"The Battle of Brexit is over; the Battle of Irexit is about to begin"

CelticRambler

AllForIt wrote: »

I posted this an hour before your reply to me lol
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=115393802&postcount=8
Bah Humbug

So you're rejoicing in the stripping away of the consumerist American influence on the holiday, to leave only the simple Germanic celebration? Good on you!

CelticRambler

In a moment of idleness, I had a quick look at my browser bookmarks yesterday evening. Alongside one (only one) .ie address that I visit once a year, in my easy access list, I have a few .de sites, one .at, one .it and three .ch addresses. The .de's would be the most used, as they're mostly related to my terrestrial travel (car parts, fuel prices) and I regularly consult two German .com sites too.

And arising from that reflection, it occurred to me that there is undoubtedly a greater proportion of the population of Ireland that is exposed to and susceptible to manipulation by outside forces than many of us here on the Continent. I was watching a documentary discussing the difference between the rules concerning the slaughter of "organic" cattle on farms in Switzerland - free to set their own rules - and those in Germany, whose farmers must comply with EU regs.

It wasn't so much the detail of the incoherence between these two adjacent regions that struck me; rather it was the fact that the programme portrayed a sensible discussion of frustrations and solutions around a topic that, in the Anglophone world, frequently descends into a maelstrom of delirious rants, personal insults and the liberal posting of videos from the gastronomic sh1th0le of the world on the other side of the Atlantic.

For all the pride in our level of education (a sentiment that is not misplaced), the Irish are terribly lazy. The explosion of California-based English-language social media bubbles has made it very easy to block out the "noise" of rational debate that happens to be conducted in French or German or Spanish or Italian or Polish or Greek, and to passively absorb all kinds of nonsense in English.

There is talk of the Brexiters accidentally falling off the no-deal cliff due to their own arrogance; I would say that there is a risk that at least part of the Irish electorate might accidentally wander close to the edge too, if those with the power and influence to do so don't work to remind us to look at, and listen to, what's happening in the Near East more than the Far West, even if it means brushing up on our Leaving Cert French.

sydthebeat

I can't keep but think of the monty python sketch when reading these irexit arguments.
"what has Europe every done for us"

Pretty much evening good in your lives is as a result of being a member of the EU

It’s Friday evening, about tea time. Four middle aged men sit in a dimly lit corner of Flaherty’s Pub. The atmosphere becomes a little tense as our four friends begin to discuss the problems of the day. Sean and Padraig sit on one side of the table sipping their well-deserved post-work refreshments as they’ve done every Friday since as long as anyone can remember. Seamus, the relatively new arrival to the company sits opposite with Marek, from Krakow who has been living in Dublin for a few years now. The subject of the European Union comes up.

Sean So, what do ye think of this Brexit thing?

Padraig Fair play to them I say. We could be next you know. I’m getting mighty fed up with all these EU rules and regulations. You know they’re forcing us to sell straight bananas at the grocers.

Seamus Ah they never did that now Padraig.

Padraig They did. I read it on Friendface. Sure what have the EU ever done for us?



Sean stares into his pint, deep in though before finally piping up…



Sean The roads.

Padraig What about them?

Sean The roads. What about all that funding Ireland received to build all those new roads across the country? Do you remember what it was like before? It used to take forever to get down to Limerick to see the brother. Now it’s only a couple of hours on the M7. That was all built with EU funds. Sure I saw it on the big signs when they were building it.

Padraig Oh right, I’ll grant you that. They gave us the roads.

Marek And the Euro.

Sean Oh…yes. The Euro, Padraig. Remember what it used to be like when you went on holidays. I could never understand those Spanish potatoes. Now it’s easy to compare the price of a pint when I’m on holidays with the missus. I used to pay 150 potatoes for a pint. Now I pay two euros. It’s great.

Padraig Well yeah. Obviously the Euro. The Euro goes without saying, doesn’t it? But apart from the roads and the Euro, what have the EU ever done for us?

Seamus Well, now it’s easy to live and work in another EU country. Your daughter works in Germany doesn’t she Padraig?

Padraig She does, she’s living in Berlin at the moment working with some computer company. She tells me she’s a Senior Network System Administrator.

Sean And what’s Senior Network System Administrator?

Padraig I don’t know. It’s something to do with the Google or something. I know she loves it over there though. She’s doing very well for herself.

Seamus Well there you go. That would have been a lot more difficult to do before we joined the EU.

Marek Same for me. I was able to find work in Ireland very easily. I had a job within a week. I have exactly the same rights to work as an Irish citizen, like your daughter in Germany.

Padraig Yeah, yeah alright, fair enough. I’ll give you that. Being able to work in another EU country is not bad I suppose.

Sean And travel. It’s easy to travel in any of the countries in the EU. Sure didn’t you drive over to see the daughter in Germany last year Padraig? I bet you didn’t even have to show your passport while driving from France into Germany.

Padraig True enough. I didn’t have to. I’ll give you that. But apart from the roads, the Euro, being able to easily live and work in another EU country and travel freely around Europe, what has the EU ever done for us?

Marek You got sick last year when you were in Germany visiting the daughter didn’t you Padraig?

Padraig I did yeah. I think it was a dodgy pint of that funny German beer.

Marek And did you go to a hospital in Germany?

Padraig I did. I had to go on a drip for a few hours. I was grand the next day though.

Marek And had you any difficulty being seen?

Padraig Well no. I had that Europe Health Insurance Card thing. Ok, I see what you’re doing here. Fair enough, the health care while travelling is decent I suppose.

Seamus And another thing…. I’m just back from a holiday in Spain. Did you know that there’s no roaming charges anymore now? That’s because of the EU you know.

Padraig I didn’t know that, no.

Sean Your brother runs the farm in Limerick doesn’t he Padraig?

Padraig He does. What’s that got to do with the EU?

Sean Did you know that farmers have received over 54 billion euros from the EU because of the Common Agricultural Policy?

Padraig I think I remember the brother saying something about it alright. Fair enough, I’ll give you that one too. But apart from the roads, the Euro, being able to easily live and work in another EU country, travel freely around Europe, health care while travelling, no more roaming charges and the Common Agricultural Policy, what has the EU ever done for us?

Marek The Environment!

Padraig What about it?

Marek You bought a new television last week didn’t you?

Padraig I did. 42 inch flat screen so it is. Great for watching the football. They delivered it to the house and everything.

Marek And what did you do with the old television?

Padraig They took it away for free. The young lad said they’d recycle it.

Marek The EU brought that in. Did you know that?

Padraig I didn’t, no.

Marek They brought in lots of other consumer rights laws too. Remember your flight home from Germany was delayed because of the snow at Christmas and you got compensation?

Padraig And rightly so too! We were stuck in that airport all day. I missed the Munster match and everything.

Marek Well that was because of new EU laws protecting people travelling.

Padraig Was it now?

Marek And they passed laws to improve working conditions and protect people against discrimination. You have to admit that that’s all pretty useful.

Padraig All right, all right I hear you. I’m still not convinced though. I mean, apart from the Euro, being able to easily live and work in another EU country, travel freely around Europe, health care while travelling, no more roaming charges, the Common Agricultural Policy, improving the Environment, better consumer rights, better working conditions and anti-discriminations laws…….. What has the EU ever done for us?

Marek I give up.

Sean So do I. Let’s change the subject. How are the son’s studies going Padraig?

Padraig Ah great. He’s off to France in October with that Erasmus crowd.



Seamus leans forward and bangs his head on the table.

https://www.librariesireland.ie/news/what-has-the-eu-ever-done-for-us

Hotblack Desiato

"Oh noes! The EU has a parliament! What does it need that for?"

"Oh noes! The EU has a democratic deficit and is governed by unelected bureaucrats!"


Which is it, lads? :rolleyes:


Schrodinger's EU all over again...

Tuco88

Jim2007 wrote: »

Well first of all it is just a temporary roll over of the current terms. And the will NEVER get anything better. The CANEU deal has a clause in it to make sure of that.



But then you don’t actually understand how the EU is preserved in mainland Europe and you are ignoring the regular surveys that demonstrate otherwise.

When you live in a town or a village scared by two world wars and more, you feel very differently about supporting the dissolution of the EU.

Isn't the opinion polls from countries like France,Italy and Greece going the other way.

eagle eye

Get rid of the flag and the anthem. Everything else is fine.

ancapailldorcha

eagle eye wrote: »

Get rid of the flag and the anthem. Everything else is fine.

Why?

Hotblack Desiato

Every international organisation (heck, just about every sort of organisation that's in any way serious) has a flag.

Tacitus Kilgore

eagle eye wrote: »

Get rid of the flag and the anthem. Everything else is fine.

What's the Irish for gammon?

Faugheen

Imagine looking at the sh*tshow across the Irish Sea and thinking ‘yeah, I fancy a bitta that.’

eagle eye

Faugheen wrote:

Imagine looking at the sh*tshow across the Irish Sea and thinking ‘yeah, I fancy a bitta that.’

You can't compare us to them. The are a big economy and I'm sure things will work out ok for them.
We would be no hopers, it'd be a lot worse for Ireland on its own than the UK.

Donald Trump

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Every international organisation (heck, just about every sort of organisation that's in any way serious) has a flag.

Local GAA club has its own flag and colours.


That doesn't stop any of its members wearing either county jerseys or even Ireland jerseys for the Compromise rules when they are played.



The club is the strongest loyalty. That's not affected by people going to intercounty matches though.

It doesn't matter. Neither the EU nor "Europe" doesn't carry any degree of nationality, and has no requirement that people claim to be from there.

If you are Irish, you're Irish. If you're French, you're French. European is just a piece of convenience that some people like to use. It carried no official weight, and isn't likely to.