Do You Consider Yourself A Patriotic Person??

SharpshooterTom

Personally I've always seen the concept of nation states as a bit pointless, but nevertheless understandable. Many people are patriotic in other countries e.g. USA. But I've never understood it, it's no more than a man-made concept used by the human race, just like religion. Other animals on this planet don't think everytime they land in a certain part of the world that its "England" or "Ireland" etc. Plus it seems to cause lots of wars and destruction. In addition to which I'm not happy about some of the use of the Irish flag with extreme republican groups and very similarly across the water with idiots like the EDL/BNP who hijack it to promote fascist beliefs. I obviously live in a part of the island also where identity is very important to most people, probably too important where it seems which side tries to shout the loudest with their flags, poppies, gaa jersies, orange parades etc acting sometimes very childish about it when often there are bigger issues at stake.

IMO The world is much more globalised these days anyway and patriotism just really gets stuck in the way of society getting on together. "Is multiculturism a failure" who cares?!?!

Honestly, do you see yourself as a patriotic person??

Northern Monkey

I wouldn't say I am patriotic, however I use a few UK forums and normally loss the plot it there are any negative posts about Ireland on them. I think its fine for the Irish to ridicule the Irish, but not for other nationalities to ridicule us. Praise I will accept from anywhere:D

Guill

Ireland ftw!

Mr Benevolent

No, patriotism is illlogical. You don't choose where you're born or where you live for the most part. Ardent patriotism generally involves rose tinted glasses and an unwillingness to look at how your country really behaves.

I wouldn't say I am patriotic, however I use a few UK forums and normally loss the plot it there are any negative posts about Ireland on them. I think its fine for the Irish to ridicule the Irish, but not for other nationalities to ridicule us.

QED.

Scarinae

I'm patriotic in the sense that I'm proud to be Irish, it is part of who I am, and there are many wonderful things about our culture. I'm not patriotic in the "800 years, rabble rabble" sense though

kincsem

I pay taxes, so yes.

Pauleta

Im very patriotic. I wear my celtic jersey with pride, vote Sinn Fein and cheer for anyone England are playing

chucky our law

Temptamperu

Pauleta wrote: »

Im very patriotic. I wear my celtic jersey with pride, vote Sinn Fein and cheer against anyone England are playing

chucky our law

Celtic is a scottish team.

Eve_Dublin

Patriotic on a ridiculous scale actually...trying my best over the years to tone it down...think it's because I don't live at home and haven't since about 2004. I can be a right pain in the backside about it.

Eve_Dublin

Temptamperu wrote: »

Celtic is a scottish team.

Ehhh....I think he might be joking...

Pompey Magnus

Confab wrote: »

No, patriotism is illlogical. You don't choose where you're born or where you live for the most part.

You don't chose who your parents are, does that make it illogical to love them?

MitchKoobski

Like most Irish people, I will regularly complain about the state of the country and it's politicians and people etc, but the moment someone from outside of Ireland says a bad word about Ireland, I'll jump into defense mode and beat them to death with the Tricolour.

Show Time

I would not be to happy with anyone taking the pee at the Irish Anthem or the Tricolour.

kfallon

Oh yes indeed i am, I'm 'Captain Ireland'

Caoimhín

Im not one bit patriotic when i am at home but as soon as im abroad all it takes is a couple of pints and a verse of the Fields of Athenry and I turn into a blubbering mess, crying into me pint for the auld sod back home.

Notorious97

I couldn't have asked for anything better than being born Irish

RussellTuring

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

You don't chose who your parents are, does that make it illogical to love them?

Yes.

orourkeda

Northern Monkey wrote: »

I wouldn't say I am patriotic, however I use a few UK forums and normally loss the plot it there are any negative posts about Ireland on them. I think its fine for the Irish to ridicule the Irish, but not for other nationalities to ridicule us. Praise I will accept from anywhere:D

Its perfectly acceptable to ridicule and criticize irish people. In the vast majority of cases it's perfectly justified.

Killer Wench

I'm truly patriotic and not ashamed of it. I was born in a military hospital on a military base. My father was a career military officer. My uncles were all veterans of different branches of the military; my grandfathers and great-uncles were veterans of WWI and WWII. My grandfather and one of my uncles are buried in a veteran's cemetary. Nearly twenty years later, I remember hearing the sounds of the missles striking as my uncle made regular phone calls home to let us know he was alright during Desert Storm.

Members of my family have sat at the back of buses, drank from water fountains marked "For Coloreds Only", and they fought in a segregated military. I have cousins and great-uncles who still farm the land that our slave ancestors were bound to; I have cousins and kin who live on the allotments given after our tribe was relocated to Indian territory. I have family members who fought for America, in spite of being born a non-citizen, although they were native born to the US. I had a great-uncle who was nearly lynched in his uniform just right after returning from Europe simply because he wanted to exercise his right to vote in a local election.

I'm the product of the hypocrisy of US racial policies and laws yet I'm the daughter/granddaughter of individuals who have served, fought, and died for this country. My experiences aren't uniquely American nor uniquely human, but they have shaped my worldview and personal ambitions. For my family, we have fought physically, spiritually, and emotionally to be accepted and acknowledged as Americans and we have literally sweat and bled to help build this nation, so pardon me if I scream "**** Yeah America!" while watching a few F-18 superhornets break the sound barrier on the 4th of July.

CrazyRabbit

First and foremost, I just see myself as human. And it's not currently something to be proud of.

Since I've so much contact with people from outside Ireland, it's changed how I perceive the world. It's made me feel less nationalistic, and feel like I'm part of something bigger. And the internet enhances that, since it's truly global.

I've found that despite our differences, we are very similar to people in every other country....well except Japan...they are just weird.

invinciblePRSTV

Patriotism is boring, but the Irish bar stool patriotism is relatively harmless so I don't mind it.

However over the top in your face "**** yeah" patriotism like the kind espoused by our Yank chum ^, who equates military power and war with expressions of loving your country 'n all that is a classic example of why patriotism is ghey.

Killer Wench

invinciblePRSTV wrote: »

Patriotism is boring, but the Irish bar stool patriotism is relatively harmless so I don't mind it.

However over the top in your face "**** yeah" patriotism like the kind espoused by our Yank chum ^, who equates military power and war with expressions of loving your country 'n all that is a classic example of why patriotism is ghey.

I think all you read was "**** Yeah America" and F-18s. Did you bother to read the rest of it?

krudler

Dont particularly care tbh, if someone Irish does well for themselves then hey, good for them, doesnt make me proud to be from the same country as them though

My name is URL

I wouldn't say I'm patriotic but I do care for and want the best for Ireland.. not simply because I'm Irish born but because this is where I choose to live.

I've seen a few people get all uppity about how patriotism is irrational and so on.. some of whom do so while championing the Pan-European identity, which is slightly ironic imo. I mean isn't that just patriotism on a different level?

nyarlothothep

No, I feel no attachment to landmasses or myths concerning them.

old hippy

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

First and foremost, I just see myself as human. And it's not currently something to be proud of.

Since I've so much contact with people from outside Ireland, it's changed how I perceive the world. It's made me feel less nationalistic, and feel like I'm part of something bigger. And the internet enhances that, since it's truly global.

I've found that despite our differences, we are very similar to people in every other country....well except Japan...they are just weird.

And you were doing so well, until the last bit

Mr Benevolent

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

You don't chose who your parents are, does that make it illogical to love them?

Parents create you. Geography doesn't.

Pompey Magnus

Confab wrote: »

Parents create you. Geography doesn't.

Well I suppose thats the difference, I don't see Ireland as simply a geographic feature on the map, a small lump of rock in the Atlantic. I regard Ireland as the nation, the people it is made of and the history and heritage that helped shape the attitude of the Irish people. Ireland and its citizens provides you with a certain protection from crime, helps to feed you, educates you, provides you with health care when you are sick, provides for you when you are unemployed and offers you a voice in how it is governed.

If it is illogical to love your country then trying doing without all the benefits your country provides, try becoming self sufficient with just your family and close friends and you will soon change your tune. Ireland might not be perfect and we all love giving out about its failings but we could do a whole lot worse and for that reason I love it and I love the people who make it great.

pragmatic1

Yes. This state has looked after me and members of my family when we were sick. I also got a good education.

brummytom

I'm not patriotic about being English/British at all.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I'm patriotic but not in a overly nationalistic way.

RussellTuring

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Well I suppose thats the difference, I don't see Ireland as simply a geographic feature on the map, a small lump of rock in the Atlantic. I regard Ireland as the nation, the people it is made of and the history and heritage that helped shape the attitude of the Irish people. Ireland and its citizens provides you with a certain protection from crime, helps to feed you, educates you, provides you with health care when you are sick, provides for you when you are unemployed and offers you a voice in how it is governed.

If it is illogical to love your country then trying doing without all the benefits your country provides, try becoming self sufficient with just your family and close friends and you will soon change your tune. Ireland might not be perfect and we all love giving out about its failings but we could do a whole lot worse and for that reason I love it and I love the people who make it great.

All of those examples are just people wanting and having the means to be nice to each other. I don't see happening to share a country with them as a reason to love the country.

KnifeWRENCH

Nope, can't say that I am.

I like seeing Ireland do well in the Olympics/the World Cup/the Eurovison(!) etc.....but other than that I don't really feel patriotic. Like I'm proud of what some Irish people have achieved in the past, but I'm not proud just because they're Irish.

Like someone mentioned earlier, you have no control over what nationality you are. It's not something you accomplished or achieved. So why should you be proud of it?

Oh and I fúcking hate Paddy's Day.

biko

I'd be fairly patriotic. If someone slagged my country to my face there'd be trouble
But as I grow older I have mellowed out and recently would probably agree with what they say.

Killer Wench

I don't understand the comments about not being able to choose your nationality; that isn't really true. You can't really choose your ethnic heritage because that deals with your parents and ancestors, something completely out of your control, while you can choose which nation you swear loyalty to. I know Korean-born, Chinese-born, Irish-born, Italitan-born, Cuban-born, etc. who have chosen to become members of the United States and have adopted our way of life. I also know Americans who have left the US to become citizens of Ireland, the UK, Australia, etc. and have renounced their American citizenship.

Marty McFly

KnifeWRENCH wrote: »

Nope, can't say that I am.

I like seeing Ireland do well in the Olympics/the World Cup/the Eurovison(!) etc.....but other than that I don't really feel patriotic. Like I'm proud of what some Irish people have achieved in the past, but I'm not proud just because they're Irish.

Like someone mentioned earlier, you have no control over what nationality you are. It's not something you accomplished or achieved. So why should you be proud of it?

Oh and I fúcking hate Paddy's Day.

Yes you cant choose what your nationallity you are, but the nationallity and country your born and raised in like it or not does help shape the person you become and shape you your beliefs.

Yes im very patriotic and no not in the celtic are the best kind of way. But i am proud of our culture, history. For a country of our size i think its amazing that Irish culture is known all over the world, and the fact the likes of St Patricks Day is celbrated all over the world. I will always cheer on Ireland in sports, and will defend Ireland if I hear people speaking badly of our country.

Oranage2

I'm protestant so apparently I cant be Irish!

Eve_Dublin

A quote I like and sums up how I feel:

"Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is." - Sydney Harris

St.Spodo

I'm proud of what I've accomplished as a person and not my accident of birth.

ImpossibleDuck

Yes, very.

Anyhow, on a kind of unrelated note: I once read Shane MacGowan saying something like; "I didn't really hate the English until I went there and realised that they were the bastards that everyone said they were"

Mike 1972

Temptamperu wrote: »

Celtic is a scottish team.

Perhaps the poster is Scottish ?

Gnobe wrote: »

In addition to which I'm not happy about some of the use of the Irish flag with extreme republican groups and very similarly across the water with idiots like the EDL/BNP who hijack it to promote fascist beliefs

The EDL/BNP use Irish flags

OneArt

I'm not patriotic because I'd be very confused if the three countries I'm from went to war wity

Kojak

Not really patriotic - now if I was a citizen of North Korea, then that would be a different thing altogether...

Dudess

Never thought much about it until recent times, and no, I don't feel proud to be Irish, nor ashamed - I find there is too much analysis of national identity in this country, either bigging it up too much, or worrying about what others think. The latter I can understand to a point - I find many Irish politicians embarrassing, and parochialism and the way a lot of Irish carry on abroad. And I despise the "800 years" hatefulness. But I'm not going to virtually hold myself accountable for it simply because I'm Irish. I can also see that plenty of Irish people don't subscribe to any of the above. Right now there is a lot to be critical of, but I don't see how self flagellation/looking down on fellow Irish people in general is required either. The latter pisses me off - while my Irishness doesn't define me, it is part of my identity and I don't care how "unenlightened" it is of me, I refuse to view as reasonable the ridicule/insulting of Irish people in general by other nationalities. In the same way as I don't view it as reasonable when someone puts down the general populace of ANY nation. When it's done by Irish people themselves - as you'd see a lot here - it's just arsehole-ish. I'd consider it extremely arrogant of me, as an Irish person, to put down the Irish as an entire nation, yet to consider myself the lone voice of sophistication. And I'm Irish too - I don't do self-hate.
Presume that pathetic, simpering stuff is deemed "progressive" or something. Love how non Irish people can make insulting statements about Irish people here too and don't get infracted, but if it was about any other nationality like... And vigorous nodding in agreement, by Irish people, with that "I hate Ireland" website - wtf?!

Northern Monkey wrote: »

I think its fine for the Irish to ridicule the Irish

I don't - unless it's joking, or ridiculing of specific Irish phenomena/people... but Irish people bitching about "the Irish" in general - I don't see a need for it. Pretty toadying.

Notorious97 wrote: »

I couldn't have asked for anything better than being born Irish

This I do not understand at all...

orourkeda wrote: »

Its perfectly acceptable to ridicule and criticize irish people.

Bar you of course. Why not just go the whole hog and state that anti Irish sentiment, say, from loyalist paramilitaries is ok?

In the vast majority of cases it's perfectly justified.

Oh really? Do elaborate...

tolosenc

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- George Bernard Shaw

So, that's a no...

Teyla Emmagan

I'm very patriotic, but not in a World Cup/6 Nations way! I don't think 'patriotic' equates for 'loves supporting one's own country in sport' anyway does it?

I love this country, I think it's the best place on earth, warts and all. There's no where I'd rather live anyway, even with all our problems. I can handle Ireland being criticized without getting my knickers in a twist, but I still think we rock. Does get my down listening to people moaning and b(tching about the country the whole time though!!!

RussellTuring

Dudess wrote: »

I find there is too much analysis of national identity in this country

That is one of the most ironic lines I've ever read in my life.

Dudess

Well I'm not obsessed with my Irishness and how I'm seen by other nationalities, but at the same time, I'm not going to just bend over and take insults about my nationality either. Might seem contradictory but to me they're two sides of the same coin - not deeming nationality something deserving of praise or contempt as it's merely a random occurrence outside of the person's control.

old hippy

Oranage2 wrote: »

I'm protestant so apparently I cant be Irish!

Only according to the narrow minded.

old hippy

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

Yes, very.

Anyhow, on a kind of unrelated note: I once read Shane MacGowan saying something like; "I didn't really hate the English until I went there and realised that they were the bastards that everyone said they were"

Wasn't he born in the UK and lived his early years - until 5 or 6 - in Ireland before coming back to the UK?

Bit early to have the hatred indoctrinated?

dfx-

nyarlothothep wrote: »

No, I feel no attachment to landmasses or myths concerning them.

Can the nature of landmasses not affect human behaviour?

Ireland a rainy mountainy mess rather than a desert or jungle. That wouldn't affect human behaviour? The nomads who cross the Sahara or Kenya would settle in a semi detached in Tullamore?

That Ireland people can handle temperatures above 100% humidity and 30 degrees without going red...