Are the stereotypes of the Irish people actaully correct ?

6541

I was having a conversation with a chap and he pointed out that the Irish stereotype of stupid thick Paddy is true. He backed this up with the following observations.

Irish Water goes from them charging the population money to the population receiving money. No Other country in the western world would have a system like the one that is proposed here.

Post codes based on a nonsense random generated number, non of the courier companies will (can) use. Sly way of protecting An Post.

Hospitals that just don't work.
Roads that are third world.
Selling off what natural resources Ireland had to vested interested.
Gombeen and cute hoor job creation via tax breaks.
The planning process, basically everything.

So he gives the example (above) and follows it up with this.

Traditionally Ireland had large families. Most of them where encouraged to immigrate. The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

The_Valeyard

No. All countries have their issues or problems. We are really not that different from other Western nations.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Peregrinus

6541 wrote: »

I was having a conversation with a chap and he pointed out that the Irish stereotype of stupid thick Paddy is true . . . The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

One of these stereotypes could be correct, or the other, but not both simultaneously.

On the basis that your friend hasn't spotted this I'm thinking he's more of a type A man, himself.

Rubberchikken

we're no different than any other country.
you can't tell me that we're the only country with cute hoors, dodgy planning, crap hospitals/roads etc. not possible for even one second.

your chap sounds too bitter for his own good.

Micky Dolenz

I bet my bottom dollar that your chap has never ventured anywhere else in the world.

when all is said and done, it's not a bad place to live.

mikemac1

And I suppose there is zero corruption in Italy and all the politicians are saints

Micky Dolenz

mikemac1 wrote: »

And I suppose there is zero corruption in Italy and all the politicians are saints

Here is a fun fact. There are more Generals in the Italian Army than in both the US and English armies combined and that is only the start of it.

the country is crippled with the amount of civil servant types on the books.

The One Doctor

6541 wrote: »

I was having a conversation with a chap and he pointed out that the Irish stereotype of stupid thick Paddy is true. He backed this up with the following observations.

Irish Water goes from them charging the population money to the population receiving money. No Other country in the western world would have a system like the one that is proposed here.

Post codes based on a nonsense random generated number, non of the courier companies will (can) use. Sly way of protecting An Post.

Hospitals that just don't work.
Roads that are third world.
Selling off what natural resources Ireland had to vested interested.
Gombeen and cute hoor job creation via tax breaks.
The planning process, basically everything.

So he gives the example (above) and follows it up with this.

Traditionally Ireland had large families. Most of them where encouraged to immigrate. The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

Roads are not third world. Go to Bulgaria. They have potholes on the motorways.

Hospitals work fine in my experience.

The government agreed that an exploration company would take the risk for finding the resources, and as a consequence, the company got a % of the reward.

The rest of your friend's points are either nonsensical or ill thought out.

Wibbs

And that's before we get to the basketcase that was/is Greece. A nation and culture that gave us... well pretty damn near everything as far as the building blocks of western civilisation goes. Hardly a den of thicks genetically. Go back to the early medieval and the Irish were considered among the cleverest and most learned dudes in Europe.

Wibbs

The One Doctor wrote: »

The rest of your friend's points are either nonsensical or ill thought out.

Aye though he makes a point re the nonsense surrounding the oul H2O matter

mad muffin

I must agree. Ireland is a perennial basket case. It's not alone though. It's in good company with, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The only difference is, those countries actually amounted to something in their past. Ireland, not so much.

Micky Dolenz

mad muffin wrote: »

I must agree. Ireland is a perennial basket case. It's not alone though. It's in good company with, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

The only difference is, those countries actually amounted to something in their past. Ireland, not so much.

What good is the past to our children and our children's children?

It's all about now and the future.

murpho999

Genuinely think that many people are just cranks.

People saying that our roads are third world clearly have not been outside the country much let alone been to a "third world" country.

Hospitals provide very good care and work very well. What's wrong is the admin systems and issues insurance etc.

The post code one is very strange as I don't see any reason why couriers can't use it, I don't get why a number has to be sequential as they will have access to a database of all addresses and postcodes.

Having lived abroad as well I think everyone just complains about their own country and don't realise the good things they have.

Overflow

6541 wrote: »

I was having a conversation with a chap and he pointed out that the Irish stereotype of stupid thick Paddy is true. He backed this up with the following observations.

Irish Water goes from them charging the population money to the population receiving money. No Other country in the western world would have a system like the one that is proposed here.

Post codes based on a nonsense random generated number, non of the courier companies will (can) use. Sly way of protecting An Post.

Hospitals that just don't work.
Roads that are third world.
Selling off what natural resources Ireland had to vested interested.
Gombeen and cute hoor job creation via tax breaks.
The planning process, basically everything.

So he gives the example (above) and follows it up with this.

Traditionally Ireland had large families. Most of them where encouraged to immigrate. The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

And you sat there and listened to this...as an Irish person. Did you nod and say, sorry about that.

Overflow

murpho999 wrote: »

Genuinely think that many people are just cranks.

People saying that our roads are third world clearly have not been outside the country much let alone been to a "third world" country.

Hospitals provide very good care and work very well. What's wrong is the admin systems and issues insurance etc.

The post code one is very strange as I don't see any reason why couriers can't use it, I don't get why a number has to be sequential as they will have access to a database of all addresses and postcodes.

Having lived abroad as well I think everyone just complains about their own country and don't realise the good things they have.

You are deluded !

Day Lewin

Your depressing "friend" illustrates only one of the classic clichés: he is a whinger.

Moreover, a tragically uninformed one!
- who has never seen the roads of India, or China.
- or needed a hospital in a very poor country
- or had to pay bills for water services in...well...almost everywhere.
- or noticed that nepotism and cronyism are endemic in human nature everywhere, not just in our little local village.

Whatever point he may wish to make, whinging disqualifies. And ignorance doubly disqualifies. Thumbs down.

bear1

6541 wrote: »

I was having a conversation with a chap and he pointed out that the Irish stereotype of stupid thick Paddy is true. He backed this up with the following observations.

Irish Water goes from them charging the population money to the population receiving money. No Other country in the western world would have a system like the one that is proposed here.

Post codes based on a nonsense random generated number, non of the courier companies will (can) use. Sly way of protecting An Post.

Hospitals that just don't work.
Roads that are third world.
Selling off what natural resources Ireland had to vested interested.
Gombeen and cute hoor job creation via tax breaks.
The planning process, basically everything.

So he gives the example (above) and follows it up with this.

Traditionally Ireland had large families. Most of them where encouraged to immigrate. The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

Your friend lives in Ireland then yeah?
Can't stand this type of "our country is utter ****e, look how great the other countries are!".
Roads: ask him if he remembers what they were like 10 years ago.
Natural resources: He hasn't a clue from what you've said.
Hospitals: what is it about them he thinks doesn't work?
Tax breaks: If there were no tax breaks many of us would be out of a job.
Post Codes: My God he really has nothing worth complaining about.
Irish Water: So your friend thinks we should be raped with the price of water? We have been given the cheapest water rates in the EU yet he isn't happy.
It isn't the thick Paddy stereotype which is true, but the stereotype within our own country that we do nothing but complain of the lightest ****e possible.
Go to Africa and complain to them how we have to pay for the privilege of water.
Gob****e.

The Backwards Man

Roads in Ireland are better than in most countries in the first world, never mind the third world.

mad muffin

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Roads in Ireland are better than in most countries in the first world, never mind the third world.

Yeah... not so much.

murpho999

Overflow wrote: »

You are deluded !

No I'm not...go to the like of Africa where if you can die if you break your leg.

Go into a hospital here and you will get the care, treatment and medicine required by highly trained people. Administration is their problem.

jimgoose

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

What good is the past to our children and our children's children?

It's all about now and the future.

Shtall the digger there now chief. You don't seriously think children should be having sex, do you??

yes there

He forgot to add over sensitive judging by a few of the posts in here.

yes there

murpho999 wrote: »

No I'm not...go to the like of Africa where if you can die if you break your leg.

Go into a hospital here and you will get the care, treatment and medicine required by highly trained people. Administration is their problem.

Yeah really great comparison you made there. My god maybe the op was right after all.

mad muffin

murpho999 wrote: »

No I'm not...go to the like of Africa where if you can die if you break your leg.

Go into a hospital here and you will get the care, treatment and medicine required by highly trained people. Administration is their problem.

I think pretty much anything beats Africa, so that's not much of a comparison.

jimgoose

yes there wrote: »

He forgot to add over sensitive judging by a few of the posts in here.

Thick?? You should see my father (makes barrel-chest-and-porter-belly shape out in front of torso with hands), he was out like fcukan that, bah!! :cool:

FionnK86

We've come so far in the 100 or so years that we've existed independently! Just think about it, we became independent with no industrial basis, and still managed to avoid World War II's violence and in less than 100 years become one of the greatest places in the world to live.

Sure, stuff like Irish Water will make it seem like the country is screwed, but this is just an example of how the country is constantly looking to improve itself, and how it's people are proud enough of the country that they want demonstrate their opinions.

The stereotype of the Irish Paddy is swiftly being demolished.

Overflow

murpho999 wrote: »

No I'm not...go to the like of Africa where if you can die if you break your leg.

Go into a hospital here and you will get the care, treatment and medicine required by highly trained people. Administration is their problem.

Why would i go to Africa if i broke my leg ??

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

You are deluded !

You don't know how good you have it.

Our health service is excellent and we should give ourselves and those who work in it huge credit. That doesn't mean I think it's perfect or the best in the world.

Health services are bottomless pits for money and there is no such thing as perfection.

How much more would you like to invest in the health service?
Where would you cut money from to fund the increase?

Maccon

This is my first Boards post, so don't burn me

I think this guy has a few points and you can't blame him if you see this country in the last 5 years. And you don't know what he has been thru.
I'm not Irish, I'm German living here for 12 years now with family and all the rest.
If I compare the politicians of both countries on the local level it is not that much different I guess. But Ireland has mostly politicians which were teachers or barrister. And you can see that some regions are "ruled" by a family for decades.

If I remember what some politicians got away with here blows my mind. Best example is Bertie Ahern.
Having seen the last few budgets of any government, I didn't know that you can do that many U turns and still go on as nothing happened. This is a joke and has been seen as this sometimes in the German media. You do it properly or you don't do it at all!

Reg. hospitals..I know a few people working there and the common say is, there is enough money but the system is run by muppets. And having spend 8 hours in A and E with the kids myself, I agree. I worked the UK for a while and due to my job I went to A and E 6 or 7 times to translate. Ever time we were out within 2 hours regardless of time and which day. Germany isn't as good but by far not as bad as Ireland. If you compare the money spent and the service provided in Ireland, it simply doesn't work.
It's sad to see so many hard working hospital staff and they have to deal with it every day.

The roads got a lot better over the last 10 years. Just the quality how there are getting built, well some bad roads are just bad because there are badly done in the first place causing more repairs on the long run.

Reg. Water.. the never ending story. I remember my last water bill in Germany 12 years ago. What a single person spends in 1 year here ( I think at the moment it's 160 E) I spent this easily in 2 or 3 month in Germany due to the high water prices.

Yes we have to pay for water in some way or the other which I agree. But to force the whole population of a country into a contract with a semi private company when the cost for the customer not set up yet, giving out PPS numbers and so on, well.. this is a very good example where the rest of Europe is looking at Ireland and says, their must be joking. But the politicians will get away with this again. They just did another U turn, again.

Stereotypes are are everywhere and good old Paddy's is getting slagged sometimes. As Sigmund Freud said, he can categorize all groups of people except the Irish, they don't fit in any box. I would see this as a compliment.
And believe me, not all Germans are always on time and the built quality of the cars is not as good as you would think.

Have a good day

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

You don't know how good you have it.

Our health service is excellent and we should give ourselves and those who work in it huge credit. That doesn't mean I think it's perfect or the best in the world.

Health services are bottomless pits for money and there is no such thing as perfection.

How much more would you like to invest in the health service?
Where would you cut money from to fund the increase?

Actually I do, because I now live somewhere where they actually give a **** and don't leave you sitting in a waiting room for 12 hours with a collapsed lung That's one example, i have many more.

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

Actually I do, because I now live somewhere where they actually give a **** and don't leave you sitting in a waiting room for 12 hours with a collapsed lung That's one example, i have many more.

I didn't ask for examples.

I did ask you 2 specific questions so give em a bash son

jimgoose

Maccon wrote: »

...Stereotypes are are everywhere and good old Paddy's is getting slagged sometimes. As Sigmund Freud said, he can categorize all groups of people except the Irish, they don't fit in any box. I would see this as a compliment.
And believe me, not all Germans are always on time and the built quality of the cars is not as good as you would think.

Have a good day

Wilkommen. What Freud is supposed to have said about the Irish is "This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever." There's no actual evidence that he ever said anything like that, though. The average Irish psyche is a psychoanalyst's dream, an acre of wheat before the combine. I think we Irish like the idea of being so impenetrable and "cute" as to be able to misdirect the likes of Freud and Carl Jung, though. :pac:

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I didn't ask for examples.

I did ask you 2 specific questions so give em a bash son

Your two questions open a can of worms for which there is no simple solution.

6541

Great first post lad !
I actually agree with what you say, we accept so much here it is unbelievable.
I would also add to the mix that it is ingrained in Irish people to think we are brilliant, hey we beat the English out, the Irish rebel, the quick witted Irish man, this in my opinion is utter nonsense. A myth created so people can sentimentally drink there pints whilst getting buggered by a chosen few.

Maccon wrote: »

This is my first Boards post, so don't burn me

I think this guy has a few points and you can't blame him if you see this country in the last 5 years. And you don't know what he has been thru.
I'm not Irish, I'm German living here for 12 years now with family and all the rest.
If I compare the politicians of both countries on the local level it is not that much different I guess. But Ireland has mostly politicians which were teachers or barrister. And you can see that some regions are "ruled" by a family for decades.

If I remember what some politicians got away with here blows my mind. Best example is Bertie Ahern.
Having seen the last few budgets of any government, I didn't know that you can do that many U turns and still go on as nothing happened. This is a joke and has been seen as this sometimes in the German media. You do it properly or you don't do it at all!

Reg. hospitals..I know a few people working there and the common say is, there is enough money but the system is run by muppets. And having spend 8 hours in A and E with the kids myself, I agree. I worked the UK for a while and due to my job I went to A and E 6 or 7 times to translate. Ever time we were out within 2 hours regardless of time and which day. Germany isn't as good but by far not as bad as Ireland. If you compare the money spent and the service provided in Ireland, it simply doesn't work.
It's sad to see so many hard working hospital staff and they have to deal with it every day.

The roads got a lot better over the last 10 years. Just the quality how there are getting built, well some bad roads are just bad because there are badly done in the first place causing more repairs on the long run.

Reg. Water.. the never ending story. I remember my last water bill in Germany 12 years ago. What a single person spends in 1 year here ( I think at the moment it's 160 E) I spent this easily in 2 or 3 month in Germany due to the high water prices.

Yes we have to pay for water in some way or the other which I agree. But to force the whole population of a country into a contract with a semi private company when the cost for the customer not set up yet, giving out PPS numbers and so on, well.. this is a very good example where the rest of Europe is looking at Ireland and says, their must be joking. But the politicians will get away with this again. They just did another U turn, again.

Stereotypes are are everywhere and good old Paddy's is getting slagged sometimes. As Sigmund Freud said, he can categorize all groups of people except the Irish, they don't fit in any box. I would see this as a compliment.
And believe me, not all Germans are always on time and the built quality of the cars is not as good as you would think.

Have a good day

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

You don't know how good you have it.

Our health service is excellent and we should give ourselves and those who work in it huge credit. That doesn't mean I think it's perfect or the best in the world.

Health services are bottomless pits for money and there is no such thing as perfection.

How much more would you like to invest in the health service?
Where would you cut money from to fund the increase?

From this morons salary and the rest of the ignorant and corrupt fools in government.

El_Duderino 09

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Irish drunkard stereotype.

We do tolerate much more drunkenness than other countries.

Having lived in the UK for 3 years the most annoying stereotype is the notion that we are all republicans and the whole island was a rubble-strewn war zone. As recently as last week I got chatting to an ex paratrooper who served in NI in the 80s. They think they are being so gracious by allowing that 'things have changed for you'. There's no point telling them that it was never like the North.

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

Your two questions open a can of worms for which there is no simple solution.

We can only make services as good as you can afford.

The point I was making, and you appear to agree with whether you realise it or not, is that our health service is probably as good as we can afford.

As I said before there is room for improvement and better economy

6541

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/people-are-not-stupid-its-getting-worse-ming-hits-out-at-services-across-ireland-30762435.html

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

From this morons salary and the rest of the ignorant and corrupt fools in government.

Which moron exactly?

Your answer is devoid of content (the hallmark of a fool)

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

We can only make services as good as you can afford.

The point I was making, and you appear to agree with whether you realise it or not, is that our health service is probably as good as we can afford.

As I said before there is room for improvement and better economy

I absolutely don't agree with you and you have obviously missed my point, if you believe what you just said, your just part of the problem.

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

I absolutely don't agree with you and you have obviously missed my point, if you believe what you just said, your just part of the problem.

You conceded the questions were too difficult for you and went on to answer them with a one liner straight from a tabloid. Best leave it there champ

Marion Morrison

we're no different than any other country.
you can't tell me that we're the only country with cute hoors, dodgy planning, crap hospitals/roads etc. not possible for even one second.

your chap sounds too bitter for his own good.

Here is a fun fact. There are more Generals in the Italian Army than in both the US and English armies combined and that is only the start of it.

the country is crippled with the amount of civil servant types on the books.

Roads are not third world. Go to Bulgaria. They have potholes on the motorways.

Hospitals work fine in my experience.

The government agreed that an exploration company would take the risk for finding the resources, and as a consequence, the company got a % of the reward.

The rest of your friend's points are either nonsensical or ill thought out.

mad muffin wrote: »

Ireland is ... not alone though. It's in good company with, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Your depressing "friend" illustrates only one of the classic clichés: he is a whinger.

Moreover, a tragically uninformed one!
- who has never seen the roads of India, or China.
- or needed a hospital in a very poor country
- or had to pay bills for water services in...well...almost everywhere.
- or noticed that nepotism and cronyism are endemic in human nature everywhere, not just in our little local village.

Whatever point he may wish to make, whinging disqualifies. And ignorance doubly disqualifies. Thumbs down.

murpho999 wrote: »

No I'm not...go to the like of Africa where if you can die if you break your leg.

I don't think this is where we should be setting the bar, yet so many people think as long as we do, the rest is not worth striving for.

There are still major problems in this country, and the causes need to be treated as well as the symptoms. They are treatable if the will of the people is there. Ireland has the potential to be as least as good as any of the benchmark Scandinavian countries.

First and foremost we need to start getting honest people into Irish politics, that's fundamental for any democracy. At the moment honest and educated people avoid going into Irish politics. This is not a good situation. None of the Irish political parties are in any way trustworthy. The sum ambition of all Irish politicians is to get into government to look after your particular personal gang of cronies and hangers on, and to qualify for the fabled ministers pension.

For far too long the chronic problems in Ireland have been silenced and swept under the carpet.

The problems in Ireland are worth highlighting, and demanding change, I don't believe we have yet slipped the point where demanding change and desiring improvement is pointless.

What is worrying is for as long as I can remember the Irish people seem to be happy to lurch from one corruption scandal to the next. They get annoyed about the current scandal, but then it just dies down and is forgotten about until the next one. This season its Irish Water, last season it was the CRC, before that it was Anglo, and it goes on , and on, and on , and on , and on, right back to the 80's and beyond, the same families, the same connections, the same scandals, the same temporary annoyance of the people before we trundle onto the next scandal.

Meanwhile for generations, our least connected and often our best and brightest and most honest young people leave every year, and continue to do so.

This is not a complaint. It's a desire for permanent change, for the better, for everyone.

6541

Well said !

Marion Morrison wrote: »

I don't think this is where we should be setting the bar, yet so many people think as long as we do, the rest is not worth striving for.

There are still major problems in this country, and the causes need to be treated as well as the symptoms. They are treatable if the will of the people is there. Ireland has the potential to be as least as good as any of the benchmark Scandinavian countries.

First and foremost we need to start getting honest people into Irish politics, that's fundamental for any democracy. At the moment honest and educated people avoid going into Irish politics. This is not a good situation. None of the Irish political parties are in any way trustworthy. The sum ambition of all Irish politicians is to get into government to look after your particular personal gang of cronies and hangers on, and to qualify for the fabled ministers pension.

For far too long the chronic problems in Ireland have been silenced and swept under the carpet.

The problems in Ireland are worth highlighting, and demanding change, I don't believe we have yet slipped the point where demanding change and desiring improvement is pointless.

What is worrying is for as long as I can remember the Irish people seem to be happy to lurch from one corruption scandal to the next. They get annoyed about the current scandal, but then it just dies down and is forgotten about until the next one. This season its Irish Water, last season it was the CRC, before that it was Anglo, and it goes on , and on, and on , and on , and on, right back to the 80's and beyond, the same families, the same connections, the same scandals, the same temporary annoyance of the people before we trundle onto the next scandal.

Meanwhile for generations, our least connected and often our best and brightest and most honest young people leave every year, and continue to do so.

This is not a complaint. It's a desire for permanent change, for the better, for everyone.

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

You conceded the questions were too difficult for you and went on to answer them with a one liner straight from a tabloid. Best leave it there champ

Debating an obvious problem does not inherently infer that one has a solution, but since you think it such a trivial thing to answer, please do enlighten us to your solution to Ireland's economic woes and improving our health services.



....yeah best leave it there champ !

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

You conceded the questions were too difficult for you and went on to answer them with a one liner straight from a tabloid. Best leave it there champ

Interesting that you liked the above post by Marion Morrison, re: corruption and need for change but still believe our health services are the 'best we can afford'

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

Debating an obvious problem does not inherently infer that one has a solution, but since you think it such a trivial thing to answer, please do enlighten us to your solution to Ireland's economic woes and improving our health services.



....yeah best leave it there champ !

I don't think you've been keeping up with the conversation.

I was the one saying the health service isn't all as bad as you were making out. Remember you had all the anecdotes about how bad it is? No I don't suppose you do. Not to worry son.

dont bother

i agree with the OP. this country is horrible, for the most part. Rain, cold, miserable people everywhere, high suicide rates, no abortion, no proper equality rights, a viciously corrupt government, nasty people who are driven by money, low morals, very expensive cost of living, no good-looking people, horrible scenery, violent un-policed streets, huge social divides, etc etc....

and yes, i've travelled quite a bit of the world. even some 3rd world countries, and YES, some of those countries ARE better.

you just need nice weather and decent people for the country to work.

not what we have currently - horrible weather and greedy pigs

Overflow

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I don't think you've been keeping up with the conversation.

I was the one saying the health service isn't all as bad as you were making out. Remember you had all the anecdotes about how bad it is? No I don't suppose you do. Not to worry son.

It seems you are the one that is not keeping up and have you just conceded your own questions were too difficult to answer ?

[Insert patronizing phrase]

El_Duderino 09

Overflow wrote: »

It seems you are the one that is not keeping up and have you just conceded your own questions were too difficult to answer ?

[Insert patronizing phrase]

I said it's about as good as we can afford so I'm not proposing spending more. Catch up

The_Captain

Irish people are thick, reliant on booze and are generally all massively culturally homogenous