What do you love about Ireland ?

nachoman

Beaches in Donegal

Dudess

I don't think it's amazing - fairly mediocre really, but the quality of life is excellent - and so laidback. Obviously there are exceptions to the above, but overall, it's a ridiculously easy, sweet life in this country. The derogatory stuff said about it here though, as if the crime is on a par with that in the film City Of God, as if the corruption is only second to that of Bolivia, as if the censorship is up there with that of China... good for a giggle I suppose.

Pittens

Not on Firefox. And to be fair, I mispelled a word; I didn't eat a child like you're treating it.

You misspelled a word four times in a post where you complained about Ireland's low IQ.

You also misspelled "mispelled". Fail.

Johnny Utah

The-Rigger wrote: »

Really? How so?

Reaching the quarter finals of the world cup in 1990?

We've punched way above our weight in lots of sports.

Soccer- Euro 88, we were playing amongst the best 8 teams in Europe and only went out to a jammy goal by the Dutch (who went on to win the competition and were one of the best Dutch teams of all time).
World Cup 1990- Reached the quarter-finals (the last 8 in the world) and only went out to a very good Italian team.
World Cup 94- Beat Italy, the evenutal finalists, in the first match. Superb performance by Paul McGrath that day.
World Cup 2002- Drew with Germany, who also reached the final that year. Qualified out of our group and really put it up to Spain in the last 16 match- only went out on penos to an excellent Spainish side.

For a tiny country like Ireland, those achievements are immense, yet you probably think we should bring home the World Cup every four years.:rolleyes:

However, the truth is it's very, very difficult for small countries in Europe to qualify for major soccer tournaments. For example, Finland have a population of 5 million.... they've never qualified for a World Cup!



Rugby: Grand Slam winners 2009.
Plenty of triple crowns over the last decade.
Two of the biggest sides in club rugby in Munster & Leinster.


Boxing- Steve Collins, Michael Carruth, Barry McGuigan, Bernard Dunne, Kenny Egan, Katie Taylor, etc all reached the peak of their sport.

Horse Racing: Some of the best horses/jockies/trainers in the world are Irish.

Cycling: Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly.

Snooker: Ken Doherty.

Great Irish athletes: Ron Delaney, Sonia O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coughlan.

F1: Eddie Irvine used to drive a Ferrari!




Yeah, we're rubbish at sport.... :rolleyes:

thetonynator

You forgot golf!!!

2 of the top 10 (most of the time) golfers in the world are Irish, Padraig Harrington has 3 masters.

InkSlinger67

Although I can see why people might dislike living here, it could be a whole lot worse. As long as those Yanks keep their hands from my field I've no problem

-Bull McCabe

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

BOHtox

One thing I hate is that we don't support our local football team

scallywags

i like the way someone has wire tapped my house to fulfill their fantasies, its so cool with me. this of course means i can curse as many obsenities as i like

wylo

The fact that we break away from the main continent in our personalities, you can have more genuine craic as an Irish person with locals in the likes of South East Asia or South America than you can have in Germany or Holland.

I love our laid back attitude, even if it means we pay the price for it (ever notice the PIIGS of Europe seem to be the more chilled out of the European countries?).

One of my favourite things about this country is the size of our population. It makes you feel more attached to your country.

oooomy

It's ****E being irish! We're the lowest of the fecking low, the scum of the earth, the most wretched, servile, miserable, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. It's a ****e state of affairs and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f'ing difference!

rossie1977

oooomy wrote: »

It's ****E being irish! We're the lowest of the fecking low, the scum of the earth, the most wretched, servile, miserable, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. It's a ****e state of affairs and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f'ing difference!

i really wish we had a reputation feature on this forum or an anti-thanks button :mad:

OxfordComma

I think most of the bitching people do about this country is really only politics-related (which is quite understandable, really).

Apart from the appallingly incompetent government (and all the problems stemming from this) and the dodgy weather, I really love this country, something I'm only realising as I get older. I love the Irish people, the Irish sense of humour, the countryside, Irish music, the wealth of great literature and poetry that's been created in this country, the towns and cities, and of course the craic (which you can't bate, really).

wylo

rossie1977 wrote: »

i really wish we had a reputation feature on this forum or an anti-thanks button :mad:

This might help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tJJO_pVvQ

Dudess

oooomy wrote: »

It's ****E being irish! We're the lowest of the fecking low, the scum of the earth, the most wretched, servile, miserable, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. It's a ****e state of affairs and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f'ing difference!

Oh yeah, the inferiority complex - that's something I don't like about Ireland.

oooomy

wylo wrote: »

This might help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tJJO_pVvQ

your quick off the mark i just watched trainspotting 2 days ago loved that scene.

theboxer

Some of the replies to this thread are hilarious. Ireland is by no stretch of the imagination some sort of utopia. But each and every one of us who was born here, as an Irish citizen, won the lotterty that is called life.

For 80/90 babogs, this is for you. We enjoyed free education. More or less free sport. Okay, so you paid two quid each week as "subs", but you get two or three training sessions and a match each week for your buck. More or less free. The refs gotta be paid. Our families got circa 300 euro each week per childer. Nowt wrong with that, you wouldnt get it anywhere else. I could go on and on, about the financial benefits of living in Ireland. But I wont.

We live in an absolutely amazing country when it comes to scenery. Giants Causeway, The Burren, Lahinch, Kilkenny Castle and the surronding areas, Blessington Lakes, Corcaigh Park, West Cork, Inchydoney coast and much, much more.

Listen, on the grand scheme of things, we are doing alright. If only we could put a wee roof on the nation, she would be grand.

The economy aint everything.:)

plein de force

i love how the sun shines all the time and when you go into the capital city's centre there's no scum or junkies bothering you for change, i love how the transport system is so well integrated too, wow i could go on all day



oh wait

Kasabian

What do I love about Ireland ?

Irish people , we are ridiculous , funny and invariably kind natured.

Jesus Wept

Jameson Greasy Bikini wrote: »

:rolleyes: Try think for a moment about that... Soccer is not the only sport in the world

I'm aware of that, I didn't suggest it was.

Rugby, gofl, swimming, boxing, horse racing/show jumping, snooker. Just some examples of sports we excel in.

Who do you have in mind for the swimming btw?

Johnny Utah wrote: »

We've punched way above our weight in lots of sports.

Soccer- Euro 88, we were playing amongst the best 8 teams in Europe and only went out to a jammy goal by the Dutch (who went on to win the competition and were one of the best Dutch teams of all time).
World Cup 1990- Reached the quarter-finals (the last 8 in the world) and only went out to a very good Italian team.
World Cup 94- Beat Italy, the evenutal finalists, in the first match. Superb performance by Paul McGrath that day.
World Cup 2002- Drew with Germany, who also reached the final that year. Qualified out of our group and really put it up to Spain in the last 16 match- only went out on penos to an excellent Spainish side.

For a tiny country like Ireland, those achievements are immense, yet you probably think we should bring home the World Cup every four years.:rolleyes:

However, the truth is it's very, very difficult for small countries in Europe to qualify for major soccer tournaments. For example, Finland have a population of 5 million.... they've never qualified for a World Cup!



Rugby: Grand Slam winners 2009.
Plenty of triple crowns over the last decade.
Two of the biggest sides in club rugby in Munster & Leinster.


Boxing- Steve Collins, Michael Carruth, Barry McGuigan, Bernard Dunne, Kenny Egan, Katie Taylor, etc all reached the peak of their sport.

Horse Racing: Some of the best horses/jockies/trainers in the world are Irish.

Cycling: Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly.

Snooker: Ken Doherty.

Great Irish athletes: Ron Delaney, Sonia O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coughlan.

F1: Eddie Irvine used to drive a Ferrari!

Yeah, we're rubbish at sport.... :rolleyes:

I never suggested that Ireland is awful at sport, but I think you are romanticizing and clutching at straws, for example; listing individual matches as a sign of Ireland's achievements.

In your short list of names, you've included people that date back as far back as the mid 1950's.

Soccer:

Euro 88 - Eight qualified for it and Ireland were amongst them - fair play.
Ireland won one, drew one and lost one and finished 3rd in the group and didn't progress.

The fact that Ireland managed to get to the quarter finals of the 1990 World Cup without winning match is testament to the fact that it is ridiculous that you got 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Beating Italy in 1994 was an exciting match, however it's just one match. We followed it up with a loss and a draw against Norway (incidently, one of the most tedious matches I can ever remember).

2002 - Spain were poor on the day and were there for the taking, and we really should have beaten them. They were poor in the tournament and lost the next match to South Korea.

For a tiny country like Ireland, those achievements are immense, yet you probably think we should bring home the World Cup every four years.:rolleyes:

No, no I don't. But listing a draw in a World Cup game 8 years ago just shows that you had to dredge. I found it an exciting match to watch (it was probably sh1t for the neutrals) but it is a feckin draw at the end of the day.

One F1 driver, one snooker player listed (bit disapointing considering the amount of snooker halls around in the 80's & 90's) and a couple of cyclists from a couple of decades ago.

We have had a smattering of decent boxers and do seem to excel at horse racing, not that I follow it.

As regards rugby, they aren't absolutely sh1t like they were when I were a kid.
I lol at the general over exuberance at winning a 'Tripple Crown', it is a nonsense thing. The competition has only 6 teams in it ffs, and it used to be 5.
Ireland won the 6 Nations in 2009, it began in 2000.
Previous time to win was in 1985 when it was the 5 nations.

slade_x

The view




Newgrange for example is believed to pre-date the giza pyramids in egypt by at least 600 years

Dionysus

Orange69 wrote: »

You also misspelled alcoholics and separation along with incompetent.

hehe.;)

Dionysus

Does it really matter how Ireland fares in international sports when we have the GAA? This desire for "international acknowledgement" all seems very vain, conceited and ephemeral. Where's the depth? Give me one GAA organisation with thousands of clubs working away in every parish in Ireland - promoting, supporting and unifying communities everywhere - to 100 gold medals in that Olympics thing.

I couldn't be more serious. The value which the GAA brings to this society is incomparable. It creates unseen levels of voluntary activity and carries an unsurpassed level of social capital. What is "international recognition" when we have a real organisation working for real achievements in all sections of society, for all sections of society?

The average GAA club does more for local communities, for Irish culture and for Irish sport than all this supposed "international acknowledgement" would ever bring. In the dark nights of winter it is the local football or hurling team which brings communities together. The craic, the banter, the great conversations, the great characters, the great commiserations are still at the local pitch on an evening. It is the GAA which mobilises communities when necessary - e.g. when voluntary work needs to be done to help a family in the community. It has been central to healing wounds between families and communities - e.g. transferring inter-parochial rivalry from massive faction fights in the 19th century (in Shanagolden in Limerick in 1825, for instance, 200 men were killed in an enormous faction fight between four families) into huge hurling and football matches, and making peace again between families and communities after the Civil War.

For all the current fashions be they for rugby or whatever, no other organisation (sporting or otherwise) gives as much to local communities or has as much support from local communities. Economically, GAA matches attract enormous crowds into towns, villages and cities across Ireland. It is not a flash-in-the-pan "home match" organisation that brings people out of Ireland to spend money every second match. It is here all year bringing huge money into places. All of this from a voluntary organisation too. The GAA is community in the best, most positive and most vibrant sense of the word. It is unique to Ireland, and uniquely Irish.

So there. Cards on table.

ieH

Irish Whiskey

Anita Blow

plein de force wrote: »

i love how the sun shines all the time and when you go into the capital city's centre there's no scum or junkies bothering you for change, i love how the transport system is so well integrated too, wow i could go on all day



oh wait

Condi wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

oooomy wrote: »

It's ****E being irish! We're the lowest of the fecking low, the scum of the earth, the most wretched, servile, miserable, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. It's a ****e state of affairs and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f'ing difference!

Fighting Irish wrote: »

Love the fact that when the majority of irish people are poor they begrudge people who have money, and when the majority are rich(or think they're rich) they make stupid decisions

MickShamrock wrote: »

Hate it.

How hard is it to stick to the topic a thread which is titled "What do you love about Ireland?"
Seriously..do you guys just scan the forums for any positive topics about the country and automatically feel the need to jump in and put a downer on it?

My 2 biggest loves are the scenery and the community side of life; The way the whole country can get behind a person/group just because their Irish. Like those conjoined twins from Cork a few months ago. The whole country got behind them.

kiwi123

The fact that for good Friday, only day of the year alcohol is not served, the off licenses practically run out of alcohol cos everyone stocks up for that one night!

and the no panic attitude to the fire alarm

seraphimvc

celsy wrote: »

there so much i can't stand, but overall im very proud to be irish, I love the passion involved in conversations down the pub, the down-side of that is we dont tend to do much about things we moan and give out about. I love when Ireland or someone irish is in with a chance of winning( or just doing better than expected) something in sport and how it seems everyone gets behind them.

passion in drinking and talking total sh!te - sometimes i really dont know thats a good or bad thing!!:p

seraphimvc

bored of this country atm.seriously,how can people never think of do some change or make life better?

same old chips and drinks for all these years.man,culture is not diversed is a thing,but people really lack of passion in life. can people please try something new/different thing???

cant wait to leave this country asap,i really need to breathe some fresh air.(ya,and the ****ing wind is so STRONG here!!!)

feikennyw

if we had medditeranean weather this wud be the best country in the world bar the politics but in fairness there is a reason such a small country like ours gets so many visitors!!

stovelid

Deleted User wrote: »

Shithole in every other respect as far as I'm concerned.

You're from Louth. I concede to your point.