Lonely Planet says Irish people are pessimistic and lacking self esteem

Kohl

Do you agree with them or think that's a load of crap. I personally think its a dumb thing to say in a guide to Ireland.

MrJoeSoap

Kohl wrote: »

Do you agree with them or think that's a load of crap. I personally think its a dumb thing to say in a guide to Ireland.

Lonely Planet won't be around in five years time, I'd write a letter of complaint but I'm really bad at that kind of thing.

Merch

I agree, generally. Not sure why it needs mentioning in a travel guide book?
still, accurate I think

TheZohanS

They'll probably say worse things about us in years to come, but who are we to stop them.

Captain_Generic

Good on them for being honest

Better than the usual "everything here is the best everything anywhere ever" shíte you get from the tourist board

aaronjumper

Isn't that most peoples opinion of the Irish?
That or alcoholics.

I disagree. Most of the people I know are annoyingly optimistic.

cocoshovel

Yup, that sums us up alright. I often think we're an majorly lacking in self esteem especially for the country in general even though when I think about it and think of all the people from other countries and how they have it, we really do have it pretty good here. Im still not happy with it though.

Kevin Duffy

What a crock. You can't generalise about 4 million or whatever people like that. Means as much as a horoscope. "You will cross water today and have a row with your boss. All half a billion of you who were born on the same day."

Sindri

I don't think I have the ability to apply to this:(

sideswipe

This is terrible, terrible news, really awful. I think it will probably be the ruination of our tourist industry, it's terrible, no good will come from this, it's very depressing.
I wish I could do something to change this but I'm not very good at that sort of thing, come to think of it I'm not really good at many things really.

starbelgrade

Lonely bollox.

mikemac1

Bit of a generalization

I may as well say the French are rude and the little Englanders are arrogant

Dudess

Some generalisations have their roots in reality. But meh, don't see it as cause for bother.

Aidric

starbelgrade wrote: »

Lonely bollox.

Have you tried dating websites?

Micky Dolenz

Is it cos we iz losers?

amacachi

Had the Lonely Island in mind after reading the thread title, disappointing.

Butterface

Sounds like Lonely Planet had sexy times with an Irish person

Pissmire

This is bleak, but then again who am I to have an opinion.

SeaFields

God damn hippies.

My name is URL

It's definitely a lonely planet when you need to travel the world and view it in the light of a handbook.

bicardi19

Captain_Generic wrote: »

Good on them for being honest

Better than the usual "everything here is the best everything anywhere ever" shíte you get from the tourist board

See thats where they get the pessimistic thing from

Raekwon

Dudess wrote: »

Some generalisations have their roots in reality. But meh, don't see it as cause for bother.

Never a truer word spoken

Eve_Dublin

Bizarre thing to write in a guide book. People will be in the country for a maximum of 2 weeks and the only interaction they'll have with the locals is asking directions and talking to a hostel receptionist. Do they really need a breakdown of the Irish psyche?

Have all nationalities had the same treatment?

And this quote, "Our reputation for friendliness is mostly a manifestation of our desire to chat"....ehh...that'd be my definition of what friendly means. The desire to talk and interact with others. Am I missing something here??

I'd be interested to hear what they said about other nationalities...

IM0

pics or link or gtfo :mad:

Captain_Generic

My name is URL wrote: »

It's definitely a lonely planet when you need to travel the world and view it in the light of a handbook.

All you need to travel is an electric heater and google streetview

bicardi19 wrote: »

See thats where they get the pessimistic thing from

I shouldn't have let them interview me, I was having a bad day

Micky Dolenz

Here's what the Irish times report.

The Irish lack self-esteem despite a veneer of “garrulous sociability and self-deprecating twaddle”, according to the latest edition of the Lonely Planet which has just been published.
The best-selling guide book says Irish people’s reputation for having an “easygoing, affable nature is justified”, but our reputation for friendliness is mostly a manifestation of our desire to chat – and our lack of self-esteem is our “dark secret”.

The guide says the pub remains the number one attraction for visitors to Ireland and the focus of Irish life.

Ireland has not lost its “mojo” despite years of recession, says the guide: “the good times may have gone, but Dublin still knows how to have a good time”.

While the book lavishes praise on the capital, it criticises the city’s best-known tourist attractions, notably the Book of Kells and Temple Bar.

The Celtic Tiger may be over but Ireland remains a country transformed for the better over the last two decades, it says.

The writers opine that it may be “ridiculously crude and simplistic” to suggest the Irish are used to hard knocks, but, nevertheless, “there is some truth in it”.

The Irish are “fatalistic and pessimistic to the core”, which is why they have accepted their economic fate more readily than the Greeks, who have rioted in the streets.

While suspicious of praise and tending not to believe anything nice that’s ever said about them, the Irish “wallow in false modesty like a sport” and are fond of the “peculiar art of self-deprecation”.

Begrudgery is also regarded as a national sport and the writers find it amusing that Bono is subject to more criticism in Ireland than he is elsewhere.

The book has two pieces of advice for travellers. Don’t use expressions like “top o’ the morning to you” or “begorrah”, which belong in 1950s Hollywood movies, and do buy your round. The book says “everything good about Ireland can be found in County Cork”.

Galway city has “an overlaying vibe of fun and frolic that’s addictive” but it is also “a very rainy city, even by Irish standards” and Derry city is a “pleasant surprise to many visitors” even if it is not pretty. The book is less than kind to Armagh city, which has “a dreary, rundown feel to it”.

Larne is “lacking in the charm department”, while Letterkenny has been “ruined by the excesses of the Celtic Tiger era”.

Dudess

Lot of doom and gloom here though - a lot of peeps have this thing of being ashamed to be Irish or whatever. Obviously not all, but it's noticeable. Lonely Planet's approach is different to the usual travel guide. It's said lots of good stuff about here too.

cursai

America is a nation of macaroni eating terrorists.




True statement.

Sky King

starbelgrade wrote: »

Lonely bollox.

I logged in just to thank this.

Micky Dolenz

“peculiar art of self-deprecation”.

Is it just me or does that sound kinda hawt :P

starbelgrade

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Here's what the Irish times report.

It's not too far off the mark.

The bit about Letterkenny is particularly true.. because of the Celtic Tiger, it's now essentially a retail park with an old street going through the middle.

FlyingIrishMan

They're badmouthing us for not rioting? Seriously...

It may be true, about a lot of the Irish, but its still better then what could be said about other countries.

Eve_Dublin

"Garrulous sociability"....I'd have to agree....we're the Kings and Queens of just saying whatever comes into our heads. ****e talk extraordinaires. I miss that...

Captain_Generic

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

“peculiar art of self-deprecation”.

Is it just me or does that sound kinda hawt :P

About as hot as a poo on the face

Seomra Mushie

peculiar art of self-deprecation

That's a bad thing?

I love a bit of self-deprecating humour. Done well, it's very amusing and witty.

Sky King

I love a bit of self-deprecating humour. Done well, it's very amusing and witty.

If you're Michael Bublé and you keep going on about how great you are for being so self depricating it tends not to works as well though

Logical Fallacy

What the hell is Lonely Planet and why should anyone give a ****?

Seomra Mushie

Sky King wrote: »

If you're Michael Bublé and you keep going on about how great you are for being so self depricating it tends not to works as well though

Heh, nail on the head.

Reminds me of Maggie Thatcher saying "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to say you are, you aren't" :pac:

mikemac1

The book says “everything good about Ireland can be found in County Cork”.

If they said Kerry and Cork then it would have been a stronger point. If I was planning a weekend away I'd go to Kerry

Galway city has “an overlaying vibe of fun and frolic that’s addictive” but it is also “a very rainy city, even by Irish standards”

True and who cares about the rain. It's also very mild, it's a few degrees warmer by the ocean. Thinking back to my secondary school geography. It's warmer then the midlands, wind not as bitter

Derry city is a “pleasant surprise to many visitors”

Derry is a hole and there's a menacing air about that town. One that you would not find in friendly Belfast

Letterkenny has been “ruined by the excesses of the Celtic Tiger era”.

True

mattjack

Seomra Mushie wrote: »

Heh, nail on the head.

Reminds me of Maggie Thatcher saying "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to say you are, you aren't" :pac:

RIP Maggie... she won't get to enjoy our pessimism and low esteem now..

KeithAFC

Is anyone on here actually offended by that?

krudler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WwqA7wAqYE

Fuinseog

Kohl wrote: »

Do you agree with them or think that's a load of crap. I personally think its a dumb thing to say in a guide to Ireland.

yes tis true. they are also self depreciating. I despair that the high point of our culture is the pub.

AudreyHepburn

It's a dumb thing to say in a guide book but to be honest it's true.

We, as nation, seem to constantly moaning and protesting and we cannot take compliments.

cursai

That writer got a bad pint.

paddyandy

Maybe it's a Guide Book we can believe in .

Johnny Foreigner

mikemac1 wrote: »

Bit of a generalization

I may as well say the French are rude and the little Englanders are arrogant

Englanders?
I think you mean English.

FTGFOP

The comments are the kind of insight I'd like to have before going to a country so I think it's perfectly fine to say in a guide book. As long as it's pretty accurate, and I think it is, I don't see any problem with it.

Captain_Generic wrote: »

All you need to travel is an electric heater and google streetview.

You, my friend, are a genius. To Barbados, maximum dimplex!

woodoo

They are right about the begrudgery thing. So so right...

Dyr

Is'nt it one of those ya-roysh tools of ****etalk 104 FM that wrote this?

mikemac1

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

Englanders?
I think you mean English.

I didn't misspell it, it was posted for a reason

You've never heard the phrase little Englanders?