Is Irish culture too Anglophone?

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 4:51pm #1

Imagine how different we would be if we were an island to the right of the Brits and left of the Dutch.

For the last 300 years we have very much been blocked out from the European experience by the Brits who do everything in their power to distance themselves from the mainland! That in turn has had an impact on the Irish, we don't see ourselves as an Island off Europe, we are an Island off another slightly bigger island.

Fr_Dougal · 02-10-2015 4:54pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Imagine how different we would be if we were an island to the right of the Brits and left of the Dutch.

For the last 300 years we have very much been blocked out from the European experience by the Brits who do everything in their power to distance themselves from the mainland! That in turn has had an impact on the Irish, we don't see ourselves as an Island off Europe, we are an Island off another slightly bigger island.

We are the most globalised country in the world, I don't agree with your opinion.

Pink Lemons · 02-10-2015 4:54pm

What's this European experience you speak of? Britain also has a train that goes to mainland Europe so not what you'd call distancing themselves really..

jamesbere · 02-10-2015 4:56pm

Oh look another English bashing thread, can't we have a Turkmenistan bashing thread

El Weirdo · 02-10-2015 4:57pm

Anglophone?

I don't think that means what you think it means.

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 4:58pm

El Weirdo wrote: »

Anglophone?

I don't think that means what you think it means.

I meant Anglocentric

jungleman · 02-10-2015 4:59pm

It's much too Saxomophone for my liking.

Brian from Bray · 02-10-2015 5:00pm

We speak English and have phones in Ireland so I guess you could say we are anglophone alright.

barneystinson · 02-10-2015 5:01pm

garrixfan wrote: »

I meant Anglocentric

Your thread is too yawnophone, and you come across as fairly knobocentric...

Tarzana2 · 02-10-2015 5:02pm

El Weirdo wrote: »

Anglophone?

I don't think that means what you think it means.

The OP probably means anglophile?

El Weirdo · 02-10-2015 5:02pm

garrixfan wrote: »

I meant Anglocentric

Oh, okay.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 02-10-2015 5:03pm

Is there anything da brits don't get blamed for. We share parts of our culture and history and have more in common with them than mainland Europe. I don't see why it's a problem.

El Weirdo · 02-10-2015 5:03pm

El Weirdo wrote: »

Oh, okay.

Sorry, I meant bollocks.

Jesus, it's happening to me now.

starling · 02-10-2015 5:07pm

We're next door neighbours with Britain, of course there are going to be influences. Personally I'd be more inclined to feel irritation at Irish people going around saying stupid American things like "legit" and "looksmaxing" and stuff like that. But it's a silly thing to be annoyed about, tbh. We all use American slang now and then. It's just..there's a line, you know?

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 5:08pm

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Is there anything da brits don't get blamed for. We share parts of our culture and history and have more in common with them than mainland Europe. I don't see why it's a problem.

I have no problem with the brits no more than I have with Norwegians(Vikings) I still don't like how much English dominates our lives. It would be a far better country if we spoke Irish! Paradoxically we would be a more open people as a result imo.

KungPao · 02-10-2015 5:09pm

Too American, if anything.

Buona Fortuna · 02-10-2015 5:10pm

Imagine if we were in the Pacific and we could eat coconuts for tae.

mattP · 02-10-2015 5:11pm

Erra, Id say not

Korat · 02-10-2015 5:21pm

Ireland has all the benefits of a colonial power like Britain, and the US, but can pick and choose which bits it wants to be associated with.

There are worse places to ride the coattails of.

LDN_Irish · 02-10-2015 5:33pm

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

We are the most globalised country in the world, I don't agree with your opinion.

I've never heard this said before. How is that quantified? I'm not sure I fully get what it means.

John Doe1 · 02-10-2015 5:36pm

If it wasn't for colonialism, the country could still be some feudal backwater with people living in huts.

MarkAnthony · 02-10-2015 5:37pm

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

We are the most globalised country in the world, I don't agree with your opinion.

We speak one language in the main, are about as liberal as Iran and eat potatoes with everything. Not to mention we're almost exactly the same as the UK in terms of working practices and attitudes.

MarkAnthony · 02-10-2015 5:37pm

John Doe1 wrote: »

If it wasn't for colonialism, the country could still be some feudal backwater with people living in huts.

Have you been to Leitrim?

keith16 · 02-10-2015 5:39pm

MarkAnthony wrote: »

We speak one language in the main, are about as liberal as Iran and eat potatoes with everything. Not to mention we're almost exactly the same as the UK in terms of working practices and attitudes.

I HATE MYSELF

Mister Vain · 02-10-2015 5:43pm

KungPao wrote: »

Too American, if anything.

Yes all the kids going around with their phony American accents.

keith16 · 02-10-2015 5:52pm

Mister Vain wrote: »

Yes all the kids going around with their phony American accents.

Anglophony.

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 6:00pm

Mister Vain wrote: »

Yes all the kids going around with their phony American accents.

Look at people like David Norris with their phony English accents

LDN_Irish · 02-10-2015 6:01pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Look at people like David Norris with their phony English accents

HAH DAH YOU??

Eugene Norman · 02-10-2015 6:06pm

Mister Vain wrote: »

Yes all the kids going around with their phony American accents.

It's not that. Threads here are incredibly biased towards happenings in America or the kind of places America gives a **** about (Israel). We're fighting a proxy war between Anerican ideologies, the inane caterwauling of SJW vs Neocons.

It's inevitable that we wouldn't have much of an identity, as we were colonised by a country which is now itself culturally colonised by American culture and ideology.

Eugene Norman · 02-10-2015 6:07pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Look at people like David Norris with their phony English accents

That's old school Anglo Irish, a legitimate older culture in this country. He doesn't sound English to English ears.

02-10-2015 6:11pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Look at people like David Norris with their phony English accents

David Norris does not sound English.

Magico Gonzalez · 02-10-2015 6:14pm

Something not quite gone the way you wanted?

Blame the English. Sorted.

wakka12 · 02-10-2015 6:15pm

And what is wrong with anglophone culture may I ask. Would it be better if we had more dutch or french influence in our culture for some reason?

02-10-2015 6:15pm

garrixfan wrote: »

I have no problem with the brits no more than I have with Norwegians(Vikings) I still don't like how much English dominates our lives. It would be a far better country if we spoke Irish! Paradoxically we would be a more open people as a result imo.

It would be a far more isolated little nation if you spoke a language that is unique and restricted to Ireland. Speaking English as a first language is a big advantage on the international stage, as is speaking other common lingua franca, like Chinese.

bodice ripper · 02-10-2015 6:24pm

The insecure hysteria in the thread is hilarious.

There is nowhere like Ireland. If you think otherwise, you must not have spent much time anywhere else. It is definitely a distinct entity.

KungPao · 02-10-2015 6:33pm

bodice ripper wrote: »

There is nowhere like Ireland. If you think otherwise, you must not have spent much time anywhere else. It is definitely a distinct entity.

Absolutely. Actually I think it's amazing we are quite different to the English considering we were colonised by them, watch their telly channels, read their papers, speak their language etc.

However the US influence is quite strong in the middle class youngsters and hipsters. And as Eugene Norman said, many people here casually refer to US matters like anyone in Ireland should give a ****e.

LDN_Irish · 02-10-2015 6:35pm

Eugene Norman wrote: »

That's old school Anglo Irish, a legitimate older culture in this country. He doesn't sound English to English ears.

I dunno man, I was born in England and lived there until I was 10. A couple of years after living here I saw David Norris talking on the TV and said to my mother "oh, I didn't know they had English politicians over here."

wakka12 · 02-10-2015 6:36pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Look at people like David Norris with their phony English accents

A lot of old irish people sound english though, well more posh than english. You'll notice a lot of old american people have a similar kind of accent, posh and sounds a bit english.

LDN_Irish · 02-10-2015 6:37pm

Eugene Norman wrote: »

It's not that. Threads here are incredibly biased towards happenings in America or the kind of places America gives a **** about (Israel). We're fighting a proxy war between Anerican ideologies, the inane caterwauling of SJW vs Neocons.

It's inevitable that we wouldn't have much of an identity, as we were colonised by a country which is now itself culturally colonised by American culture and ideology.

You're bang on here though, tragic how we're emulating the worst example of how to run a developed country. Some of the stuff I read from Irish people on here is completely alien to me, it only exists on Irish internet, not the actual country.

LDN_Irish · 02-10-2015 6:40pm

wakka12 wrote: »

A lot of old irish people sound english though, well more posh than english. You'll notice a lot of old american people have a similar kind of accent, posh and sounds a bit english.

Can't say I've noticed that. Do they speak rhotically? Ie without pronouncing the letter "r" at the end of words. So butter is "buttah". David Norris does and it's very English.

johnny osbourne · 02-10-2015 6:41pm

pardon?

Tarzana2 · 02-10-2015 6:46pm

KungPao wrote: »

Too American, if anything.

Why does American influence bother people so much? I don't get it. It's not the cultural black hole people think it is, and we consume American film and television as much if not more than UK stuff.

Tarzana2 · 02-10-2015 6:49pm

MarkAnthony wrote: »

are about as liberal as Iran

Wut? Please don't be silly. Even at our most catholic-oppressed worst 50 years, we were more liberal than Iran.

Tarzana2 · 02-10-2015 6:57pm

bodice ripper wrote: »

The insecure hysteria in the thread is hilarious.

There is nowhere like Ireland. If you think otherwise, you must not have spent much time anywhere else. It is definitely a distinct entity.

Hysteria?

corazon · 02-10-2015 7:01pm

We live in the Anglosphere and that is a very good thing.

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 7:10pm

corazon wrote: »

We live in the Anglosphere and that is a very good thing.

I would prefer if we mimicked our Northern European Islander brothers in Iceland if I'm honest.

Barely There · 02-10-2015 7:18pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Imagine how different we would be if we were an island to the right of the Brits and left of the Dutch.

For the last 300 years we have very much been blocked out from the European experience by the Brits who do everything in their power to distance themselves from the mainland! That in turn has had an impact on the Irish, we don't see ourselves as an Island off Europe, we are an Island off another slightly bigger island.

Bloody Brits!
Blocking us off from being more European with thier landmass.

Bastards.

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 7:24pm

Barely There wrote: »

Bloody Brits!
Blocking us off from being more European with thier landmass.

Bastards.

I was watching a very interesting documentary and it mentioned how before the Roman Empire, Ireland was actually not an isolated country, it is only when you look at Europe from a Romancentric viewpoint that Ireland is isolated. But yes at one time Ireland(or the coast at least) was a very important location in a European context.

I have noticed that it is really only in 'little manchester'(dublin) where there is an aversion to all things foreign i.e non English. In other parts of Ireland I have heard of many people proud of their Irish and indeed European identity.

Vomit · 02-10-2015 7:33pm

garrixfan wrote: »

Imagine how different we would be if we were an island to the right of the Brits and left of the Dutch.

For the last 300 years we have very much been blocked out from the European experience by the Brits who do everything in their power to distance themselves from the mainland! That in turn has had an impact on the Irish, we don't see ourselves as an Island off Europe, we are an Island off another slightly bigger island.

If you want to know what that would have been like, just look to Scotland- tonnes of Dutch loanwords.

outsidein98 · 02-10-2015 7:40pm

The usual Irish navel gazing. Let's face it, if the French had colonised us. We would all be sitting around in cafes, speaking French, drinking vin with a Gauloises cigarette dangling from the corner of our mouths, eating snails and bemoaning the fact that we are too Francophone. If the Spanish had colonised us we would we would love Paella and bullfighting. If the Russians colonised us..... well we'd all be dead. Ask your Polish, Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian friends.

We Irish had to be colonised. We're too small and too strategically placed not to be. Actually the French got here first. The Normans were French and remember they invaded and suppressed English, Anglo Saxon culture, they were French invited by an Irish king because of course like the GAA we were a series of squabbling kingdoms, not a country. The Irish identity barely exists. We are still about county, town, village, parish. Ballybackofbeyond first, Irish second.

In some way we're lucky the English won the battle to colonise us. We have the English language which is now paying dividends. But also bad as they were they're not as bad as the Germans or the Russians. We inherited their basically liberal mentality even if we did try to enslave ourselves to the Catholic church after independence, actually semi independence.

We have a robust democracy too. Another legacy of British culture. Magna Carta and all that.

But still I regret we weren't colonised by the French. I mean, wine and lovely food plus a certain joie de vivre! Vive la France!

garrixfan · 02-10-2015 7:41pm

Vomit wrote: »

If you want to know what that would have been like, just look to Scotland- tonnes of Dutch loanwords.

Interesting,
I'm always confused as to why Scotland doesn't appear to have more relations with the likes of Scandanavia. Perhaps they do and I just don't know about it, given their relative proximity I would have thought there would be a lot of interaction.

Is Irish culture too Anglophone?

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