M&S still think we are part of the UK

Fratton Fred

That always amazes me. In debenhams they sell stuff with st George on it and Argos do England cricket gear.

I can understand corporate distribution centres shipping the same stuff to all stores in UK&I, but why do the store managers not just send it back with a note telling them to stick it?

Latchy

LordSutch wrote: »

Indeed, it seems weird to most British people that one part of one island (about four million people) claim to be totally 'Foreign' to the other parts
of this group of islands, which amounts to over sixty million people! >

That's were the confusion is for many who also on first visit are actually amazed at how large Ireland as an island really is with some expecting it to be the size of Isle of man

British people just see us Irish as part of this group of islands, they certainly
don't see us as foreign, with so many generations of Irish people settled in Britain, why would they think us as foreign?

Yes, it's something the generations of settled Irish in UK understand and know so well and whatever about the geographical term used ,we are part of a group of islands situated in the north Atlantic

On the flip side, many Irish people claim to be so different from the inhabitants of the UK as to be foreign!

Irish culture is important and it's something we natives and tourists alike cherish .But also people in both islands have so much in common and many Irish people share same interest and hobbies with many British people than they do with other Irish people to .

That's what I've witnessed, having lived & worked in Britain & Ireland I can see both sides of the argument.

Yes , coming from Ireland and living in UK that would be a fair assessment and more or less my experience to

Twixster

I've just emailed M&S to let them know about their 'error'
I think if everyone did it then they'd take notice :cool:

FreudianSlippers

pow wow wrote: »

My local Tesco (Cork) sells those white round stickers like the ones you get on car ferries - the GB ones. The box is only about half full, hopefully due to shoplifters with a sense of humour rather than customers :pac:

Sure, Cork's not even convinced they're actually a part of Ireland... so I doubt they're being serious

Latchy

OisinT wrote: »

Sure, Cork's not even convinced they're actually a part of Ireland... so I doubt they're being serious

And we haven't even mentioned Kerry , sure their a whole kingdom onto themselves

jackiebaron

Fratton Fred wrote: »

It amazes me how many people here think England comprises Britain, Scotland and Wales and that the four nationalities of the UK are Northern Irish, British, Welsh and Scotch.

You'd be surprised how many people in the US complemented me on being able to speak such good English since I came from Ireland.

prinz

jackiebaron wrote: »

You'd be surprised how many people in the US complemented me on being able to speak such good English since I came from Ireland.

That's a common one alright. 'OMG, you're from IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrlind? How long have you been in America? You must learn real quick because your American is so good. Only a bit of an accent'.

Lumen

The relationship between the Brits and the Irish somewhat mirrors the relationship between the Americans and the Brits.

The British press frets endlessly about how the UK is perceived by the States, and the status of the "special relationship". The Americans expend absolutely zero time thinking about this issue. It's not a dismissive attitude as such, it's just that in the grand scheme of things the UK is not important to America at all.

Similarly, for most British people (or at least, the English and English-centred media) not much thought gets expended on the semantic differences between "UK", "GB", "Britain" and "British Isles", or the precise nationality rules of the subdivisions of the island of Ireland. It's not malicious, it's just ignorance in the normal, non-pejorative sense of the word.

Zebra3

Lumen wrote: »

The relationship between the Brits and the Irish somewhat mirrors the relationship between the Americans and the Brits.

The British press frets endlessly about how the UK is perceived by the States, and the status of the "special relationship". The Americans expend absolutely zero time thinking about this issue. It's not a dismissive attitude as such, it's just that in the grand scheme of things the UK is not important to America at all.

Similarly, for most British people (or at least, the English and English-centred media) not much thought gets expended on the semantic differences between "UK", "GB", "Britain" and "British Isles", or the precise nationality rules of the subdivisions of the island of Ireland. It's not malicious, it's just ignorance in the normal, non-pejorative sense of the word.

There's a difference between the ignorance of ordinary people and the establishment lying to the people to play up to their anti-European sentiment.

FreudianSlippers

jackiebaron wrote: »

You'd be surprised how many people in the US complemented me on being able to speak such good English since I came from Ireland.

prinz wrote: »

That's a common one alright. 'OMG, you're from IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrlind? How long have you been in America? You must learn real quick because your American is so good. Only a bit of an accent'.

I lived in the US from 12-21 and this is 100% accurate. :mad:


Also, I'm like a total outcast everywhere... people in the US think I sound totally Irish and people in Ireland are always like "your accent is... different".
I suppose I am slightly mid-atlantic in my accent...

CrazyRabbit

Twixster wrote: »

I've just emailed M&S to let them know about their 'error'
I think if everyone did it then they'd take notice :cool:

I sent them a strongly worded email, using Impact Bold font for emphasis.

LordSutch

Lumen wrote: »

The relationship between the Brits and the Irish somewhat mirrors the relationship between the Americans and the Brits.

In all fairness, there is a three thousand mile gap between Britain and the US, while on the other hand we actually share a border with the UK, and the island of Britain is only 24 miles away > cant get any closer than that really! hence the amazement by some British people when Irish people claim to be foreign.

UK & Ireland, forever connected by geography.

FreudianSlippers

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

I sent them a strongly worded email, using Impact Bold font for emphasis.

I sent them one too but I used Comic Sans so they weren't sure whether I was super serious or super silly.

Lumen

LordSutch wrote: »

In all fairness, there is a three thousand mile gap between Britain and the US, while on the other hand we actually share a border with the UK, and the island of Britain is only 24 miles away > cant get any closer than that really!

France. It's only separated from England by 21 miles of water.

starbelgrade

Fratton Fred wrote: »

That always amazes me. In debenhams they sell stuff with st George on it and Argos do England cricket gear.

I can understand corporate distribution centres shipping the same stuff to all stores in UK&I, but why do the store managers not just send it back with a note telling them to stick it?

For several reasons;

1. They obviously sell in Ireland or they wouldn't be sent out.

2. It's not the store manager's job to decide the "politics" of the company's clothes lines.

3. It doesn't bother most people to see stuff like that on sale in shops.

and

4. Meh.

Oracle

Oh but when it comes to ordering from their online store, M&S don't think we're part of the UK then. How convenient! :rolleyes:

http://help.marksandspencer.com/faqs/delivery-collection/ROI

.... Our growing business in the Republic of Ireland means that most of our customers there will have access to a store.

What they really mean is- to protect the higher prices in our Irish stores, we won't offer delivery to Ireland from our online store.

While at the same time they deliver to 80 countries internationally, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe, Spain (including coastal, Canary and Balearic Islands), Argentina, China, Indonesia and South Africa:

http://www.marksandspencer.tv/international-delivery/

Fighting Irish

Oracle wrote: »

Oh but when it comes to ordering from their online store, M&S don't think we're part of the UK then. How convenient! :rolleyes:

http://help.marksandspencer.com/faqs/delivery-collection/ROI


What they really mean is- to protect the higher prices in our Irish stores, we won't offer delivery to Ireland from our online store.

While at the same time they deliver to 80 countries internationally, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe, Spain (including coastal, Canary and Balearic Islands), Argentina, China, Indonesia and South Africa:

http://www.marksandspencer.tv/international-delivery/

Why do people think that big business's owe us anything?

Oracle

Fighting Irish wrote: »

Why do people think that big business's owe us anything?

Who said big businesses owe us anything?

seafood dunleavy

In the film Eurotrip,at the start they're showing all the countries in Europe.Shows the Union Jack covering the UK and Ireland.stupid yanks.

arid

It's probably because of this "British Isles" term. Needlessly confusing and misleading.

*takes cover in bunker*

LordSutch

Lumen wrote: »

France. It's only separated from England by 21 miles of water.

Thats true.

keepkeyyellow

OisinT wrote: »

I lived in the US from 12-21 and this is 100% accurate. :mad:


Also, I'm like a total outcast everywhere... people in the US think I sound totally Irish and people in Ireland are always like "your accent is... different".
I suppose I am slightly mid-atlantic in my accent...

I'm from Cork but due to an English mother and too much TV I've been called English, American, Australian and once asked if I was from Wexford.

This whole situation is a lot like when Take That listed Dublin under their UK tour dates

Capt'n Midnight

It would be nice if they charged UK prices here.

Capt'n Midnight

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

I sent them a strongly worded email, using Impact Bold font for emphasis.

I believe the done thing in these circumstances is to send such a letter to the Times













and you might as well send one to the English Times too

admiralofthefleet

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

I'm from Cork but due to an English mother and too much TV I've been called English, American, Australian and once asked if I was from Wexford.

This whole situation is a lot like when Take That listed Dublin under their UK tour dates

ive noticed since moving to arklow that there is a slight norn iron in the local accent. whats that all about?

Capt'n Midnight

ejmaztec wrote: »

Although the EU flag has 12 stars, which most people seemed to think related to the 12 member-states back in 1986, the EU website maintains that this was just a coincidence.

A miraculous coincidence.

cjmcork

D35 wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I'm not a hate the Brits person without them we would never be where we are today, but still there is an international section for stores outside the UK how hard would it be to put Ireland in there???
/QUOTE]


boots website is the same so I emailed them to find out where the section for Ireland was - the email response I got was that it was in the UK.....I was too bloody annoyed to reply.................idiots - great 3 for 2 offers though!

TheZohanS

We claim to be part of the UK when it suits us!

cornbb

I was queuing for food once in a UK city and the English guy that was with me saw Euro coins in my handful of change. He was puzzled as he thought we were using UK currency…

I know some American folks who think that Ireland is "a part of England", others who think the Irish Republic is at war with the North, another one complimented me on my excellent knowledge of the English knowledge.

To be honest I can kind of understand why the Americans are a bit confused about us. We are a tiny island on the edge of another continent. I'm sure there are plenty of countries that are bigger than us that we know nothing about. The British have no such excuse though, we're the only country they share a border with so they should know the basics at least!

OPENROAD

TheZohan wrote: »

We claim to be part of the UK when it suits us!

We are certainly fascinated with the UK, sometimes think I've logged onto to baords uk when I come into AH.


As someone who spends quite a bit of time in London, I've never had Ireland confused with being part of the UK, they do refer to us as Southern Ireland, but to be honest I have far too many other real things going on in my life to worry about that.