Unpopular Opinions - OP Updated with Threadban List 4/5/21

ShagNastii

cnocbui wrote: »

I want to emigrate because this country is a hole.

That should qualify as unpopular, i'd imagine.

Most people that share this thought are the same negative people that don’t have it in them to emigrate. Barstoolers.

Hamachi

ShagNastii wrote: »

Most people that share this thought are the same negative people that don’t have it in them to emigrate. Barstoolers.

Agreed. When you meet Irish people abroad, most have positive, ‘can do’ attitudes and get stuck in learning the local language etc..

The ‘Ireland is ****e’ brigade don’t have the drive to make it in unfamiliar environments.

Eric Cartman

Hamachi wrote: »

Agreed. When you meet Irish people abroad, most have positive, ‘can do’ attitudes and get stuck in learning the local language etc..

The ‘Ireland is ****e’ brigade don’t have the drive to make it in unfamiliar environments.

The ‘irelands crap’ brigade I usually find only dislike Ireland because they expect everything to just come to them, theyre on the dole or stacking shelves and romantacise in their head that if they somehow made it to aus/canada that theyd be on 100k a year, own a house and have a partner and friends galore. When in reality theyd be just existing no matter what country they were in.

Hamachi

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Here's an unpopular opinion ,

In the future we will see less and less gay men
The current trend seems to be that young feminine males who in the past would grow up to be gay men are now being told by certain sections of society that they where simple born in the wrong body and should be Trans ,

Disclaimer iv no issues with either but it'll happen ,

Controversial.

However, a lot of gay men aren’t particularly effeminate, the majority I would imagine.

I don’t see them signing up en masse for gender reassignment.

cnocbui

ShagNastii wrote: »

Most people that share this thought are the same negative people that don’t have it in them to emigrate. Barstoolers.

This is the third country I have lived in. I have one property on the market currently and will put the other up if that one looks like moving.

So, having done this before, I know what's involved, have done it before, and are more serious and capable of achieving my aim than you can possibly imagine.

I almost don't mind the incredible innefficiencies and hurdles that characterise the near dysfunctional Irish legal system and property market, because my chosen destination has pulled up the drawbridge, likely for some time, so I'll have to wait until it's lowered again anyway.

cnocbui

Eric Cartman wrote: »

The ‘irelands crap’ brigade I usually find only dislike Ireland because they expect everything to just come to them, theyre on the dole or stacking shelves and romantacise in their head that if they somehow made it to aus/canada that theyd be on 100k a year, own a house and have a partner and friends galore. When in reality theyd be just existing no matter what country they were in.

Lol.

Hamachi

cnocbui wrote: »

I almost don't mind the incredible innefficiencies and hurdles that characterise the near dysfunctional Irish legal system and property market, because my chosen destination has pulled up the drawbridge, likely for some time, so I'll have to wait until it's lowered again anyway.

I’m sure we’ll see significant movement post Covid, with some deciding to take the plunge and move abroad. I have a family connection to the real estate business. There is also significant interest from Irish emigrants in moving back in the coming year.

It’s all swings and roundabouts. Good luck to you!

Eric Cartman

cnocbui wrote: »

This is the third country I have lived in. I have one property on the market currently and will put the other up if that one looks like moving.

So, having done this before, I know what's involved, have done it before, and are more serious and capable of achieving my aim than you can possibly imagine.

I almost don't mind the incredible innefficiencies and hurdles that characterise the near dysfunctional Irish legal system and property market, because my chosen destination has pulled up the drawbridge, likely for some time, so I'll have to wait until it's lowered again anyway.

I never wanted to ever leave Ireland but if taxes get raised even 1% more on income / USC etc.. ill be off to wherever will have me with the lowest tax burden, its become insane at this point

McGinniesta

I can't figure out who shot JFK.

I know that we are told to think that it was Lee Harvey Oswald. Was it though? Really?

.anon.

McGinniesta wrote: »

I can't figure out who shot JFK.

I know that we are told to think that it was Lee Harvey Oswald. Was it though? Really?

He wasn't shot. His head just did that.

cnocbui

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I never wanted to ever leave Ireland but if taxes get raised even 1% more on income / USC etc.. ill be off to wherever will have me with the lowest tax burden, its become insane at this point

This is a tiny country and it's quite astonishing how much it punches above it's weight and is a world leader in so many things:

Worlds highest inheritance tax

Worlds highest capital gains tax

Worlds highest DIRT tax - easy to be highest when there is no competition.

One of the Worlds highest consumption taxes (VAT).

EU's highest alcohol prices.

Highest vehicle registration tax in the EU, after Denmark

Last year, Finland cut VRT by some 6 per cent. In a show of good faith, vehicle importers also reduced their list prices by around the same margin. New car prices fell by up to 10 per cent and, as a result, 26 per cent more new cars were sold.

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/milking-the-motorist-1.1132471

Amongst the highest car insurance costs - 4 times higher than the EU average.

The second highest consumer prices in the EU.

The second highest paid public servants in the EU

One of my biggest gripes about this country is the health system. Ireland has the second highest expenditure on healthcare in the OECD and the worst outcomes. Think about that for a minute.

The Irish government is in collusion with the pharmaceutical industry to restrict access to cheaper products, particularly generics. They even ban outright, access to natural remedies that are legal world-wide.

The current nonsense with councils spending enormous sums on social housing and competing with people in the retail property market is unconscionable.

Allowing foreign REITs - mostly US based - to pay no corporation tax and no CGT, while individuals pay so much, is unacceptable to me.

Same goes for the Irish government fighting the EU, tooth and nail, not to keep the €13 billion Apple was ordered to pay, I mean, WTF?

Now we learn that the Judiciary is inherently corrupt.

A Supreme Court judge has told the Government minister tasked with insurance reform not to interfere with her review of personal injury payouts.

In an extraordinary letter, Justice Mary Irvine insisted she would not be influenced by the cost of compensation on businesses or community and volunteer groups.

And then you find out why:

In letter to Justice Minister Helen McEntee yesterday ISME chief executive Neil McDonnell said a considerable number of judges had relatives actively involved in personal injuries litigation and that it would be inappropriate that they should be involved in consideration of the recommendations. He called for the Attorney General to communicate this to the Chief Justice.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/personal-injury-awards-expected-to-be-cut-despite-opposition-from-some-judges-40104160.html

And the latest nail in the coffin is the notable achievement of the EU's longest period of lockdown. I don't think those involved have the mental ability to ever lift the lockdown they are such a bunch of gutless, simple idiots.

Did I mention the weather?

Eric Cartman

Unpopular opinion : the irish times increasingly writes insane virtue signalling articles which dangerously detach its middle class readers from reality and further hurt those who have to deal with problem elements

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/travellers-should-be-prioritised-for-covid-19-vaccination-1.4489764?mode=amp

Travellers are ‘heroic’ for how theyve dealt with the virus

Omackeral

Irish people aren’t the great international craic they think they are. Father Ted quotes from 20 odd years ago and playing the jester doesn’t make you funnier than some Spanish lad just because you don’t understand his culture. Or maybe Swedish/French/Italian people are telling great gags in a language you can’t understand but you just write them off as foreigners.

whisky_galore

Our endearing easygoing "shur twill be grand" attitude has not served us at all well recently.

whisky_galore

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Unpopular opinion : the irish times increasingly writes insane virtue signalling articles which dangerously detach its middle class readers from reality and further hurt those who have to deal with problem elements

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/travellers-should-be-prioritised-for-covid-19-vaccination-1.4489764?mode=amp

Travellers are ‘heroic’ for how theyve dealt with the virus

It's kind of funny when they bemoan kids being taken out of school.

An article written by and for bubble-dwelling, guilt ridden middle class, middle Ireland.

And this, telling statistic..

...fact there are twice as many Traveller children under 12 than there are in the settled community

Hamachi

Omackeral wrote: »

Irish people aren’t the great international craic they think they are. Father Ted quotes from 20 odd years ago and playing the jester doesn’t make you funnier than some Spanish lad just because you don’t understand his culture. Or maybe Swedish/French/Italian people are telling great gags in a language you can’t understand but you just write them off as foreigners.

I’d agree with this. Another story that Irish people tend to self-mythologize is that they are uniquely open and friendly. I’m not sure this is the case at all. In fact, most people are fairly amiable on the surface, but are pretty closed off at their core.

I’ve seen this first hand with a foreign work colleague. I normally don’t make any effort with the internationals in work who are usually passing through for a few years. However, this particular guy is here for the long haul and is genuinely one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He’s tried everything to make Irish friends; playing football, meetup, toastmasters, hiking, even gave learning Irish a shot in Conradh na Gaeilge.

All this effort appears to have amounted to very little. The only Irish friends he has remains a few of us colleagues in the office. I wouldn’t know any of this only for the fact that we had him over for a few beers at Christmas and he was pretty down about the whole scenario. It certainly removed the scales from my eyes about this narrative that Irish people tell themselves.

Greyfox

Besides english, learning a new language is a waste of time, it takes far too long

statto25

cnocbui wrote: »

This is a tiny country and it's quite astonishing how much it punches above it's weight and is a world leader in so many things....:

Right, now I'm depressed

Brussels Sprout

randd1 wrote: »

And that's not even taking into account the 'hoof it' style soccer that's coached here. It's turgid at times.

Seriously? Maybe 30 years ago but that's certainly not how youth and domestic teams are coached now. The Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers teams that have dominated recently have played some lovely football.

Hamachi

Hamachi wrote: »

Agreed. When you meet Irish people abroad, most have positive, ‘can do’ attitudes and get stuck in learning the local language etc..

The ‘Ireland is ****e’ brigade don’t have the drive to make it in unfamiliar environments.

Really? Because the stereotype of the ones going to Australia is GAA jerseys. And the majority of people I know who moved to Europe (who love Ireland) barely learned "please" and "thank you" in their host countries' languages and these were professionals who also loved Ireland.

Eric Cartman wrote: »

The ‘irelands crap’ brigade I usually find only dislike Ireland because they expect everything to just come to them, theyre on the dole or stacking shelves and romantacise in their head that if they somehow made it to aus/canada that theyd be on 100k a year, own a house and have a partner and friends galore. When in reality theyd be just existing no matter what country they were in.

No harm but I'm not sure if anyone gives out about Ireland more than yourself.

Hamachi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Really? Because the stereotype of the ones going to Australia is GAA jerseys. And the majority of people I know who moved to Europe (who love Ireland) barely learned "please" and "thank you" in their host countries' languages and these were professionals who also loved Ireland.

That probably holds true for the young backpackers in Bondi. I can assure you it’s not true for professionals on the continent.

I lived in continental Europe for a decade and met Irish people in all sorts of unexpected positions. I never met one long term resident, who wasn’t fully fluent in the local language and a huge asset to the local economy.

Hamachi

Hamachi wrote: »

I lived in continental Europe for a decade and met Irish people in all sorts of unexpected positions. I never met one long term resident, who wasn’t fully fluent in the local language and a huge asset to the local economy.

Fair enough, I've had the exact opposite dealings. Almost like the truth is somewhere in between.

Hamachi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Fair enough, I've had the exact opposite dealings. Almost like the truth is somewhere in between.

Possibly. Looks like we moved in pretty different circles.

I’m interested in hearing your experiences, but I guess this thread isn’t the place for that.

Hamachi

Hamachi wrote: »

Possibly. Looks like we moved in pretty different circles.

I’m interested in hearing your experiences, but I guess this thread isn’t the place for that.

Mayhaps. Most of the lads I know who went to Europe to work were in high-tech engineering, during their time off, never picked up any of the language because they didn't have to in work. More than once on a visit I'd be embarrassed by them walking up to a shop assistant and just straight up ask them something in English.

Then there's the ones outside my circle, mostly lads who barely did the LC and very much part of the "Ireland is ****e" brigade, settled in other English-speaking countries.

Hamachi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mayhaps. Most of the lads I know who went to Europe to work were in high-tech engineering, during their time off, never picked up any of the language because they didn't have to in work. More than once on a visit I'd be embarrassed by them walking up to a shop assistant and just straight up ask them something in English.

Fair enough. I’ve met Irish and British people like you describe myself.

I work in tech as an engineer myself. The types of guys you describe typically move over in fairly large groups. My experience is that most of them typically stay a year or two at most and then move on. The few who stay find a local girlfriend / partner and usually are fairly proficient in the language a couple of years later.

The kind of Irish people I mixed with were there for the long haul. They were either there because they had married locally or they were capitalizing on career opportunities. I can honestly say I never met an Irish person like this who wasn’t very proficient in the local language and making a big contribution to the local community and economy. I met Irish people in all sorts of unexpected positions e.g. an ICU nurse from Tipperary, CEO of a tech company from Derry, and a maths lecturer from Dublin.

Thelonious Monk

Hamachi wrote: »

That probably holds true for the young backpackers in Bondi. I can assure you it’s not true for professionals on the continent.

I lived in continental Europe for a decade and met Irish people in all sorts of unexpected positions. I never met one long term resident, who wasn’t fully fluent in the local language and a huge asset to the local economy.

Check out the Spanish Costas, loads of full time Irish residents that don't speak a word of Spanish.

Nokia6230i

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Check out the Spanish Costas, loads of full time Irish residents that don't speak a word of Spanish.

Fair point.

Worked abroad myself in late 90s; first places we went to were.....Irish Bars of course....cliched or what like!?

One of the barmen in 1 of the 3 (Irish) Pubs in the city directed us towards where he'd worked when he came out initially so we headed there, name-dropped him & that was our in.

We all spoke the language; I'd done it for about 7 years at that stage so considered myself relatively fluent; that came crashing down when the Croats, Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Pakistanis & Turks we worked with totally schooled us; their advantage was they'd worked with the language, we'd only been educated through it; took us a while to get up to speed but the flip side is those who could speak English on site wanted to practice on us; we did of course but I preferred when my non-English speaking colleagues & I could converse in the language of the country we were in.

Every Supermarche we went into I was as eager to practice the language as I would've been as a teenager on a school tour!

But definitely wanting to learn the language, being prepared to speak it at work & going about your daily business when out grocery shopping or in a bar is so important.

The Costa Del English Speaking only is something I can't get my head around; surely part of getting away, temporarily or not, is to be able relax & not have to give a s**t that you could be eaves-dropped on.

Otherwise just stay da fuq at home or only go to UK, USA or Australia & NZ....and wear yer Gaa jerseys as a beacon that "I'm Irish" & hang yer tricolour out the window or on your lilo, your deckchair, from/on your dashboard etc so's to attract more fellow Irish; nothing not like being able to discuss same auld s***e you're on the run from.

Omackeral

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Check out the Spanish Costas, loads of full time Irish residents that don't speak a word of Spanish.

Ah no no no, sure in Spain the Brits and Irish are ex-pats, not foreigners or immigrants.

Eric Cartman

Omackeral wrote: »

Ah no no no, sure in Spain the Brits and Irish are ex-pats, not foreigners or immigrants.

Where you can speak to any non english speaker by just saying things louder and slower :pac:

paw patrol

Omackeral wrote: »

Ah no no no, sure in Spain the Brits and Irish are ex-pats, not foreigners or immigrants.

I keep hearing this ...

But ask yourself , do the spanish call them "expats" or "foreigners"?
I don't know but I'll bet its not "ex pats"

likewise do people in Nigeria call Nigerians here "foreigners"
again I'll bet they don't

the use of all the terms is correct as they are subjective based on the position of the person using them.