I thought we were friends

Ballstein

I seem to recall around Easter time last year being told that relations between ourselves and Britain were the best they'd ever been. They looked on us as "equals" now and not as some wet and boggy back water. They sent their monarch over to visit us and we even had the grandson of the General who ordered the execution of the leaders of our independence rising sitting in the grandstand at the parade to honour these men. The sycophants in the Irish Times and a few others were even floating the idea of our republic joining the commonwealth.
Fast forward 18 months and the rhetoric has changed slightly. The British press are stirring up anti Irish sentiment once again, the average Englishman is displaying his complete ignorance of our country, its politics and our shared history. British politicians are once again talking down to their Irish counterparts and I'm reminded of that old saying of an Englishman with an inferiority complex just thinking he's the same as everyone else.
So folks, is this all just posturing on behalf of the UK establishment for the benefit of the pesky Europeans or is it a return to the same old same old of the past 700 years (bar the two weeks we were friends last Easter)?

storker

Since that time the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

tigger123

I honestly think some of the British are panicking a little as Brexit gets closer and they realise they have no f*cking clue what it means, or how it will go.

Plus, little Ireland has them by the balls (with our veto), so they're probably a little resentful.

donegaLroad

the words of a few politicians won't change my attitude towards any of my English friends.

storker

tigger123 wrote: »

I honestly think some of the British are panicking a little as Brexit gets closer and they realise they have no f*cking clue what it means, or how it will go.

Plus, little Ireland has them by the balls (with our veto), so they're probably a little resentful.

I agree with Leo (and it's not often you'll hear me say this) that they failed to think it through. Not just as in thinking it through completely, more like thinking it through at all.

King George VI

Grand bunch of lads, the English. A few politicians are acting like saps. No need to tar all the English with the same brush.

WoollyRedHat

They hate us because of our freedom. Oh and the fact we make better tea and have a theme park dedicated to a bag of crisps.

King George VI wrote: »

Grand bunch of lads, the English. A few politicians are acting like saps. No need to tar all the English with the same brush.

Oh my, your majesty! * Bows down*

suicide_circus

We stick by our friends through difficult times. But we also tell them difficult truths.

SCOOP 64

Don't think its changed at all - the natural fondness of the Irish towards the British still remain the same and vice versa!

eeguy

This months headlines about brexit are identical to those 18 months ago when it passed.

There's been no progress, no resolutions and every promise given by the pro-leave side has been shown to be a lie. Britain is going to be hundreds of billions in the hole when this is over.

If British politicians want to look down on us to make themselves feel better than go right ahead. They've little else to be happy about.

OldMrBrennan83

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Pat Mustard

In the UK, the voters know best. They kick the politicians in the arse and the politicians scramble to do their bidding. Boris Johnson is trying to carry out the will of the British people, knowing that a kick in the arse awaits him if he does not deliver.

The people who write for The Sun are angry because Simon and Leo do not want to give Boris and Teresa what The Sun wants:

THE SUN SAYS Ireland’s naive young prime minister should shut his gob on Brexit and grow up

So we have a stalemate with both sides agreeing that they had very constructive meetings, with nothing very constructive having been done.

Welcome to Borisland.

Potatoeman

I'm not your friend, buddy.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

The British press and the British people are different. Brexit has re-exposed a very very colonial attitude to Ireland in some quarters though. That auld c*nt in the red hat from the Channel 4 video was like a character from a Republican propaganda video.

I don't have any problem with England or the English, I have English family and friends. But one thing that does annoy me is some English people's bewilderment about why an Irish person might feel a bit of antipathy towards their country.

testicles

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DEFTLEFTHAND

donegaLroad wrote: »

the words of a few politicians won't change my attitude towards any of my English friends.

Having made numerous visits to Britain, I've always preferred the English over the Scots and Welsh.

buckwheat

Potatoeman wrote: »

I'm not your friend, buddy.

I'm not your buddy, pal :cool:

storker

Gracelynn Full Sludge wrote: »

But one thing that does annoy me is some English people's bewilderment about why an Irish person might feel a bit of antipathy towards their country.

They're not taught about it in school. Actually I'm not sure what they're taught in school. When I worked in the UK I had a better knowledge of UK geography and history than most of my colleagues.

Ballstein

King George VI wrote: »

Grand bunch of lads, the English. A few politicians are acting like saps. No need to tar all the English with the same brush.

But this is the problem. People dismiss the old goat with the red hat on C4 as non indicative of an English person, they do the same with DM and Sun readers, yet it was this very reason that Brexit passed. These views are the views of a very large proportion of the English people, the majority in fact. The drum beat at the moment is harking back to past colonial glories with talk of trade agreements across the globe, despite cutting ties with their closest 27 trading partners. The world knows Britain is no longer a major global power, sadly a lot of British people haven't grasped this fact just yet.

Church on Tuesday

Ballstein wrote: »

I seem to recall around Easter time last year being told that relations between ourselves and Britain were the best they'd ever been. They looked on us as "equals" now and not as some wet and boggy back water. They sent their monarch over to visit us and we even had the grandson of the General who ordered the execution of the leaders of our independence rising sitting in the grandstand at the parade to honour these men. The sycophants in the Irish Times and a few others were even floating the idea of our republic joining the commonwealth.
Fast forward 18 months and the rhetoric has changed slightly. The British press are stirring up anti Irish sentiment once again, the average Englishman is displaying his complete ignorance of our country, its politics and our shared history. British politicians are once again talking down to their Irish counterparts and I'm reminded of that old saying of an Englishman with an inferiority complex just thinking he's the same as everyone else.
So folks, is this all just posturing on behalf of the UK establishment for the benefit of the pesky Europeans or is it a return to the same old same old of the past 700 years (bar the two weeks we were friends last Easter)?

Whatever about Brexit, your post is, to put it mildly, a bit OTT.

English people do not look upon Ireland as a "wet and boggy backwater" quite the opposite in fact. They rightly view it as a beautiful country.

I can only speak for the people in the Noth West, but they were some of the most decent, kindest people I've ever met. As long as you were decent and did your shift of work well, you were fine.

English peoples knowledge of Ireland is slim to none. It's simply not a part of their curriculum, they have come up through an entirely different, arguably better, education system to ours.

Also, roughly half of the population didn't and don't want to leave the EU, so your post is quite general and misleading.

indioblack

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It's illogical to dislike all of them.
I have an English friend who tells me he hates the Irish. I use the same logic - he can't reasonably hate all of them. Some may be worthy of being disliked, and the same would apply to some English people. But the Irish aren't the Borg Collective, [I hope!], and neither are the English.
In both there will be surprisingly pleasant, [and unpleasant], variations.

OldMrBrennan83

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Ballstein

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Whatever about Brexit, your post is, to put it mildly, a bit OTT.

English people do not look upon Ireland as a "wet and boggy backwater" quite the opposite in fact. They rightly view it as a beautiful country.

I can only speak for the people in the Noth West, but they were some of the most decent, kindest people I've ever met. As long as you were decent and did your shift of work well, you were fine.

English peoples knowledge of Ireland is slim to none. It's simply not a part of their curriculum, they have come up through an entirely different, arguably better, education system to ours.

Also, roughly half of the population didn't and don't want to leave the EU, so your post is quite general and misleading.

An education system that ignores your country's involvement with your nearest neighbour for over 700 years is superior? Your trolling surely?

Church on Tuesday

Ballstein wrote: »

An education system that ignores your country's involvement with your nearest neighbour for over 700 years is superior? Your trolling surely?

Their history with us is small fry to them.

indioblack

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It took no time at all.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

storker wrote: »

They're not taught about it in school. Actually I'm not sure what they're taught in school. When I worked in the UK I had a better knowledge of UK geography and history than most of my colleagues.

Oh God I know yeah, it just gets annoying when they have an attitude like "for God knows what reason, they seem to enjoy it when we lose at football I'm sure I couldn't begin to fathom why". Just...stop not knowing things!!

I've seen some more educated and tuned in English people badly misjudge how sensible it is for them to start joking about black and tans and famine ships and things too, not something that bothers me amongst friends but best to keep those jokes for places that aren't the pub in Clare.

fergiesfolly

The English have a long and enduring superiority complex.
They're better than everyone and can boss everyone around. Except that's no longer the case and they can't cope with the new reality.
Look how their media speak of the French, Germans, Russians and Americans. Contempt, because they know these country's are stronger than them and it infuriates them. "Little" country's like Ireland who pose no threat are looked son with a mixture of benevolence, pity or mild amusement. Same would go for the Dutch, Belgians and Portuguese etc. Anyone basically they doesn't pose a threat or can't stand up to them.
But now we can and have stood to them and their noses are out of joint.
Their gutter press and low brow media have come out sparring for a fight.
Good luck to them. They've skewered themselves and I'm looking forward to when the realisation hits them.

riffmongous

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Their history with us is small fry to them.

So people keep saying, and while we are certainly not the biggest part, we are one of the most vital, in that without a history of Ireland you can't explain the UK

Ballstein

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Their history with us is small fry to them.

I agree and it’s not just history. That’s why they’re now amazed that we are actually disagreeing with them and a half Indian-half Paddy has the temerity to tell them they made a ****e of things.
It’s also coincidental that this much vaunted education system seems to consistently ignore parts of their past in which they were responsible for less than glorious actions. The famine, Sykes/Pichot, Indian partition, inventing concentration camps in Africa etc etc. these things all get glossed over it completely left out of history yet two men stumbling into each other by accident in a jungle is lauded.

Church on Tuesday

Ballstein wrote: »

I agree and it’s not just history. That’s why they’re now amazed that we are actually disagreeing with them and a half Indian-half Paddy has the temerity to tell them they made a ****e of things.
It’s also coincidental that this much vaunted education system seems to consistently ignore parts of their past in which they were responsible for less than glorious actions. The famine, Sykes/Pichot, Indian partition, inventing concentration camps in Africa etc etc. these things all get glossed over it completely left out of history yet two men stumbling into each other by accident in a jungle is lauded.

Yes, I take your point. There is a certain jingoism regarding the teaching of English history in England.

However, there's a lot of English people that would be in agreement with Varadkar, as like I said, half the population voted to remain.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Their history with us is small fry to them.

Wasn't there a Twitter furore over some programme about the Queen during the famine and the public had no idea, absolutely no clue whatsoever, about the decisions made during the famine to leave the Irish starve?

Then again, with the Internet, it really isn't difficult to find out details about practically anything but still the Kardashians trump just about anything else:rolleyes: