Proud to be Irish

K-9

Well my 12 year old landed up with me yesterday, as he does every weekend and his words were, "have you heard that Ireland will be kicked out of the Euro and Britain is bailing us out?"


That affected me on a personal and nationalistic level. On a personal level, as the ould American dream says and Mad Men and Don Draper puts succinctly:

As a Dad, you want to leave the next generation better off.

On a nationalistic level, my Dad worked for the State and took immense pride in that. Worked through the 80's when I was wee, paid 55/65% on overtime and PRSI on top. What was all that for?

I thought about it and this isn't escapism or excuses. Those 2 generations, separated by 50/60 years have everything in common.

Our generation fecked up.*

Our legacy is simple, don't do this again! We are back to where we started. What you learn of our generation is simple, don't do this again.

We'll be grand. Just go back to the 80's again, except we don't have the Catholic Church and social conservatism and battle through it, same as we all did in the 80's.

*Our/we means us as a country, not you individually. The big lesson, which is ignored with bondholders, IMF etc., the American dream is an illusion. Property isn't a right and renting isn't dead money.

That is what leaves the next generation better off, not money. That's far more important than money, but we know that, right?

Sardonicat

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

I think it was Martina Navratilova who said "Why should I be proud of being a lesbian? It isn't an achievement."

I always thought she was Czech!

Gyalist

scientific1982 wrote: »

Always have been proud to be Irish and always will be. Theres more warmth, soul and good humour here per square km than anywhere else in the world. All the other countries may be laughing at us right now, but **** them.

That's bollocks. It may help you to feel better but it is in no way true. People are the same the world over. The Irish don't have the monopoly on warmth, soul, good humour or wit.

Son Of A Vidic

I think other nationalities have a misconception of Irish 'friendliness'. Some of it indeed may be genuine, but a lot of it is just noseyness and cute hoorisim.

gyppo

I used to be.

My great grandfather gave his life for this country. Looking at the way this nation has developed a culture of greed over good, I wonder why he bothered.

We now have handed over our right to govern to an outside body, as we have proven internationally that we are not fit to govern ourselves.

We have a corrupt administration that administered by croneyism.

We have a corrupt banking system which our administration props up, with no sign of the perpetrators ever going to be brought to justice by our corrupt administration.

We have a bungling incoherent fool with no mandate to rule this country as our leader.

We have snot-nosed upstarts who mortgaged themselves up to their eyeballs during the perceived 'good years', and who thought their sh1t was chocolate because they thought they had arrived. Now they want bailouts.

So, no, I'm actually ashamed to be Irish.

Dudess

Don't see why - not your fault.

But anyway, I do notice a trend from the aggressively "proud to be Irish" lobby (not so much the moderate one): a support for football teams in a different country rather than their own local teams.

aDeener

Dudess wrote: »

Don't see why - not your fault.

But anyway, I do notice a trend from the aggressively "proud to be Irish" lobby (not so much the moderate one): a support for football teams in a different country rather than their own local teams.

how do you know they dont follow their own local teams as well?

scientific1982

Gyalist wrote: »

That's bollocks. It may help you to feel better but it is in no way true. People are the same the world over. The Irish don't have the monopoly on warmth, soul, good humour or wit.

People are not the same the world over. Theres different cultures and customs in every country. Different ways of thinking, different ways of approaching situations and different ways of interacting with eachother.

Question: Would you say on average Germans are more efficient and practical than us.

gyppo

Yep, I agree with you there.
I always found it amusing the vitriolic patriotism displayed when this country were playing against the 'oul enemy'. Next day, the same bunch are in the same pubs cheering on English football teams..

Pace2008

bleg wrote: »

People could present the most logical well thought our arguments for not being proud of being Irish and people would still come along and label it "typical Irish begrudgery"

Someone on the EDM forum had the wit to come up with "Fiachra's Law," which basically works the same as the well-known Godwin's Law:

As an online discussion on all things Irish grows longer, the probability of the mention of Typical Irish Begrudgery approaches 1.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=68982818&postcount=1958

Any and every time someone tries to stifle debate by labelling any comments that contradict theirs as "Typical Irish Begrudgery," invoke Fiachra's Law, and hopefully we can eradicate this pathetic gambit once and for all.

EDIT: Be sure to spread the word.

Mike 1972

Pace2008 wrote: »

Any and every time someone tries to stifle debate by labelling any comments that contradict theirs as "Typical Irish Begrudgery," invoke Fiachra's Law, and hopefully we can eradicate this pathetic gambit once and for all.

I like the sound of your proposal however I feel something more radical is called for.

Im thinking along the lines of an amendment to the boards.ie charter mandating that any poster accusing another of "Typical Irish begrudgery," (TM) be fortwith banned from all boards.ie forums with the exception of the "Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows" board where they should feel right at home.

Come to think of it if one subscribes to the dubious notions that patriotism is always a positive thing and begrudgery is always unhealthy then surely the there is surely an inherent contradiction in associating Irishness with begrudgery. Are the people who complain about "Typical Irish begrudgery," (TM) not somewhat akin to the homophobe who secretly struggles with their own repressed sexuality ?

bnt

Where's the option for "I'm not Irish, I can blow out as fast as I blew in"?

(I'm not even kidding.)

Carlos_Ray

Yes I am. I'm proud of my heritage and the history of this small nation. Gangs of corrupt bankers and politicians are not going to change that. The country will still be here long after they are dead and gone.

The current situation in Ireland is not unique Scare people into accepting handing over economic control of the country to the Worlds rich and powerful. Bail out the rich, fcuk everyone else has been the motto of America since the 80's and it has just accelerated in recent times. Ireland's traitors (politicians and bankers) sold the nation for thirty pieces of silver to the wealthy of the world. 95% of America's wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population. Ireland is going down the same path and people are too scared to oppose it.

My only hope is that Irish people will do what they did the last time 90% of the land was controlled by 5% of the people i.e violently rebel. People like Cowan and Callely would be more reluctant to fcuk the country up if they were punished for their treason. If it was up to me scum like these would be swinging from gallows in Stephens Green.

seligehgit

No.In the past I would have been an exceptionally proud Irishman but at present due to the overwhelming sense of hubris that became attached to our nation during the artificially sustained Celtic Tiger I feel embarrassed and ashamed.Pride comes before the fall.But I have great that our great nation can rise from the ashes of the IMF.:D