Canned Guinness still isn't as good as draught, he says.

Drinkers have argued this for years, but it is still surprising to hear Walsh confirm it.

Asked how close Diageo is to reproducing pub Guinness at home, Walsh replies: "I think we are about eighty [per cent there]". At home, Walsh prefers to drink Foreign Extra Stout, the high alcohol version of Guinness originally produced for Africa and the Caribbean. "I think many Guinness lovers fall into that category, " he adds.

Despite innovations such as the new Guinness MidStrength, launched last week, and the Brewhouse series, Walsh concedes that sales of the famous stout will decline in Ireland and Britain for the foreseeable future.

But "growth in Guinness in other parts of the world will outstrip those declines so that, in aggregate, the brand will grow, " Walsh adds.

He sees particular potential in the US and Japanese markets, and Guinness has also recently established a firmer footing in Russia and China.

Although additional Brewhouse editions are planned and the low-strength version will be retained if its initial test in Limerick is a success, the "biggest opportunity for Guinness", Walsh argues, is improving its "accessibility" with drinkers. "How do you deliver that perfect pint in a bar in Tokyo that is usually on the fortieth floor? How do you ensure that the lines in that bar are kept perfectly clean so that the consumer has that wonderful experience?"

Given that draught Guinness is the best version of the product, a key task for Diageo executives in Dublin and London has been to replicate that taste in places not suited to beer kegs. Walsh believes that a new innovation developed by the company may have cracked this problem: "We're working around something in certain markets that we call surger technology that will give you exactly the same [taste] profile" as draught.

Although Diageo is a global giant, with a 35bn market cap and sales in 180 countries, Ireland remains a significant market. Dublin is the home of both Guinness and Baileys cream liqueur, and Diageo recently acquired Bushmills from Pernod Ricard. "Between Guinness, Baileys and Bushmills, the amount of exports that we have from Ireland is huge, " says Walsh.

He says the Irish government should think carefully before slapping additional duty on alcohol, claiming that it makes it harder for Diageo to convince governments in emerging markets to reduce their taxes, which would, in turn, boost Irish exports.

A year on from the smoking ban, Walsh makes no secret of the fact that it has damaged Diageo's business.

"The smoking ban drove volume out of the market. Some of it was picked up in the home consumption channel, but not all of it . . . and I think, in that switch, Guinness does lose out."

The pub trade is continuing to lose sales, but Walsh says the smoking ban is not the only factor. "The issue for the whole industry is how you continue to attract the consumer. The consumer has got all the accoutrements of entertainment, so you can watch the soccer game at home on your big screen TV rather than going to the pub.

"There is evidence of Irish outlets [that are innovating] that have gone straight through the smoking ban without any problem and are continuing to see great growth. But there's also evidence of those who haven't made themselves relevant to consumers, and they are seeing the greatest volume declines."

Walsh does not feel that the high cost of pub drinking is hitting business. "I don't think it is price. It is far more driven by experience."

In relation to the problem of binge drinking, Walsh said that, while Diageo supported efforts to educate drinkers through its Don't See a Good Night Wasted campaign, it was important to remember that about 98% of people consume alcohol responsibly.

Having completed the transfer of British Guinness brewing from Park Royal to Dublin, Diageo's current Irish task is to ramp up production at its Bushmills distillery in Co Antrim. Diageo paid Pernod Ricard £200m for Bushmills last year and Walsh has high hopes for it. "We think that, as a brand, Bushmills has languished under its big brother Jameson. Bushmills has just drifted along . . . and we can give it a shot in the arm."

Diageo plans to is increase annual production at Bushmills from about 400,000 cases to one million cases over the next three years.

The main focus for sales growth is the US market, Walsh reckoning that "Bushmills bundled alongside Baileys and Guinness will be a wonderful offering to certain types of establishments."

Unlike many drinks firms, Diageo has its own distribution business in the US, employing 2,000 staff who will now be dedicated to selling Bushmills alongside the group's other brands.

"Bushmills has been undermarketed in the US, " Walsh argues. "I was with one of our sales people a few weeks ago and we visited a few bars in New York. They all had Jameson, but they didn't all have Bushmills."

Walsh refuses to give targets for Bushmills, but says he wants it to grow at a higher rate than the whiskey market as a whole, which is currently expanding at 5% to 6% per year. "We can do very well by doing a little bit better than the category, " he says.

Initially, Bushmills will not be one of Diageo's top priority brands, but Walsh believes the whiskey "has the potential" to sit at the top table within Diageo alongside global brands such as Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker "in a few years".

Growth at Baileys has slowed in recent years, but Walsh suggests this is just a pause ahead of another spurt. "The growth has slowed but it's still growing.

But if you look at the history of Baileys, it has a large increase then it settles, then we have some new marketing and then sales surge again."

Diageo is continuing to promote Baileys as a summer drink with ice, and is also trying to make it more appealing to men.

The new Baileys mint and caramel flavours are aimed at increasing sales to existing consumers as well as attracting new drinkers. "Everybody will buy Baileys Original at Christmas, but can we tempt them, perhaps, to buy another flavour?"

While Baileys and Bushmills sit snugly into Diageo's global spirits operation, Guinness is the company's single major beer brand and this has prompted regular suggestions that the black stuff is something of an orphan within the group. Walsh strongly rejects this notion.

"We're not in the mainstream beer business. . . but even with the consolidation that's going on in the beer business, very few other companies have global brands.

So I don't think of beer as an orphan and I certainly don't think of Guinness as an orphan."

Asked if Diageo has had offers for Guinness, Walsh replies that you wouldn't expect him to comment on that. "We are very happy with Guinness as part of our portfolio. Equally, you manage for shareholder value, so I hope I'm never tested with that particular question. But, at present, we believe Guinness is very valuable to our shareholders and there's no reason to move away from that."

Though that's hardly a ringing endorsement of continued ownership, Walsh can clearly never say never. And, given that he started his business career at British brewer Watney Mann Trumann, perhaps he does have a soft spot for Guinness.

THE MAN AND HIS COMPANY PAUL WALSH
Age: 50
Job: Chief executive, Diageo Education: Comprehensive school near Oldham and then Manchester Polytechnic Previous jobs: Worked at Grand Metropolitan's brewing division, ran its InterContinental Hotels and then its Pillsbury business in the US. Became Diageo's COO in 1999 and CEO in September 2000
Family: Married with one son Hobbies: Rugby and golf DIAGEO Market capitalisation: £24bn ( 35bn) Sales: £9bn Profit: £1.37bn Brands: Owns nine of the world's top twenty spirit brands, including Smirnoff vodka, Bushmills Irish whiskey, Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky, Captain Morgan rum, Gordon's dry gin, J&B Scotch whisky, and Crown Royal whiskey.

Portfolio also includes Guinness stout, Baileys cream liqueur