The ten best and worst things about being irish

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:04pm #1

So I'm listening to some radio station the other day and they're getting people to text in the best things about being irish. And I come onto boards.ie today and read some threads giving out stink about us, our government, our "moaning" etc so I'm thinking, who's doing the bloody moaning here? In the pub last week while discussing the upcoming GAA finals someone mentioned they were proud to be irish and someone else asked "why?". So go on, give me some reasons why your proud to be irish or not. I for one love our culture and I regularly holiday both in ireland and abroad so I believe I can draw up some comparisons which work in our favour.

06-09-2009 4:07pm

I've never understood this proud to be Irish nonsense. How can you proud to be something you had no choice in. Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished or if your a non national who takes on Irish citizenship you can be proud to be considered Irish but being proud of the fact that you were simply born here is nonsense.

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:13pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I've never understood this proud to be Irish nonsense. How can you proud to be something you had no choice in. Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished or if your a non national who takes on Irish citizenship you can be proud to be considered Irish but being proud of the fact that you were simply born here is nonsense.

I had no choice in who my parents are, I'm very proud of their achievements. Pride in yourself and pride in other people / things are two different things.

Walsh · 06-09-2009 4:15pm

The best thing about being Irish is: not being English.

06-09-2009 4:15pm

amos13 wrote: »

I had no choice in who my parents are, I'm very proud of their achievements. Pride in yourself and pride in other people / things are two different things.

But you can hardly be proud that you are Irish if you were born here. That's like saying that you're proud of having 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.

galwayrush · 06-09-2009 4:15pm

I couldn't think of 10 reasons either way without being superficial.

Micamaca · 06-09-2009 4:16pm

I like being Irish but I'm not proud of it at the moment. We have made many big boo-boos recently or voted in politicians to do just that. (Not me personally but anyho).

I don't see much to be proud of at the moment. I was proud when we brought in the non-smoking ban first in Europe and the plastic bags ban. Those kind of things made me proud.

On the other hand, when I have to use public transport or see tourists trying to make sense of it, I feel less proud...sometimes downright ashamed. We were on a train going to Drogheda one weekend with German friends of ours and every time the train braked, water rushed down through the ceiling like a power shower. Amusing in a kind of 'laugh or cry' way but also embarrassing.

Course, no fear of that happening now for the next year or so!

pappyodaniel · 06-09-2009 4:16pm

I was over in Australia, and everyone’s like: “Are you proud to be an American?” And I was like, “Um, I don’t know, I didn’t have a lot to do with it. You know, my parents ****ed there, that’s about all.”

-Bill Hicks

That_Guy · 06-09-2009 4:19pm

The best thing about being Irish is that Tayto is exclusive to us.

villager · 06-09-2009 4:20pm

Walsh wrote: »

The best thing about being Irish is: not being English.

why does it always come down to this level

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 06-09-2009 4:20pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I've never understood this proud to be Irish nonsense. How can you proud to be something you had no choice in. Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished or if your a non national who takes on Irish citizenship you can be proud to be considered Irish but being proud of the fact that you were simply born here is nonsense.

Ridiculous statement :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Iv never seen such contradiction!

"How can you proud to be something you had no choice in..." and "Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished..."

I had no choice in anything the Irish acomplished.....and I am proud to be Irish.

You "argument" is nonsense, just because YOU are NOT proud to be Irish, pfffffffft!!

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:20pm

That_Guy wrote: »

The best thing about being Irish is that Tayto is exclusive to us.

And Galtee sausages....sweet sweet Galtee..........

Dr Kamikazi · 06-09-2009 4:22pm

I can't be proud of being Irish on account of me being German.
Could I be excused from this class and be proud of being German instead?
:cool:

06-09-2009 4:24pm

benwavner wrote: »

Ridiculous statement :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Iv never seen such contradiction!

"How can you proud to be something you had no choice in..." and "Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished..."

I had no choice in anything the Irish acomplished.....and I am proud to be Irish.

You "argument" is nonsense, just because YOU are NOT proud to be Irish, pfffffffft!!

Being proud of what the Irish accomplished is completely different to being proud of being Irish. I'm proud that my girlfriend got her college course yet I had no part in it as I met her after she applied. I'm proud of her for all the things she accomplished.

It's the same with regarding to being proud of all the things that the Irish race accomplished. As an Irish person I can be proud of what my forefathers accomplished. I cannot however stand up and say that I'm proud of being Irish given that it was completely out of my control.

SV · 06-09-2009 4:24pm

I have multiple citizenship but eh..

What's this argument? You can't be proud of being irish because you didn't have a choice in it?
What a stupid fúcking statement.

Dr Kamikazi · 06-09-2009 4:26pm

amos13 wrote: »

And Galtee sausages....sweet sweet Galtee..........

Now that is pride!
Producing a product that contains traces of meat by products, rusk, sawdust, soya, stabilizers, preservatives and beaks and claws and being proud of it.
I'm German, but I'm not proud of our sense of humor.

galwayrush · 06-09-2009 4:26pm

I'm proud that i'm able to get on with like minded people where ever they are from.:cool:

galwayrush · 06-09-2009 4:28pm

Dr Kamikazi wrote: »

Now that is pride!
Producing a product that contains traces of meat by products, rusk, sawdust, soya, stabilizers, preservatives and beaks and claws and being proud of it.
I'm German, but I'm not proud of our sense of humor.

Haha, excellent.
You should be proud, because that was funny.:D:cool:

TheCardHolder · 06-09-2009 4:28pm

I love getting free drinks in bars on holiday when the owner finds out i'm irish

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:29pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Being proud of what the Irish accomplished is completely different to being proud of being Irish. I'm proud that my girlfriend got her college course yet I had no part in it as I met her after she applied. I'm proud of her for all the things she accomplished.

It's the same with regarding to being proud of all the things that the Irish race accomplished. As an Irish person I can be proud of what my forefathers accomplished. I cannot however stand up and say that I'm proud of being Irish given that it was completely out of my control.

Methinks you are being pedantic

Riddle101 · 06-09-2009 4:31pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I've never understood this proud to be Irish nonsense. How can you proud to be something you had no choice in. Now you can be proud of what the Irish accomplished or if your a non national who takes on Irish citizenship you can be proud to be considered Irish but being proud of the fact that you were simply born here is nonsense.

What's so wrong about being proud of where you're born and from. Just because we have no choice dosen't mean we should act like it's a curse or something. The fact of the matter is, people all over the world have a lot of pride from where they're from so it's not a typical Irish thing.

Anyway things i'm proud of.
That Ireland went from being a third world country to a prosperous one. Sure you could say the EU helped out but it took the workforce in Ireland to get Ireland in motion, even if we're in a recession right now, it good to know we're not like any poor African countries.

That we've never been in any major wars. Sure you could say the War for Independence but let's not kid ourselves. We've never been in a major conflict that saw millions of people killed like World War 2 or the Vietnam War.

Our sports. Hurling and GAA, may not be as popular as let's say Soccer, but at least it's something that we can be proud to say we created.

Has a good education system. Some maybe sceptical but i'm proud to say Ireland produces a lot of scholars every year and i feel proud in knowing that.

Our sense of humour. Seriously we need it from all the jokes that we are the victims of.

the Worst things about being Irish
Incompetent politicians. Ok so maybe I couldn't do a better job, but hey I'm not the one trying to run the country.

Crime. I guess we can count ourselve lucky we don't live in Columbia but I just hate how bad Ireland has gotten with all the crime. drugs everywhere, kids with guns and a justice system that is useless.

The justice and health systems. But I guess a lot of countries have it bad as well

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:33pm

Dr Kamikazi wrote: »

Now that is pride!
Producing a product that contains traces of meat by products, rusk, sawdust, soya, stabilizers, preservatives and beaks and claws and being proud of it.
I'm German, but I'm not proud of our sense of humor.

wow I'd no idea. what genius came up with putting all those ingredients together to come up with such flavoursome bliss?

orourkeda · 06-09-2009 4:33pm

Walsh wrote: »

The best thing about being Irish is: not being English.

Really? That's such an enlightened outlook on life isnt it

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 06-09-2009 4:34pm

@ DARKO,

The stuff you stated in your last post were all out of your control too, so, going by your logic, you cant be proud of them. You cant have it both ways, your argument is flawed.

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:35pm

I'm proud of tipperary for giving us an AWESOME hurling final

That_Guy · 06-09-2009 4:39pm

amos13 wrote: »

I'm proud of tipperary for giving us an AWESOME hurling final

Awesome, hurling and Tipperary are not things generally associated with that county.

Seillejet · 06-09-2009 4:41pm

To open up the debate, I know Im leaving myself open for a pasting, seeing as this is AH but to follow on from OP;

Ten reasons Im proud to be Irish!

1) Our sense of humour and way with words. I must crack up laughing at the sayings Irish people intentionally and unintentionally come out with at least three times every day.

2) Our love of sport. Seriously we are obsessed.

3) The parish mentality that is still out there and sense of community.

4) We are genuinely on the whole a friendly bunch.

5) The gaa football and hurling. I know it is linked to number two but the fact it is unique is something to be proud off.

6) Our language.

7) Our sense of family. I really think there is a huge focus on the family in Ireland perhaps only rivalled by the French.

8) Our level of education.

9) The fact the Gaurds are unarmed. Seriously appreciate this when away.

10) Irish Music.

Reasons I become embarrassed or not proud of being Irish

1) Our transport system, especially from the Airport.

2) The lassiez faire attitude at times. Things will be grand sort of thing.

3) Perception we sometimes put out there that we are hammered all the time.

4) Our driving.

5) I dont think our gifts to the culinary world have been great.

6) Irish television. Seriously the only thing I have ever watched with some degree of interest is Paths to Freedom and the Family.

7) Begrudgers.

8) Fashion. Seriously some of the clobber people wear.

9) The litter.

10) Our obsession with property and all things materialsic.

BrandonFlowers · 06-09-2009 4:47pm

1. The Gaa.

2. The irish sense of humour.

3. The fact that we get on with almost everybody in the world.

4. Tayto, Galtee, Denny, and any other irish product which brings enjoyment to countless people.

5. Generosity.

6. Sense of History.

7. Artistic temperements; the poets, actors, music artists we've produced.

8. Cuisine- i love a good stew!

9. Irish Music!

10. Guinness, who else would get a worldwide celebration after 250 years!!!

amos13 · 06-09-2009 4:47pm

Seillejet wrote: »

To open up the debate, I know Im leaving myself open for a pasting, seeing as this is AH but to follow on from OP;

Glad someone opened it cos I wan't really getting much back there!

Apparently Freud once said that the only people impervious to psychoanalysis is the irish. I like the way we don't overanalyse ourselves all the time - so the whole "it'll be grand" argument I prob wouldn't agree with, just because that kind of attitude is a low-stressed-out kinda attitude

galwayrush · 06-09-2009 4:50pm

amos13 wrote: »

I'm proud of tipperary for giving us an AWESOME hurling final

Bloody hell, yes, i feel proud we can produce an amazing skilful gane like this.:cool:

BrandonFlowers · 06-09-2009 4:50pm

seillejet you beat me to the punch while i wasn't lookin!:D

The ten best and worst things about being irish

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