Where are all the NI boardsies?

Judgement Day

muffler wrote: »

Within 24 hours we have more posts in this thread than the combined number of posts in the previous 7 threads put together with the oldest thread going back to December last year. I think that says a lot about the strength of feeling on this topic.

However this was debated to death before and I can see a few trolls appearing here with a good measure of baiting thrown into the mix.

Id ask you all to be very careful with your comments please and stay on topic.

You raise a very good point here and I have been wondering why Boards.ie is virtually defunct north of the border? It's not as if there is an alternative Nordie Boards.

Antrim Forum no post since the 18/2/2011 until yesterday.
Armagh Forum no post since 23/2/2011 and precious few before that.
Belfast City Forum - about a dozen posts since the 28/3/2011
Down - only 12 posts since 15/11/2010
Fermanagh - only 12 posts since 10/11/2010 and the previous post to this was on the 22/5/2010!!
Tyrone - about 20 posts since 4/11/2010

This is something that concerns me as I would like my ranting to have an all Ireland coverage. Sorry for going off topic but this matter has been concerning me for a while and I couldn't find a suitable forum to start a thread about it.

Penfailed

Judgement Day wrote: »

You raise a very good point here and I have been wondering why Boards.ie is virtually defunct north of the border?

Maybe this place hasn't got the same profile in the North. Fewer people have heard of it...

Judgement Day

Penfailed wrote: »

Maybe this place hasn't got the same profile in the North. Fewer people have heard of it...

But why? It's not as if it's advertised down here and, indeed, there are counties in the Republic such as Wicklow and Leitrim that are fairly poor too that could do with a promotion of the Boards. Even a leaflet/poster drop to internet cafes might be a help.

K-9

Where do all the Nordies post?

Judgement Day

There's this http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/ but I didn't find much life in it.

muffler

Moving a few posts to this thread

pow wow

In before pow wow I see. You read my mind!

muffler

Great minds eh?

tallaghtmick

just a guess and a wild guess from someone whos only connection with the north is a ex gf from armagh,but it could be that the smaller population and over half that smaller population maybe dont wanna post on a "irish forum" (although ive seen a few) and like the op said the lack of advertisement about boards up north could be a factor

owenc

tallaghtmick wrote: »

just a guess and a wild guess from someone whos only connection with the north is a ex gf from armagh,but it could be that the smaller population and over half that smaller population maybe dont wanna post on a "irish forum" (although ive seen a few) and like the op said the lack of advertisement about boards up north could be a factor

Smaller population are you kiddin me! Nearly all the largest counties on this island by population are up here in fact half of them are. Some of the counties down south are the size of northern ireland and their population isn't even an eight the size of our population.:pac: I'd say people don't want to go on an irish forum or maybe northern ireland people don't use forums.. idk.. i'd say its the irish one..

Penfailed

owenc wrote: »

Smaller population are you kiddin me! Nearly all the largest counties on this island by population are up here in fact half of them are. Some of the counties down south are the size of northern ireland and their population isn't even an eight the size of our population.

That's not what he meant though - just under 4.5 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

Johnny_the_fox

back in the day.....

the regions only had the 'north', then it was split into the 'north' and the counties... it was more busy during the early years due to most of the users playing CS etc .. (counter strike) - all those kiddies have now grown up and no longer use boards. :pac:

I do know there is quite a few 'northerns' on boards, but dont post on probably because most of the discussions will end up political :rolleyes:.

Penfailed

Johnny_the_fox wrote: »

I do know there is quite a few 'northerns' on boards, but dont post on probably because most of the discussions will end up political :rolleyes:.

That's not a bad thing though, is it? As long as it's just a discussion/debate and not just a slagging match.

muffler

Penfailed wrote: »

That's not a bad thing though, is it? As long as it's just a discussion/debate and not just a slagging match.

Normally it would be a good thing but unfortunately there are a couple of individuals who seem intent on posting inflammatory comments.

Instead of moving on these people just want to rekindle the old fires of hatred.

But thats going OT a wee bit although it could be argued that the political and religious divide may, in part, be responsible for the low amount of traffic on the NI forums

Johnny_the_fox

Penfailed wrote: »

That's not a bad thing though, is it? As long as it's just a discussion/debate and not just a slagging match.

It isnt bad (but can be)

Boards has already a political forum which is on the 24hr buckeejit watch -posting unhelpful comments on 'the north' will discourage users from using forums.

Thats one of the reasons why the north forums shouldnt be really be used for this.

Captain Commie

tallaghtmick wrote: »

just a guess and a wild guess from someone whos only connection with the north is a ex gf from armagh,but it could be that the smaller population and over half that smaller population maybe dont wanna post on a "irish forum" (although ive seen a few) and like the op said the lack of advertisement about boards up north could be a factor

would have to argue that point, its nothing to do with not wanting to post on an "irish fourm", its more along the lines of most ppl up north havent a clue about boards, i certainly didnt till i moved down a few years ago.

Add to that, i didnt even know there was a "north" section here, i tend to stick to a few forums just.

(btw im from county antrim)

Judgement Day

owenc wrote: »

Smaller population are you kiddin me! Nearly all the largest counties on this island by population are up here in fact half of them are. Some of the counties down south are the size of northern ireland and their population isn't even an eight the size of our population.:pac: I'd say people don't want to go on an irish forum or maybe northern ireland people don't use forums.. idk.. i'd say its the irish one..

The non-Unionist minority (40% plus) is still substantial and surely they would have no objection to an all-Ireland forum like Boards? Or would they? My own experiences with 'Northerners' leads me to think that they are a different nationality to the rest of the island regardless of religious/political allegiances - they are neither British nor Irish and have a very parochial outlook. Anyway, regardless of that I think it's in all our interests to participate in forums such as Boards and despite being a Unionist myself I don't let the border get in the way of my own agenda. My Collect Ireland blog here: http://collectireland.wordpress.com/ is gradually being expanded to take in the North and the only thing holding it back is the difficulty in getting information. I have found most NI dealers, auctioneers etc. only to willing to get involved in an all-Ireland enterprise and perhaps it is this pragmatic attitude that is missing with cyber public? Anyway, I would like to see a Boards offensive to drum up interest countrywide, and in the North in particular, because apart from all the hot air there is a lot of useful information disseminated here. Sorry for the rant.

pow wow

I don't think it's advertising but in ROI people, in my experience, just seem to know about boards. Because it's so popular down there it spreads a lot more than it would in the North. Less to do with demographics and more to do with sheer popularity.

Penfailed

pow wow wrote: »

I don't think it's advertising but in ROI people, in my experience, just seem to know about boards. Because it's so popular down there it spreads a lot more than it would in the North. Less to do with demographics and more to do with sheer popularity.

Yeah...word of mouth goes a long way

trad

A lot of them are here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1082

owenc

Penfailed wrote: »

That's not a bad thing though, is it? As long as it's just a discussion/debate and not just a slagging match.

Eh no it gets annoying especially when you have to listen to it all day in work/school. :rolleyes:

owenc

Axis Cometo wrote: »

would have to argue that point, its nothing to do with not wanting to post on an "irish fourm", its more along the lines of most ppl up north havent a clue about boards, i certainly didnt till i moved down a few years ago.

Add to that, i didnt even know there was a "north" section here, i tend to stick to a few forums just.

(btw im from county antrim)

Eh actually it is.. i presume you are a catholic so you really don't speak for the most of antrim as the most of antrim would be of the unionist majority so they would view this site totally differently to you. :pac: I know fine well its because its irish why else wouldn't they come lol...

owenc

Judgement Day wrote: »

The non-Unionist minority (40% plus) is still substantial and surely they would have no objection to an all-Ireland forum like Boards? Or would they? My own experiences with 'Northerners' leads me to think that they are a different nationality to the rest of the island regardless of religious/political allegiances - they are neither British nor Irish and have a very parochial outlook. Anyway, regardless of that I think it's in all our interests to participate in forums such as Boards and despite being a Unionist myself I don't let the border get in the way of my own agenda. My Collect Ireland blog here: http://collectireland.wordpress.com/ is gradually being expanded to take in the North and the only thing holding it back is the difficulty in getting information. I have found most NI dealers, auctioneers etc. only to willing to get involved in an all-Ireland enterprise and perhaps it is this pragmatic attitude that is missing with cyber public? Anyway, I would like to see a Boards offensive to drum up interest countrywide, and in the North in particular, because apart from all the hot air there is a lot of useful information disseminated here. Sorry for the rant.

Well maybe more would come if they would stop the following things... (this gets on my nerves sometimes)

1. Starting forums about british people and how rubbish the uk is.
2. Running down protestants.. this occurs regularly.
3. Republicans giving their views and not respecting anyone elses views and thinking that anyone elses views are wrong and only theirs is right..:mad:
4. And lastly, the lack of knowledge some people down south people have of people from northern ireland is atrocious, the most of them don't have a clue about us and they all think that protestants never speak to catholics etc and that we are setting off bombs everyday.. this actually does my head in when i see them posting the most ignorant statements ever!

and that is what is suspect most peoples views would be about certain people on here.

muffler

owenc wrote: »

Eh actually it is.. i presume you are a catholic so you really don't speak for the most of antrim as the most of antrim would be of the unionist majority so they would view this site totally differently to you. :pac: I know fine well its because its irish why else wouldn't they come lol...

I fail to see the need to ask or assume one's religion. Doing so is inflammatory and will lead only to a backlash from others. I think you really do need to get that big chip of your shoulder.

1 week ban applied for posting inflammatory comments.

Nhead

I'm not from NI, I'm from ROI but maybe NI boardsies stay away for the same reasons I stay away from sites about places/topics on the island of Ireland.

(1) When history is mentioned it quickly descends into republican/unionist slants imo both as bad as each other. It's a pity because the history of Ireland is pretty rich but the discussion nearly always centres around these two opposing sides.

(2) Because of the above people start generalising i.e. The British are all bad or people from the ROI are all protestant hating rabid republicans. IMO people get tired of reading or arguing over this.

Penfailed

owenc wrote: »

Eh no it gets annoying especially when you have to listen to it all day in work/school. :rolleyes:

You have to listen to it all day at work/school? You must not get any work/study done at that rate...!

Judgement Day

Nhead - You may have a point but it's only relevant to political type forums - there's so much more happening on Boards than bloody politics. No, greater penetration of NI is essential as far as I'm concerned and I wish somebody with their finger on the button at Boards would get things moving.

maximoose

I'm from Antrim, living in dub. Just did a quick ask around out of interest and only 1 out of 10 friends has heard of this site.

Before I moved down I only knew of here because I posted on the Oxegen board and stuff was always referenced to over here

Penfailed

I'm from Co.Derry and only heard about this place through another forum...from a guy from Cork!

theblueirish

My 2 cents from a Tyrone man exiled to Donegal.

I find in the ROI people care more about their county, Dubs will all stick together V the boggers of Kildare, everyone from Cork knows that its the real capital of Ireland and Kilkenny are the only team in Ireland capable of playing Hurling. Etc Etc

Things are slightly different in the North, I don't think there is that sense of camaradary about your county that you get in the South.

I started using Boards when I moved to Donegal as it was useful for the little changes, where to buy heating oil etc, I never felt the need to look elsewhere when i was in Tyrone.
Oh and Btw the distance from my old house in Tyrone to my new one in Donegal is less than three mile.
It just feels like a different country down here

Theblueirish

Nhead

Judgement Day wrote: »

Nhead - You may have a point but it's only relevant to political type forums - there's so much more happening on Boards than bloody politics. No, greater penetration of NI is essential as far as I'm concerned and I wish somebody with their finger on the button at Boards would get things moving.

Yeah that is my point sorry if it wasn't clear I should have said most topics end up about politics or the political topics get hundreds of posts. There is a lot more of course, for me when I think about NI topics I think about musicians/bands such as SLF, The Undertones, Van,Therapy? Eric Bell, the late Gary Moore or writers such as McNeice, CS Lewis and the great comic writer Garth Ennis.