Are we (Irish) Really as Great as we Claim we Are?

KaloinIre

Now I am a proud Irish nationalist but there seems to be a huge number of people who believe that Ireland is literally the best thing since sliced bread and accept no criticism of anything to do with Ireland. When I lived in Australia I used to cringe as my fellow countrymen shouted to ozzies about how great Irish drinkers were whilst singing 'UP THE RA' songs and wearing their country GAA jerseys out EVERYWHERE (just so people know your Irish). Why on earth do Irish feel the need to boast about how much they can drink? and besides even the British are statistically heavier drinkers than us and the feckin 2litres of vodka a night Russians are definitely much better drinkers than us so whats the big deal?! Its a crying shame that the most troublesome bars across Sydney and Perth are Irish bars and not something to be proud of.

I lost also count of the amount of times when I heard the phrase 'the fightin irish' and how the Irish are some of the best fighters the world has ever seen! I mean how many Irish boxing champions have there been?? Even smaller countries have produced more boxing champions than we have! Sure Kevin McBride just gotten beaten by some Polish nobody! It was so embarassing hearing idiots going on to anyone that would listen about how the Irish are so tough and how they'll take any man.

Then there was all the talk about Irish being the best educated in the world and how we are attracting all the big foreign companies because of our educated workforce. Well that was turned out to be false as well, of the developed countries were below average in education and the foreign companies are evidently only here for the corporation tax. As it turns out the foreign companies have actually COMPLAINED that the quality of Irish workers coming to them is below par!!

How about we go on about our economy......oh lord the economy... remember the smugness during the Celtic Tiger???? I actually lost count of the amount of times I had to listen to people banging on about the genius Irish and how we pulled ourselves out of the dirt and became one of the richest countries in the wooooooooorld (ahh but no mention of the billions upon billions that the EU gave us)
I wonder where those same people are today.

We Irish seem to have a hugely inflated and it has to be said deluded, opinion of our standing in the world. We have had great writers and I'd argue thats about it. Now we are known in the world for being children who can't even run an economy.


So my question to you Boardsies is, do we over exagerrate our nations standing in the world and achievements?

Dave!

Yeah

Cupcake_Crisis

Ah, we're doin' grand sure

phasers

I want to say yes to your title and no to the question you put in bold.


I wanted a snappy thanks whore response but your confusing OP made it impossible. I hope you're happy.

Wolfe Tone

Nah we are pretty class

Duckworth_Luas

KaloinIre wrote: »

So my question to you Boardsies is, do we over exagerrate our nations standing in the world and achievements?

Ah, didn't you get the memo? Dublin Airport now has two terminals.

LimeTime

What? No, we're the best, super fantastic, better then all the rest, ****ing amazing, the best, biggest, brainiest, bunch in the world.

El_Dangeroso

What an odd question.

You might as well ask 'Is cheese as delicious as everyone thinks it is?'

Colilfc

Sure we're Irish, we're great craic.

Rds1989

We're not the best but at least were not welsh

holystungun9

Don't forget, you are a person that makes your own choices. Don't get too bogged down with any anti Irish sentiment. Equally, don't get carried away with over the top nationalism either. You'd be up and down like a sea-saw if you were at the whim of everybody in the world's opinion of the Irish.

TanG411

I hate being Irish.

Pauleta

Sure the Oirish are welcomed everywhere in the world, to be sure, to be sure. Now where's me Guinness and me county jersey, begorrah.

dx22

Yeah we are great we are, great craic, a great laugh, so great a laugh that we are the laughing stock of europe!

Ruu_Old

I'm brilliant, thanks for asking.

starbelgrade

KaloinIre wrote: »

Now I am a proud Irish nationalist

I stopped reading there.

sollar

KaloinIre wrote: »

I used to cringe as my fellow countrymen shouted to ozzies about how great Irish drinkers were whilst singing 'UP THE RA' songs and wearing their country GAA jerseys out EVERYWHERE (just so people know your Irish). Why on earth do Irish feel the need to boast about how much they can drink? and besides even the British are statistically heavier drinkers than us and the feckin 2litres of vodka a night Russians are definitely much better drinkers than us so whats the big deal?! Its a crying shame that the most troublesome bars across Sydney and Perth are Irish bars and not something to be proud of.

We have a very high proportion of non drinkers and former drinkers in this country. We have a dysfunctional relationship with drink here and imo we are crap drinkers. It doesn't seem to suit alot of us.

KaloinIre wrote: »

I lost also count of the amount of times when I heard the phrase 'the fightin irish'

That is over now, put to bed as far as i am concerned. How we have taken on the debts of private bankers to the tune of 150 billion and barely went to the streets about it is proof to me we are a meek nation. Absolutely embarrassing, nobody wants their little lives to change and are scared stiff of the consequences of standing up for ourselves. The people of iceland may suffer for a while but at least they can have pride in themselves.

And yeah thousands of our people make holy shows of themselves abroad.

Da Shins Kelly

We're not the best, no one is. I am happy to live here and be Irish though. We do have a great deal to be proud of in terms of culture and the arts. I care about the future of the country, and I have a great interest in Irish literature and history, and in those terms I think Ireland is very interesting and has a lot going for it.

easyeason3

There's nothing like throwing on the county jersey, getting mouldy drunk, singin' a few auld rebel songs & getting teary eyed about the famine & 1916.

All the better if you can achieve the above in a sophisticated city. Should anyone take exception to your merry ways you should immediately remind them that you know someone in the Ra who can sort them out & casually point out that the Irish probably built their city anyway surviving only on Guinness, tae, spuds & a few auld songs to get by.

Is this country full of schizophrenics?
Half the threads are about how terrible we are and no other country in the whole world is as bad, and now we have "are we as great as we think?"

Poor Craythur

bluewolf wrote: »

Is this country full of schizophrenics?
Half the threads are about how terrible we are and no other country in the whole world is as bad, and now we have "are we as great as we think?"

I just waiting for the focus to fall on Irish women!

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

There's a bit of both to this.

Are we as great as we claim to be?
No, but then we're not as bad as some people on here would have us be either. People ask me where I'm from and when I tell them, their face lights up. ("I've just been there! It was great","I've always wanted to go there!")
Although we don't do ourselves any favours with the begrudgery or the overinflated prices.

Do we overexaggerate our achievements?
Hmm... Well, what is our greatest modern achievement on the world stage? We don't get the resources or the finances to achieve in sport, we're not mad into art (music excpted) and most of our most famous writers are dead.
I always think of Ireland wearing the age-old t-shirt:
"Underachiever, and proud of it!"

Thor

Your either proud to be Irish or your not proud to be Irish.

Everything else is irrelevant!! Not by choice its just how the world works!!

Love your country and be proud, Or wallow in the pity of thinking we are a bunch of drunks as the rest of the world makes us out to be.

Latchy

KaloinIre wrote: »

Now I am a proud Irish nationalist but there seems to be a huge number of people who believe that Ireland is literally the best thing since sliced bread and accept no criticism of anything to do with Ireland.

When half the country's sons and daughters are thinking of emigrating ? You obviously don't frequent Boards much do you ?

NoHornJan

Sure we have to be the best.
We are the island of saints and scholars aren't we?

cosmicfart

KaloinIre wrote: »

So my question to you Boardsies is, do we over exagerrate our nations standing in the world and achievements?

1) we are a small island that have planted people on every corner of the earth

2) our achivements SPEAK for themselves

3) our imported Tea tastes better on Irish shores

4) we are down with the shít

5) We hold the guiness world record for any sentence with the word beer in it

6) Portrait of an artist as a young man, is that me?

....

43) raaaah blah blah sure its grand boy i was only joking

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Thor wrote: »

Your either proud to be Irish or your not proud to be Irish.

Everything else is irrelevant!! Not by choice its just how the world works!!

Love your country and be proud, Or wallow in the pity of thinking we are a bunch of drunks as the rest of the world makes us out to be.

Complete bollix!

What about individuality? If all that you are is defined by your nationality, you're a sheep.

PeterIanStaker

A lot of the self hatred comes from certain sections of the media who have a colossal cultural cringe, and equate being proud, or even slightly appreciative of, one's nationality with sympathy for terrorism.

The catholic church is another source of Irish people's insecurity - they have people convinced they are born with "original sin" - such TRIPE! Generations grew up with that fucking nonsense!

We're no better, or no worse than anyone else.

Yes we have huge flaws and I'll be the first to point them out; but that's not because we're Irish - its because we're human.

easyeason3

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Complete bollix!

What about individuality? If all that you are is defined by your nationality, you're a sheep.

Sheep don't have nationalities though.

Baaaaaa.

RichieC

I do though happen to think our little island is a fantastic little land full of beauty and more importantly, globally in a very safe place. I also think it has lots of character.

No way I'd handle Aussie, living three quarters of a mile from the surface of the sun sounds painful.

Thor

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Complete bollix!

What about individuality? If all that you are is defined by your nationality, you're a sheep.

I never said you were defined by your nationality, I don't for one second judge a person based on where there from.

I'm merely pointed out the fact that if a person is proud to be Irish then he is free to do so, If not then thats how they feel.

We have had a huge impact on the either world for such a small country. Most of the world still think we are nothing but heavy drinkers, Not saying we don't act like that sometimes, But to think thats all we are is idiotic.

If that isn't judging a person by there nationality then i don't know what is.

Dudess

Meh, we collectively are no better or worse than any other nation's people - sure, we've our positive traits (no need for OTT backslapping though) and sure we've our negative traits (no need for self flagellation or obsessing over what other nations think of us). I don't think it's a case of either proud or not proud to be Irish. I personally am neither. Nationalities have their own specific traits - I think it's disingenuous to say people are exactly the same everywhere - but those traits shouldn't be latched onto too much - and often they are. We're all individuals too.

Scuid Mhór

i am probably the greatest person who ever lived but i don't know about you guys...

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Thor wrote: »

I never said you were defined by your nationality, I don't for one second judge a person based on where there from.

I'm merely pointed out the fact that if a person is proud to be Irish then he is free to do so, If not then thats how they feel.

We have had a huge impact on the either world for such a small country. Most of the world still think we are nothing but heavy drinkers, Not saying we don't act like that sometimes, But to think thats all we are is idiotic.

If that isn't judging a person by there nationality then i don't know what is.

That bit in bold is actually a bit of a misnomer. Outside of America, our reputation is not as alcoholic as you might think.

As regards your previous post, you did, imediately after writing that you're either proud of your nationality or not, add "everything else is irrelevant".

Aoifey!

We got our good points and we got our bad points like every other place. No one (or not many) really think we're better than any other country, but Irish Pride and all that.

Personally, I like Ireland, but then again I've never lived anywhere else.

But sure, at the end of the day, it'll be graaand.

fat__tony

Apart from guinness and well educated young people, we have nothing else to offer the world.

Daegerty

We are better than we claim to be, a lot better. If you go by the self-hating thats in AH anyway. Every day nearly someone comes along to say some conformist modern police state is better than Ireland just because they have fast broadband.

Irish Guitarist

I don't understand how anyone could base their pride of their country on being a 'good' drinker or fighter.

Son Of A Vidic

Are we (Irish) Really as Great as we Claim we Are?

We? We don't claim anything. Some might, but all? Certainly not.

holystungun9

RichieC wrote: »

I do though happen to think our little island is a fantastic little land full of beauty and more importantly, globally in a very safe place. I also think it has lots of character.

No way I'd handle Aussie, living three quarters of a mile from the surface of the sun sounds painful.

Now I understand AH has it's fair share of lies, silly talk and "facts". But where are you getting the three quarters of a mile from the sun. If I knew that when I was there, I would have been more worried about the flight! I thought a flock of seagulls would be by downfall, not crashing into the sun. Is this a wikapedia fact?

Thomas828

I wouldn't have come back to Ireland if it was as lousy as some people say it is.

As others here say, Ireland has it good points and its bad. But at least we don't labour under the delusion that we're better than everyone else.

sheesh

soooo basically

I'm not proud to be irish but neither am i ashamed.

oh why can't we all just get along!!!

KeithAFC

Interesting OP.

I have to say, No. The Irish aren't great. If you look at the past 100 years and even more, what have the Irish done in the grand scheme of things. Compared to say the UK or America? Not much.

I don't see why people would say the Irish are 'great'. Depends what you mean by great too, if you mean by drinking and telling awful jokes, perhaps but in terms of doing great things in the world? Nah.

Got a republic and made a bigger mess of it than a England taking penalties in a world cup.

Wolfe Tone

KeithAFC wrote: »

Interesting OP.

I have to say, No. The Irish aren't great. If you look at the past 100 years and even more, what have the Irish done in the grand scheme of things. Compared to say the UK or America? Not much.

I don't see why people would say the Irish are 'great'. Depends what you mean by great too, if you mean by drinking and telling awful jokes, perhaps but in terms of doing great things in the world? Nah.

Got a republic and made a bigger mess of it than a England taking penalties in a world cup.

Your lot made a fair mess of running their little statelet, if you are growing weed in that greenhouse you are smashing apart with rocks can I have some?

fryup

Yes the Irish are full of BS

we have this over exaggerated notion of our own popularity

"everyone loves the irish":rolleyes: ya right, well maybe on st patricks day but after that nobody gives two hoots

God...

KeithAFC wrote: »

I have to say, No. The Irish aren't great. If you look at the past 100 years and even more, what have the Irish done in the grand scheme of things. Compared to say the UK or America? Not much.
.

No we haven't killed as many innocent people as the countries mentioned...


To answer the OP, I'm proud to be Irish and would be from no where else but yes I see where you're coming from having personally lived abroad the last few years I do cringe at most things Irish and what other Irish people do and say in the name of "Irishness"

It's like family though, you cringe others don't notice!!

I think every country is the same though, people are people (that's the part I don't think Irish people get!! They think they are unique)

Xivilai

Nah we're not great, we're just a bunch of interesting lads

KeithAFC

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Your lot made a fair mess of running their little statelet, if you are growing weed in that greenhouse you are smashing apart with rocks can I have some?

I don't see how anyone can argue with my post.

A corrupt government, an economy which went from boom to bust in a very short period of time. In the sh*t in terms of debt and yet still some people want millions pumped into the Irish language when its an irrelevant language and not used that much.

Dudess

I think you should think before posting insults on an Irish message-board directed at the Irish people.

kaltz

I know its from the Sindo but this letter was published in 2008. She seems to think we're not that great.

http://ferdia2010.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/the-world-does-not-love-the-irish/

pragmatic1

Love this country but when I hear comments like "everyone loves the Irish" I cringe.