it-was-great-while-it-lasted-ireland-but-it-s-time-to-say-goodbye ARTICLE

Lou.m

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/it-was-great-while-it-lasted-ireland-but-it-s-time-to-say-goodbye-1.1636140

What do you think?

If I hear an ounce of 'god riddance' I am going to groan.

I hate to hear this kind of story.

Immigrants have contributed to the life and culture of this country in the last few years and it is not their fault it is in economic strife.

I would hate to lose my friends from abroad.

I would hate to think other Irish people were treating them with less intimacy.

It is hard to look in the mirror and to remain dispassionate. But it can be extremely rewarding. So, are we to 'screw our courage to the sticking place' or are we to retreat into defensiveness and denial?

I feel Irish people retreat into denial many times as regards the state of our behaviors.

My question is how do we stop racism in times of stress?

Also how do we keep from becoming a hard nosed country with no magic or compassion?

I expect to see many hard noses in responses here to be honest.

Mint Aero

I'm a bit drunk and on the phone so didn't read the article but best of luck to them. I'm sure they love their motherland and enjoy being back, keep in touch skype facebook etc.

NuckingFacker

Ahh, stick on the kettle and give it a year or two. The mood in Irelands like the weather - changeable. Better times will be back along in a bit and we'll stop whinging and moaning. You don't dump the missus cos she's in bad form for a week or two - hang in there and buy flowers.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

god she sounds like an insufferable twat

--edit

haha, twat isn't in the filter. awesome

pickarooney

WTF? Why the hell did his parents decide to call him Bryan O’Brien and then **** with the spelling of the first name? Just how much were they trying to piss the kid off?

ETA: the photographer credited at the start of the article.

Frosty McSnowballs

Lou.m wrote: »

If I hear an ounce of 'god riddance' I am going to groan.

Lou.m wrote: »

I would hate to think other Irish people were treating them with less intimacy.

Lou.m wrote: »

I feel Irish people retreat into denial many times as regards the state of our behaviors.

Lou.m wrote: »

I expect to see many hard noses in responses here to be honest.

Lou.m wrote: »

What do you think?

I think you don't like us Irish people

mfceiling

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Ahh, stick on the kettle and give it a year or two. The mood in Irelands like the weather - changeable. Better times will be back along in a bit and we'll stop whinging and moaning. You don't dump the missus cos she's in bad form for a week or two - hang in there and buy flowers.

Ah here, what's that now....

*runs to the door to tell the wife to come back*

wazky

I-don't-know-about-your-problem, but-what-I-do-know,is-that-this-whole-lines-in-between-words-thing-is-annoying.

Lou.m

Senor Jingle Balls wrote: »

I think you don't like us Irish people

I must be self loathing then ...I am Irish.

Frosty McSnowballs

Lou.m wrote: »

I must be self loathing then ...I am Irish.

Looks like it.

Lou.m

Lou.m wrote: »

I must be self loathing then ...I am Irish.

And yes sometimes I don't like us ....in fact most of us spend a lot of time moaning passive aggressively about ourselves.

Frosty McSnowballs

Lou.m wrote: »

And yes sometimes I don't like us ....in fact most of us spend a lot of time moaning passive aggressively about ourselves.

Happy Christmas

Lou.m

I think your responses prove her right. Hard nosed and so lacking. The non plus attitude of some of this generation in Dublin.

There is a sadness and bitterness in many in Ireland now. They have countrified manners and not in a good way.

We are talking about an escalation in racism in a different economic climate and people's reaction is '**** em'.

It is not a thinking person's response.

Lou.m

Senor Jingle Balls wrote: »

Happy Christmas

Ah well not all are bad.

Nodin

Lou.m wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/it-was-great-while-it-lasted-ireland-but-it-s-time-to-say-goodbye-1.1636140

What do you think?

.

It's vague waffle and not worth a ****, tbh.

Gran Hermano

Ná buaileadh an doras do thóin ar do bhealach amach.

UCDVet

I can only speak for myself, and as irrational as it sounds....for me....it was the damn GNIB card price increases...

It might be silly, but that jump from 150 euro to 300 euro was what convinced my wife and I to head home and not go forward with the citizenship/naturalization process.

Love the country, love Dublin (though I wouldn't mind avoiding DublinBus), and the people have been nothing but welcoming (I'm not quite so annoying in person). There is a lot to like....but financially....I feel like a walking ATM these days. Everywhere I look, there is another fee, another tax, another fare increase, a new this, that, and the other thing.

Most of them, I feel like you can kind of justify. But a 100% increase to the GNIB card, four years after a 50% increase....maddening. And if you have never gone to the GNIB - maybe you won't understand, but it's the worst experience I've had in my time here. You show up at 9am and they are done for the day and send you home. You show up at 7am and there is a line wrapped around the building. They are understaffed and the ones that are there would rather be somewhere else. Last time it took me three attempts and a five hour wait before I got the privilege of paying 300 euro and the guy didn't even bother to look at the paperwork I'd spent the better part of a day chasing down and filling out.

And most fees, they go to the ones that can pay. But the GNIB increase hits a lot of people without a lot of money. I know quite a few students tried to protest but, well, it went exactly as you'd expect.

yosser hughes

It reads like a secondary school student essay. Why the Irish Times saw fit to publish it is beyond me.
She had a good time, then not such a good time and then characterises an entire nation with what she has experienced. It's bizarre that it's in a national newspaper. Some Irish people are not nice and some are. Move on

Retrovertigo

Is-your-spa-ce-bar-brok-en-?

Gran Hermano

Retrovertigo wrote: »

Is-your-spa-ce-bar-brok-en-?

NO-IT-EMMIGRATED

NuckingFacker

Gran Hermano wrote: »

NO-IT-EMMIGRATED

Good riddance :pac: Feckin space-bars, coming over here filling our pages.

Nodin

yosser hughes wrote: »

It reads like a secondary school student essay. Why the Irish Times saw fit to publish it is beyond me.
She had a good time, then not such a good time and then characterises an entire nation with what she has experienced. It's bizarre that it's in a national newspaper. Some Irish people are not nice and some are. Move on

The times publish J Waters, so little suprises me.

...what's most odd is that she wasted an opportunity to tell her story and highlight what problems she experienced, in a national respected paper.

Sunnyisland

Nodin wrote: »

The times publish J Waters, so little suprises me.

...what's most odd is that she wasted an opportunity to tell her story and highlight what problems she experienced, in a national respected paper.

Completely of topic but on page three of the times today there is a picture of me walking back down the south bull wall yesterday, sorry OP it's not everyday I get into the Irish Times.:)

bluefinger

it's not me it's you.

camel jockey

OP, where in this 'article' is the racism of which you speak?

Note: I use the term 'article' quite loosely, hence the quotes.

Sounds like an economic migrant that chose to come here and has now chosen to move elsewhere. Hardly worthy of an 'article' in the so called paper of record.

cletus van damme

Lou.m wrote: »

I think your responses prove her right. Hard nosed and so lacking. The non plus attitude of some of this generation in Dublin.

There is a sadness and bitterness in many in Ireland now. They have countrified manners and not in a good way.

We are talking about an escalation in racism in a different economic climate and people's reaction is '**** em'.

It is not a thinking person's response.

The article is a generalisation of ireland over a period of time. I don't recognise that ireland despite living here all my life.

Some people behaved as she descibed but ireland didn't.

I'm sorry she had negative experiences but when we work hard and see feck all for our money , health cuts, no jobs...etc...and did I mention those bondholders! - it's a bit much to expect us to be cheery all the time.
She is being unrealstic.
but that said her article isn't what I recognise in irish people.

The Aussie

I love how thin skinned some of the comments are below the article :pac:.....

I get this image of a 2 year old crying from some of the replies :rolleyes:

Ghost Buster

Dear Natasha,
The only reason we were 'full of spunk' was cos Fianna Fail had been riding us.

BBJBIG

Nodin wrote: »

It's vague waffle and not worth a ****, tbh.

Well ... the author of the article trained as a Doctor in Oireland.
So, what is the problem ?
I thought Oireland needed Doctors ?

Especially, a Doctor who trained in Oireland - and not something imported from the Black Hole of Calcutta - barely speaking English and whose Qualifications are questionable and not quite up to the mark.

Sure ... times have been a little difficult and will continue to be so for a while.
But there is a possibility that things could be beginning to take a turn for the better. Maybe the picture will become clearer sometime Next Year.

That article is just sh1t stirring, if you ask me.

professore

What do some people expect? That all immigrants come here and see how perfect Ireland is? Yeah right. Having lived abroad myself I experienced the same thing from people there telling me how wonderful their country was compared to everywhere else. Everywhere has good and bad points.

irritablebaz

good luck to her on her travels, i think she will find nowhere is perfect and racism lies everywhere.

Muise...

Lou.m wrote: »

I would hate to lose my friends from abroad.

I would hate to think other Irish people were treating them with less intimacy.

Not me. I lick foreigners' faces every day. Not just at Christmas.

Daqster

Arsehole trained here. Enjoyed the country licking her arse, treating her like a doctor before she was one most likely. No doubt eat in fancy cafes and drank in expensive wine bars. The the real world hot and that promise of an easy job doing fcuk all and getting paid a fortune to do it, that was so long on the horizon, began to fade and it suddenly looked like she'd actually have to do some real work and for less than half of what used to be on offer to those that went before her.

No doubt she had to move and getting the bus home to Dublin 8 just didn't feel the same as getting a taxi from Stephen's Green to the leafy streets of D4 and nor did buying cheap wine in Tesco to keep up that socially acceptable, and ever increasing need for a few glasses of vino, compare with nights out clinking merlot with fellow med snoots.

You say goodbye like you would be better off without us, but the sweet irony here is love, that it's us, who will be far better off without you and it's just a pity you could've have convinced a few thousand other fair weather leeches to have gone with you. In short, Natasha, the bus you're looking for is the 41 and don't let the Ryan Air checkout desk hit you in the arse on the way out.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Why do people care what she thinks if she doesn't like Ireland anymore fair enough.Its unbelievable this kind of sh1te was even published.Basically her issue seems to be that people in ireland when they had money decided to enjoy themselves a bit , how in the name of god does this affect her life, should everybody conform to some sort of ridiculous Hollywood stereotype of the Irish in order to keep her happy.

Khannie

Lou.m wrote: »

I expect to see many hard noses in responses here to be honest.

You know....I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of people putting down AH and assuming they'll get the asshat response when asking a question in here. If you wanted a 100% serious discussion, there are other forums that you can go to with the same post. Otherwise, most people who post in here seem sound out to me.

EmptyTree

I don't understand the point of the article. She came here, had a good time (for the most part) and now she is leaving......Grand, get on with it then

Muise...

Khannie wrote: »

You know....I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of people putting down AH and assuming they'll get the asshat response when asking a question in here. If you wanted a 100% serious discussion, there are other forums that you can go to with the same post. Otherwise, most people who post in here seem sound out to me.

Yes. We are lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyx6DaUwxA

COYW

Daqster wrote: »

No doubt she had to move and getting the bus home to Dublin 8 just didn't feel the same as getting a taxi from Stephen's Green to the leafy streets of D4 and nor did buying cheap wine in Tesco to keep up that socially acceptable, and ever increasing need for a few glasses of vino, compare with nights out clinking merlot with fellow med snoots.

As someone who lived in D4 for years, I have to say that you have a very strange (incorrect) opinion of the area. The people in my community were the most down to earth people I have ever come across. Sure they had money but I never saw any signs of vulgarity. People who acts like that tend to be of the "fur coat and no knickers" variety, as my neighbour would say and their perceived wealth tends to be credit based.

camel jockey

I assume she is from the middle east or some mozlem country, and her parents must be wealthy to have been able to fund her medical degree here. I wonder would she have even been allowed to study medicine in her own country? I wonder how her parents became wealthy. Perhaps by exploiting others?

Irish Guitarist

I don't see anything in that article that says she suffered any racism. It sounds like she's moving because she can make more money elsewhere.

The Diabolical Monocle

WHAT !!!
You mean people tend to get a bit crabby when everything goes to shyte.


Who would have thought.


Hey there unemployed craftsman.......grey skies are gonna clear up.

(unemployed masters graduate with neg equity) - Put on a happy face !!:D


Recent secondary school graduates destined for high unemployment grab umbrellas and dance in the background.

Carlos Orange

Migrant leaves country. News at 11.

The Diabolical Monocle

I bet shes a proctologist.
Only a proctologist would use the word spunk in an article.

Nodin

camel jockey wrote: »

I assume she is from the middle east or some mozlem country, and her parents must be wealthy to have been able to fund her medical degree here. I wonder would she have even been allowed to study medicine in her own country? I wonder how her parents became wealthy. Perhaps by exploiting others?

Is there any room more ignorance in that post? I don't see it myself, but as it stands I'm amazed you got the amount you did crammed in there.

Nodin

BBJBIG wrote: »

Well ... the author of the article trained as a Doctor in Oireland.
So, what is the problem ?
I thought Oireland needed Doctors ?

Especially, a Doctor who trained in Oireland - and not something imported from the Black Hole of Calcutta - barely speaking English and whose Qualifications are questionable and not quite up to the mark.

Sure ... times have been a little difficult and will continue to be so for a while.
But there is a possibility that things could be beginning to take a turn for the better. Maybe the picture will become clearer sometime Next Year.

That article is just sh1t stirring, if you ask me.

Generally there's few complaints about Doctors originating in India or Pakistan.

Daqster

COYW wrote: »

As someone who lived in D4 for years, I have to say that you have a very strange (incorrect) opinion of the area. The people in my community were the most down to earth people I have ever come across. Sure they had money but I never saw any signs of vulgarity. People who acts like that tend to be of the "fur coat and no knickers" variety, as my neighbour would say and their perceived wealth tends to be credit based.

I agree, not sure why you would think I wouldn't. Wasn't attempting to suggest all people in those areas are up their own arse, they're far from it. However, when people are, and particularly people of her disposition, they do tend to frequent taint and frequent that area, along with a few others also. They wouldn't be strangers to the leafy streets and bistros of D6 either. So, merry christmas to the decent folk of D4 folk, you affluent barstards! :-)

UCDVet

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Why do people care what she thinks if she doesn't like Ireland anymore fair enough.Its unbelievable this kind of sh1te was even published.Basically her issue seems to be that people in ireland when they had money decided to enjoy themselves a bit , how in the name of god does this affect her life, should everybody conform to some sort of ridiculous Hollywood stereotype of the Irish in order to keep her happy.

I don't think anyone should care about one individual's opinion. But if we start to see trends and if those trends aren't going in the direction we want, we might want to consider what we can do to change it.

According to the Irish government, there are plenty of shortages of qualified workers. This lady is a doctor - and last I checked - that was one of the jobs we need more qualified people to do.

Presumably having qualified doctors in Ireland is a good thing.

So, if there is a trend of qualified doctors (or any job we have a shortage of) *leaving* we might want to look at why they are leaving and what, if anything we can do about it.

I get that emigration is part of Irish culture to a certain degree, and there isn't anything wrong with that in the slightest. But there has been a dramatic shift in emigration and immigration levels

(http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/ireland-has-highest-net-emigration-level-in-europe-1.1601685)

In fact, Ireland has the HIGHEST net emigration level in all of the EU.
35,000 more people left Ireland than arrived here in 2012

I'm not trying to say that this lady speaks for everyone leaving Ireland, not at all. But I *am* saying, so long as we have shortages of labour (and we do) it affects *everyone* living in Ireland when people in those positions leave the country.

Maybe we shouldn't care about this lady - but we should care about the rate people are leaving. And while everyone is important in the sense that we're all people and 'brothers in humanity' and all that jazz....but from a practical standpoint....there are jobs we really need (Doctors being one of them) and it doesn't just affect doctors. It affects everyone who needs doctors, it affects the quality of service everyone gets. It's a bad thing. We need people working these jobs, it's obvious with doctors; but even for seemingly unimportant jobs, the economy hurts when there is unmet needs. If a company can't hire the employees it needs in Ireland, it's going to open it's new branch somewhere else where it can hire the employees. And we want businesses opening offices and we want people working (and paying taxes). We *need* those things.

If you live in Ireland, you should care.
If you care about Ireland or people who live in Ireland, you should care.

Everyone else though - yeah - no skin off their back.

cloudatlas

She should have used the column space to talk about the racism that has crept into the health service and the working conditions. The public could do with some perspective.

Looking at her linkedin page she has had great experience at the royal college of surgeons and in the hse.

She seems to be bemoaning the loss of materialism and the high times in the early 2000's.

lostdisk

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

'so long and thanks for all the fish'

Annasopra

lostdisk wrote: »

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

'so long and thanks for all the fish'

What?

johnnyskeleton

mango salsa wrote: »

What?

The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is a radio series from the 1970s made by the bbc and written by Douglas Adams. It later became a series of books, a television series and a movie.

In that book, as the world is about to end all the dolphins leave, saying "so long, and thanks for all the fish"

The above poster is drawing a parallel between the dolphins glib response to a dying world, and the article in question.

I for one thought it was quite a clever comment.