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Original post by Frostyjoe
You are so right! I cringe when these people talk about other countries, the ignorance is embaressing. The girl that I was talking about hasn't even really travelled around England itsellf, she has been to London once.

I don't know what could be done to educate these people.


Either educate them and show them pictures of what Ireland is really like or take them there yourself to see your family or something.

Tbh, I was guilty of thinking the same thing about Israel, that it would be a barren desert hellhole, but then my mum went to visit and showed me pictures and it looked just like any other westernised city in some places
Reply 21
Original post by BubbleBoobies
hoi. oi read tat meyssege in tis ahccent
yer frum nortern ahh-lend so ye sound like tis - hoh hoh hoh. where's ma' guiness laddy?
^you sound like that, we sound like this, lol


I'm from N.Ireland and I don't sound like that at all. :laugh:
This is the kind of thing i'd say to wind you up.
Original post by Frostyjoe
Well I know they're ignorant but they seem to look down on Ireland as a whole which I find hypocritical because their own area isn't that amazing itself.


Well if you're from shitheal part of the world that's mainly populated by ignorant people, then you need someone to look down on to make yourself feel less like the gimp that you are. It's just unfortunate for you that they have chosen Ireland when they could as easily picked on Slovakia or Guatamala or wherever.

On behalf of the rest of the UK, the overwhelming majority imo, we don't think N Ireland or Ireland in general is poor etc.
Reply 24
I have tried to educate them but they would rather listen to the news.
Original post by Frostyjoe
I have tried to educate them but they would rather listen to the news.


Let them hold their ignorant beliefs without actually setting foot in Ireland then, just don't bother with them and don't bother what they think about Ireland. Most people in Britain don't think like this, especially amongst the younger generation. I've never been to Ireland personally but I admit that it looks beautiful.
It's not looking down, it's genuine ignorance. It's nothing to do with Ireland. People say similar things down south about the north of England.

I'm sure there are many countries you know little about and you can be forgiven for that. I don't know anything about Nicaragua, for example, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Of course, England have closer geographical and historical ties with Ireland so you may expect people to know a bit more but we can't know everything. If you don't know Ireland has Tescos, you don't know it. Does Nicaragua have motorways? I don't know.

Just because you are from Ireland, doesn't mean it is the centre of everyone's universe. You are the one looking down on English people for not been well educated enough.
(edited 7 years ago)
You deliberate paint yourself as a victim tbh

It's just general lack of knowledge really, im sure it happens to foreigners too
I don't look down on the ROI, I'm just not particularly interested in it.

I know they drink a lot of guinness and play this sport with sticks or something? I think they've been tricked into thinking they're more interesting than they actually are by the fact that the Americans are weirdly fascinated by them.

On the other hand I'm sure NI is a wonderful place and full of fantastic, loyal British subjects.
Reply 29
Original post by Frostyjoe
It's quite comical actually. Ireland isn't that different to England, I don't know where this view comes from.


It comes from the fact that there was a huge economic disparity between Ireland (well, particularly the Republic) and Great Britain until relatively recently. People in Scotland and England had direct experience in those times of some of Ireland's poorest coming over the Irish Sea to work. It entered the popular imagination. There is still a gap, but it's shrunk - but it's hardly surprising that stereotypes don't quite keep up with the times.

...but yeah, ultimately most people don't give a toss really. I can't say I've got a huge interest in most of Ireland - nor do I take much to do with Shetland, the East Midlands, the Isle of Man or Norfolk. People generally have fairly narrow experience of places in their own country.
(edited 7 years ago)
OP, Drewski tried to explain it to you earlier, but am also picking up on victim from you as well.
Original post by Frostyjoe
I never talk about countries that I have never visited with such restraint.

I am not perfect but I have traveled enough to know that alot of countries are not what we envision them to be. I always take an interest research other countries, these people seem to have a problem with doing that.


If you are from Northern Ireland then you are not from a different country - Northern Ireland is part of the UK and has a very different economy to the Republic. It sounds to me like you have a chip on your shoulder. I don't have any negative preconceptions about Ireland or Northern Ireland and in all my life I have never come across anyone else who does. You may have been unlucky enough to have met an annoying person, but you are then making the same ignorant generalisations about the English that you accuse the English of making about you and your "country".
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Airmed
I'm from N.Ireland and I don't sound like that at all. :laugh:


well I sure *read* your message in that accent :wink:
Ireland is a truly beautiful country with beautiful women. however, i am not a big fan of republicanism. homogonous and full of beautoful countryside, irish people tend to be very nice and down to earth to and i have met many enterprising irish people who owned their own businesses and football clubs.
Original post by macromicro
It's true that Northern Ireland has been struggling economically and politically for some time. There are very few graduate jobs and there is an on going religious feud since the troubles. The whole place is steeped in religion which is why people from England - which is increasingly atheist and secular - view it suspiciously. You can't drive down a road without flags on lampposts and parades happening. Police officers have to keep their jobs secret out of fear of being blown up in the religious war, and outside of Belfast - which is a small city anyway - there are no other options for young, ambitious graduates. And to top it all off the arts scene is dead. I view it as a step back in time - a place that hasn't developed as quickly due to being cut off from the mainland. There are far better places to live in the UK.


Last time I checked NI had a higher GDP than north England, Midlands and wales. Best exam results in the UK, the last IQ drive showed them top, was it 'Test the Nation' or something like that.

It's probably more dangerous for state affiliated personal in mainland UK nowadays, with gangs and Muslim terrorism specifically targeting police and soldiers. In fact I'm pretty sure I could argue that point.

There are plenty of job opportunities and the arts are dead, Game of Thrones of the top of my head. Politically, all of the UK is pretty backward, NI is no exception.

I could keep going, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about, you can't even put spacing in your post, just a 'bloc o text'.
Original post by Frostyjoe
English people have a terrible insight into the day to day goings on in Northern Ireland.


Of course we do. Have you read the BBC news NI page so see that something isn't quite right. And when you couple that with the yearly riots in Belfast and Derry, pointlessly bitter marches about a flag, peace walls and all the other messed up things about NI, is it any wonder most folks not in the know have a rather dim view of it all?
Original post by HanSoloLuck
Last time I checked NI had a higher GDP than north England, Midlands and wales.


Do you mean GDP per capita? And you probably mean North East England. There and Wales are roughly the same as NI and are the two least economically developed and most avoided regions in the UK. So yes I would agree they are comparable, which is a problem.

It's probably more dangerous for state affiliated personal in mainland UK nowadays, with gangs and Muslim terrorism specifically targeting police and soldiers. In fact I'm pretty sure I could argue that point.

You've said you could argue it... but you haven't. When I was over there the PSNI were a constant topic. Terrorism is global and of course has affected NI massively. Their terror threat is high.

There are plenty of job opportunities and the arts are dead, Game of Thrones of the top of my head. Politically, all of the UK is pretty backward, NI is no exception.

No there aren't. Real wages are the lowest of the UK, along with Wales. There is no arts scene - a TV show being filmed there doesn't constitute a scene! Have a look at Glasgow or Bristol.

Politics in NI are notoriously backwards due to over 80% of the population being Christian. They are still living in the Dark Ages. For example, abortion and gay marriage are still not legalised - the only place in the UK.

I could keep going, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about, you can't even put spacing in your post, just a 'bloc o text'.

Actually I do. I did a lot of research on NI for part of my thesis examining the adverse hangover of religion. I also lived there for 6 months in Belfast/Comber.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by macromicro
You can't drive down a road without flags on lampposts and parades happening. Police officers have to keep their jobs secret out of fear of being blown up in the religious war


This is ridiculous. It may be somewhat true for a very small area of northern ireland at particular times of the year regarding flags and parades, but this is the sort of ignorant statement that leads people to believe northern ireland is a dangerous and unworthy place when in reality there is no more danger than anywhere else.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Who cares about those people? I do like Northern Ireland. Also I love Irish animals. And I think one day I will be right there to say hi to Irish fairies in forests.:-)

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Posted from TSR Mobile
Ignorance. You still get a lot of Brits who have no idea about the British/Irish agreement on citizenship entitlement for Northern Irish residents and insist that everyone in NI "must be British" because NI is part of the UK.

However there is indeed a long way to go with Northern Ireland in particular - the Democratic Unionist Party's very essence is being a constituent part of the UK to represent the wishes of the Protestant community, whilst it seeks to not move with the times as the rest of the union (and the South) has, because of this religious association.

Apart from that, I'm a general fan of Ireland (the island as a whole). The Irish community where I live has shaped the development of the area.
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