Are we the greatest nation on the planet?

Pronto63

A day before our National holiday this question must be asked.

Ok we're not perfect, we have our issues but seriously can any other nation punch above their weight like us?

1. Sport. Even though we have 4 main field sports on the island (hurling, GAA, soccer & rugby) we still manage to complete at the highest level in rugby - I know disappointing result today - well done Wales.

2. Literature. Joyce, Beckett, Heaney to name just 3. I know English is our de facto mother language but again we can express ourselves at the highest level.

3. Music. Boyzone, Westlife, U2 again naming 3 that just pop into my head and although I'm a U2 fan I think Bono talks some sh1te.

4. U.N. For a small nation we have an enviable record of UN service well served by our small but throughly professional Defence Forces.

5. What other nation, with the possible exception of the USA has the entire planet celebrate their National Holiday.
Examples:
- Saw a piece on morning TV this morning about a Paddy's Day parade in some Japanese city that was in its 3rd year. Complete with loads of little japanese kids dressed in green tryin to do jigs.

- A 1 on 1 with the leader of the free world (God help us!) every year - guaranteed.

- From the Eiffel Tour and Sydney Opera House to Niagra Falls some 290 global landmarks in 50 countries turn green to celebrate OUR national day.

6. The entire population of the planet claim to be Irish on the 17th. And they're allowed on the 17th.

Well?

Are we great or what?

Squatter

How could you omit Traveller Culture and Conor McGregor from that comprehensive list?

XsApollo

Yup

Signore Fancy Pants

Brennans Bread
Real Butter
Proper Milk
Tayto

grindle

You've ruined your point and the thread with number 3, OP. I was almost feeling patriotic and then you mentioned the musical variants of herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Pronto63

Dale Doback wrote: »

Brennans Bread
Real Butter
Proper Milk
Tayto

Lyons tea
Guinness
Black and white pudding
Bacon and cabbage
Hang sandwiches

I forgot our contribution to the world of fine dining

Boyzone, Westlife

Our greatest export.

Tax haven.

votecounts

Nope, but we are a lot better than some nations.
Solve the health and housing crisis and then we maybe there.

BENDYBINN

What about dancin at crossroads?

grindle

Pronto63 wrote: »

Lyons tea

Whoa whoa whoa. Paddy's Day is tomorrow. Hang back on the booze, you're being unreasonable.

Barry's4Lyf

colm_mcm

Deleted User wrote: »

Music. Boyzone, Westlife

Our greatest export.

Not many countries that can export raw sewage in exchange for money.

Pronto63

grindle wrote: »

You've ruined your point and the thread with number 3, OP. I was almost feeling patriotic and then you mentioned the musical variants of herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Not a musical post.

What about:
The Chieftians
Dubliners
Horslips

International
Thin Lizzy
Cranberries
Rory Gallagher

Omackeral

Pronto63 wrote: »

1. Sport. Even though we have 4 main field sports on the island (hurling, GAA, soccer & rugby) we still manage to complete at the highest level in rugby - I know disappointing result today - well done Wales.

About 8 nations play rugby to an elite standard. We've never progressed beyond a quarter final. I'd say that's a massive underachievement, if anything.

Soccer, we've historically relied on England to develop our players. If you wanna look at nations our size pinching above their weight, try Uruguay or Croatia. Domestically, our National League is either derided or ignored.

Non-sporting but it's embarrassing that the vast majority can't hold a sentence in their own national tongue.

We do punch above our weight in other fields but no need for the hyperbole. All in all, if I were to sum us up, we'd be grand like...

grindle

Pronto63 wrote: »

Not a musical post.

What about:
The Chieftians
Dubliners
Horslips

International
Thin Lizzy
Cranberries
Rory Gallagher

Much better, thank you. Now edit the correct tea into your other post.

corner of hells

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not many countries that can export raw sewage in exchange for money.

We're pretty talented at exporting large amounts of **** to Australia too at the moment.
Particularly if you look at the amount of Irish roofers , landscape and tarmac contractors that have made their way there.

Pronto63

grindle wrote: »

Much better, thank you. Now edit the correct tea into your other post.

No but I will add TK Red Lemonade

Mysterypunter

Not by a million miles, half the country emigrated, this is a disgrace. And we are a welfare state, and trying to be progressive, no future for our young, no incentive to work or upskill, Ireland the land of the working poor.

McCrack

votecounts wrote: »

Nope, but we are a lot better than some nations.
Solve the health and housing crisis and then we maybe there.

If you think Ireland has a health and housing "crisis" you need to travel

Squatter

Deleted User wrote: »

Boyzone, Westlife

Our greatest export.

Only if you ignore Jedward and the tosser in the cream jacket in this historic picture:-

housetypeb

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;—
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.

biko

We're the grandest nation on Earth

Kintarō Hattori

On holiday in Poland at the moment with the missus and whippersnapper. We were mulling over the idea of maybe going to live in another country and looking at the pros and cons when it hit me that the quality of our food in Ireland is actually quite outstanding. We probably take it for granted but the quality of meat is superb and it's relatively inexpensive. Every foreigner I know including the extended family rave about our butter and it is miles better than anything you can get here. We have a huge range of eggs to choose from. I went to a fairly large chain of shops here today looking for some and all I could get were poor in comparison.

dxhound2005

Mysterypunter wrote: »

Not by a million miles, half the country emigrated, this is a disgrace. And we are a welfare state, and trying to be progressive, no future for our young, no incentive to work or upskill, Ireland the land of the working poor.

Half the country emigrated but our population increased by one million in the last twenty years. That is some achievement.

Gonad

“I think, by declaring a state of emergency, by admitting that a country that trains nurses can’t keep them, that a country that has, tonight, in bed and breakfast accommodation, children who have to get up around six o’clock tomorrow morning, get a bus for an hour, go to school, walk the streets, come back to the bed and breakfast.

“What on earth did we fight for our freedom for? To live in a kip like this

Eamon Dunphy

Pinch Flat

The basics of a functioning society are missing, the ones that spring to mind are

A functioning health service
Decent public transport
Adequate and affordable private and social housing
functioning childcare system
Public Pensions that avoid poverty in retirement

So no. The basics need to be fixed before I’d put us there as a functioning country

DeanAustin

Gonad wrote: »

“I think, by declaring a state of emergency, by admitting that a country that trains nurses can’t keep them, that a country that has, tonight, in bed and breakfast accommodation, children who have to get up around six o’clock tomorrow morning, get a bus for an hour, go to school, walk the streets, come back to the bed and breakfast.

“What on earth did we fight for our freedom for? To live in a kip like this

Eamon Dunphy

I like Dunphy as much as the next man but that’s a whole load of hyperbolic nonsense.

Kintarō Hattori

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Every foreigner I know including the extended family rave about our butter

You need to meet more interesting people.

odyssey06

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
- Jebediah Springfield

We are certainly the embiggenist nation on the planet.

In an unfortunate twist of geography we were colonised and subjugated by our nearest neighbour without being totally assimilated or subsumed, but then in a bizarre twist of history our neighbour went on to found the greatest empire in history AND a colony which superseded it as as a global superpower in economics and culture and language spread.

But we'd probably have had a higher total sum of happiness if we'd been say, boring Sweden.

janfebmar

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Half the country emigrated but our population increased by one million in the last twenty years. That is some achievement.

Some achievement for global insustainability?
Most banana Republics in Africa do better.

Richard Hillman

This is the only time of the year when Yes is the only acceptable answer

corner of hells

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Half the country emigrated but our population increased by one million in the last twenty years. That is some achievement.

He's a product of our fine educational system , maths being his speciality.

janfebmar

Gonad wrote: »

“I think, by declaring a state of emergency, by admitting that a country that trains nurses can’t keep them, that a country that has, tonight, in bed and breakfast accommodation, children who have to get up around six o’clock tomorrow morning, get a bus for an hour, go to school, walk the streets, come back to the bed and breakfast.

“What on earth did we fight for our freedom for? To live in a kip like this

Eamon Dunphy

After all the handouts from the EEC / EU, all the €200,000,000,000 we borrowed and owe, you think we would be doing better all right.

dxhound2005

janfebmar wrote: »

Some achievement for global insustainability?
Most banana Republics in Africa do better.

In developed countries a falling population is not a good thing. And the doomsday ideas from the 1960's and 1970's about overpopulation are old hat now.

andekwarhola

We've definitely got a realtively large, for want of a less clumsy phrase, a imagination imprint globally, relative to our size which I guess is down to our mass emigration historically. To be fair though, a lot of it is grounded in cliche but a lot of what we have achieved as very small -and colonized -country should be lauded.

To be fair, on the global sports front, elite rugby is a fairly small pool.

While we probably won't ever be a big player in the global (association) football stakes, we could certainly punch far higher above our weight than we currently do with the right setup. We're currently in a transition period where the old model of granny rule and mooching off imports to the English system is proving to be defunct but we're a relatively well-off country with a young population and the highest participation sport by a mile is football. With the right investment and coaching structures (which to be fair, the FAI, schoolboy associations and some clubs are addressing). we could easily be on the football level of succesful - and similar sized - countries like Croatia.

kingchess

Ireland ranks second in the good country index,top spot going to Finland.the good Country index measures how each Country contributes to the Planet and the Human Race through their policies and behaviors.

RasTa

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

On holiday in Poland at the moment with the missus and whippersnapper. We were mulling over the idea of maybe going to live in another country and looking at the pros and cons when it hit me that the quality of our food in Ireland is actually quite outstanding. We probably take it for granted but the quality of meat is superb and it's relatively inexpensive. Every foreigner I know including the extended family rave about our butter and it is miles better than anything you can get here. We have a huge range of eggs to choose from. I went to a fairly large chain of shops here today looking for some and all I could get were poor in comparison.

Our beef is the best in the world but eating out is nowhere near the standard over here in England

Feisar

Pronto63 wrote: »

Lyons tea
Guinness
Black and white pudding
Bacon and cabbage
Hang sandwiches

I forgot our contribution to the world of fine dining

Guinness is English

Feisar

RasTa wrote: »

Our beef is the best in the world but eating out is nowhere near the standard over here in England

You can’t get our best beef in this country

Feisar

Gonad wrote: »

“I think, by declaring a state of emergency, by admitting that a country that trains nurses can’t keep them, that a country that has, tonight, in bed and breakfast accommodation, children who have to get up around six o’clock tomorrow morning, get a bus for an hour, go to school, walk the streets, come back to the bed and breakfast.

“What on earth did we fight for our freedom for? To live in a kip like this

Eamon Dunphy

At least we house our homeless children.

Mysterypunter

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Half the country emigrated but our population increased by one million in the last twenty years. That is some achievement.

Non native Irish have moved in, good luck to them, raising families and putting down roots. Sadly low paid jobs and a generous welfare system has contributed to population increase, not any kind of economic recovery. Anyway tiz Patrick's weekend, have a bottle, it will be grand

Kintarō Hattori

Aegir wrote: »

You need to meet more interesting people.

Do you enjoy food?

screamer

Greatest notions.....absolutely

Feisar

Gonad wrote: »

“I think, by declaring a state of emergency, by admitting that a country that trains nurses can’t keep them, that a country that has, tonight, in bed and breakfast accommodation, children who have to get up around six o’clock tomorrow morning, get a bus for an hour, go to school, walk the streets, come back to the bed and breakfast.

“What on earth did we fight for our freedom for? To live in a kip like this

Eamon Dunphy

At least we house our homeless children.

grindle

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Do you enjoy food?

He may think he does, but he may also be half-Dutch.

Some people place no importance on flavour and any focus they have on food is utilitarian.

"Yum. This keeps me alive."

I lived with a Russian girl recently trying to convince me of buckwheat's benefits and all she could say was "But it's really good for you" :rolleyes:

I mean, it's a good brown rice replacement but if I want tasty food I don't eat buckwheat.

RasTa

Feisar wrote: »

You can’t get our best beef in this country

Yeah I know, I was so outraged I moved.

corner of hells

Feisar wrote: »

Guinness is English

British owned , since bought by Diageo , who also own various breweries and distilleries around the world. Hennessy Moet , Gordon's , Smirnoff etc .. all being English ? With thier English names.

Feisar

corner of hells wrote: »

British owned .

Well Diageo is American isn't it?

Aurther Guinness was one of the landed gentry, basically a tan and would have identified as English. He had a brewery and went over to London and got a stout recipe. THE IRISH DID NOT INVENT STOUT. Guinness would not employ a Catholic in a management position until 1972 when they were forced to by the government.
Despite all this through the power of marketing Guinness is Irish.

JohnnyFlash

Feisar wrote: »

Well Diageo is American isn't it?

Aurther Guinness was one of the landed gentry, basically a tan and would have identified as English. He had a brewery and went over to London and got a stout recipe. THE IRISH DID NOT INVENT STOUT. Guinness would not employ a Catholic in a management position until 1972 when they were forced to by the government.
Despite all this through the power of marketing Guinness is Irish.

It’s lovely stuff though.

corner of hells

Feisar wrote: »

Well Diageo is American isn't it?

Aurther Guinness was one of the landed gentry, basically a tan and would have identified as English. He had a brewery and went over to London and got a stout recipe. THE IRISH DID NOT INVENT STOUT. Guinness would not employ a Catholic in a management position until 1972 when they were forced to by the government.
Despite all this through the power of marketing Guinness is Irish.

Why do you need to post some of paragraph in capitals , it's almost like you're trying to emphasise something .

corner of hells

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

It’s lovely stuff though.

Tis , I'm enjoying some now.