Cultural differences in Great Britain and Ireland

being northern irish i do feel more of an affinity with scotland than with england or wales as can be seen by the flags on the wall of my flat :biggrin:

. my surname is scottish and comes from the plantation time when the scots arrived in ireland. because of the plantations we share a more common language dialect and some speak the ulster scots language. scottish and northern irish accents are a lot similar than say nirish/scottish with welsh or english which are often very different.

culturally, things like the orange order and hibernians are bigger in the parts of ireland and scotland than in other areas of the UK. often if you are a follower of football in northern ireland you will support a scottish club side (usually rangers or celtic!) etc etc

Reply 2

L i b

19

Will the generalisations really mean anything? Some of your football hooligans are more wild and untamed than your average Highland clansman, some villages in Scotland are more English than most of England, some English think Scotland is a nation of drunken idiots and Scottish people tend to think of our education as far superior - even if those days of properly rubbing it in are long gone.

Something over 10% of the population resident in Scotland consider themselves 'English' anyway - and God only knows how many Irish are in Great Britain and vice-versa. We're too cross contaminated to have any real distinct characteristics.

So I suppose that's my answer to your question: we have a different heritage and some different institutions and we fit around those to a greater or lesser degree, but fundamentally we all the same.

Reply 3

OP

LibertineNorth

Something over 10% of the population resident in Scotland consider themselves 'English' anyway - and God only knows how many Irish are in Great Britain and vice-versa. We're too cross contaminated to have any real distinct characteristics.

So I suppose that's my answer to your question: we have a different heritage and some different institutions and we fit around those to a greater or lesser degree, but fundamentally we all the same.

How are some Scottish villages more English than England? :confused:

There are regional differences in behaviour between,eg, North and South in England, so just because we are cross-contaminated, doesn't mean we can't have real distinct characteristics.

Reply 4

OP

LibertineNorth

- even if those days of properly rubbing it in are long gone.

How was it 'rubbed in' before?

Reply 5

in most instances the differences arent big or really that noticeable but i'd reckon most people would pair scotland and northern ireland together as being more "similar" in more ways than say northern ireland with wales for example.

Reply 6

if you go on figures...northern ireland has the best performing education system in the UK.

even more remarkable considering its one of the poorest and most deprived (and troubled obviously) regions.

Reply 7

OP

LibertineNorth

Scottish people tend to think of our education as far superior.

That gets on my tits :wink:

We're not so anal about things in England

Reply 8

DenverDiva

1

LibertineNorth

Scottish people tend to think of our education as far superior

As do English people who've experienced both systems.

Reply 9

yawn

technik

if you go on figures...northern ireland has the best performing education system in the UK.

even more remarkable considering its one of the poorest and most deprived (and troubled obviously) regions.

I would agree with that - the reasons could be as much due to moral ethics as much as anything else.

Where you have a region where most of it's community has a faith background (regardless of which faith) there is more cohesion between home and school, there is more support for school in homes and the results of these factors mean there is more discipline and a greater desire to learn.

Reply 10

OP

yawn

Where you have a region where most of it's community has a faith background (regardless of which faith) there is more cohesion between home and school, there is more support for school in homes and the results of these factors mean there is more discipline and a greater desire to learn.

What??

Why? You'd have to elaborate or i'm not convinced

Reply 11

NDGAARONDI

16

naivesincerity

How are some Scottish villages more English than England? :confused:

Well Edinburgh gets called as being English whilst Aberdeen doesn't. Do you get it now? :smile:

Reply 12

yawn

naivesincerity

What??

Why? You'd have to elaborate or i'm not convinced

What do you need elaboration on? Can you be a bit more specific please?

Reply 13

Socrates

yawn

What do you need elaboration on? Can you be a bit more specific please?

I think he means your religious implications....

Reply 14

yawn

Socrates

I think he means your religious implications....

Oh - OK.

Children at faith schools attend them because their family is of that faith and support the ethos.

Faith schools tend to be the most successful in terms of academic achievement.

Is this sufficient? :smile:

Reply 15

treasured28

I've lived in both N.Ireland and England (the midlands), and spend lots of time in the Republic too... I think there is a definite difference. In my experience, the overall loyalty levels are greater in Ireland - to family and ideals. When I moved over to England, I was shocked to find that people didn't know or get on with cousins, etc. In Ireland, as far as I've been involved, there is more allegiance to family and this transcends over into other factors such as work, etc. There was just much more of a general sense of respect... And it's not even that everyone was happy clappy families or anything, it was just sort of a more accepted thing. It's such a complex issue though - I feel that I could talk about it forever lol - so many factors are involved. Way more than what I've said here so this isn't a complete answer at all, but it's the tip of my thoughts :smile:

Reply 16

Agent Smith

11

yawn

Faith schools tend to be the most successful in terms of academic achievement.

The most successful? Are you sure? I would plump for grammar schools.

That aside, though, the cultural differences have lasted more than one might expect in these days when everyone laments globalisation and the loss of local customs, blah blah, community spirit, blah, good old days, blah blah, VE day street parties, blah blah. And, despite the tone I have just taken, I actually think that's a good thing at a small-scale level, as long as it doesn't translate up into counterproductive and ultimately destructive separatism.

Reply 17

OP

NDGAARONDI

Well Edinburgh gets called as being English whilst Aberdeen doesn't. Do you get it now? :smile:

No, remember i'm a poorly educated Englishman :smile:

The statement was (roughly) some parts of Scotland are MORE English than England--this seems highly unlikely to me.

Reply 18

OP

treasured28

I've lived in both N.Ireland and England (the midlands), and spend lots of time in the Republic too... I think there is a definite difference. In my experience, the overall loyalty levels are greater in Ireland - to family and ideals. When I moved over to England, I was shocked to find that people didn't know or get on with cousins, etc. In Ireland, as far as I've been involved, there is more allegiance to family and this transcends over into other factors such as work, etc. There was just much more of a general sense of respect... And it's not even that everyone was happy clappy families or anything, it was just sort of a more accepted thing. It's such a complex issue though - I feel that I could talk about it forever lol - so many factors are involved. Way more than what I've said here so this isn't a complete answer at all, but it's the tip of my thoughts :smile:

Interesting....what kind of ideals? And respect for what? I think Scots and Irish have a more romantic, loyal ideas about their countries...English people are just like 'it's OK', i also think we are more each person for themselves rather than community orientated, as well as less interested in other people and more self-absorbed in a way. The Scots were also totally different imo, they seem more engaged, to be more passionate about issues, there's more apathy in England. I also think they show you more extremes of emotion more openly up there, and people keep a lid on it more here

Reply 19