Ireland's hopes of qualifying from Group E looked doomed after Germany took the lead, but Mick McCarthy's team now has every chance of qualifying for the second round after Keane made the Irish forget about his disgraced namesake, Roy Keane.

An ecstatic Mr Wray, who lives in Glasgow and had taken the half-day off his work at Thus plc to watch the match at Waxy's, said: ''What a brilliant fight back. They played with such heart and soul.''

Hinting that the celebrations had only just begun, he added: ''That's me for the rest of the day. I'm going to drink some more but I'll make sure it goes down my throat!''

There were some Scottish football fans in the bar too, as if to remind us that we were in Glasgow, not Galway.

Andrew Craib, 20, from St Monans, in Fife, who now lives and works in the city, said: ''We didn't qualify so Ireland are the next best thing. They are our Celtic brothers so you've got to support Ireland . . . not just whoever England are playing.''

But not everyone was happy. Frank Beckstein, a 24-year-old Strathclyde University student from Nuremburg, Germany, was shouting ''nein, nein, nein'' and crying in his beer rather than spilling it when Keane scored.

''I am very disappointed that we didn't win,'' he said. ''But I've enjoyed the atmosphere and I hope Germany and Ireland

qualify.''

After the match a wave of joy and relief swept through Ireland, much of which had shut down for the afternoon to allow workers to watch it.

Fans danced in the bars while Dublin's streets were thronged with supporters dressed in green, white and orange.

Motorists sounded their horns as songs and chants rang out. While the pubs did a roaring trade, virtually all Irish businesses shut down for the afternoon to allow workers to watch the game.

About 95% of companies made arrangements for staff to extend their lunch breaks and nearly half gave staff the afternoon off, according to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises group.

In the Allsports cafe bar in Dublin's fashionable Temple Bar district beer was on the house at the final whistle. Shay Hagan, a 24-year-old student at University College, Dublin, said: ''It was the most dramatic end to a match that I have ever seen.''