is ireland friendly?

fischerspooner

Hello all. Just wanted to hear your views on this. Do you think Irish people, Dubliners in particular, are a friendly bunch? I'm asking this because I've been abroad a lot lately and everywhere I go people seem to want to talk to you and ask you to come out with them and people you work with will ask you to their house etc. etc. But that never seems to happen here. I find the people here really stick to themselves and don't take to new people or foreigners very easily. I've been living back here in Dublin for about a year now. Also I find that the girls here are very weary of anyone who might dress a little different or have a different accent. They instantly assume you're a weirdo if you're not Irish. They seem very narrow minded. Opinions?

toiletduck

i think we Irish, in general, are a friendly bunch but i think the dubs are the least friendly in the country

tabatha

i have to agree with toiletduck. the problem does lie with dublin. we are not the friendliest bunch of people in the world.

John

Depends who in Dublin you talk to. I do think that the staff in most shops here are awful. Talk about not making you feel welcome.

juno75

Anyone who quotes Orwell is OK with me

irlirishkev

I live in Dublin and I'm really friendly

Shrimp

The irish are friendly if ur irish.. If not, then they may be sceptical.. The guys mainly, girls are grand..

I'd consider myself friendly, then again, I'm half irish. :P

Tobias Greeshman

I think Irish people are very friendly in general. I've noticed that too in Dublin, the women are very bitchy and generally un-friendly, but other cities around the world like London and New York would have that same sense of un-friendliness, except it's probably about 10 times worse!

whiskeyman

I think the Irish are growing more and more closed as a society... due to our different living habits.
Rural areas are always friendly, and I personally love the banter and craic down there (I'm a Dub, but parents from Country).
With new apartment living, there's a new society growing where many people don't even know their neighbour. Community spirit is diminishing. People are also wary of each other. Anyone you dont know is called "stranger", and that word has very bad connotations, instilled in us since our childhood.
I think its a problem all society is facing, but especially urban areas.

Shrimp

Me been in a minority, not a very small one, but still a minority none the less, found that when you would tell them your name and the like, they would be very awkward about it.. Like and if they would make no effort to get my name right.. for example.

"My name is youssef" -Me
"nice to meet, yo-ssef" -them My name is YOU - SSEF not YO - SSEF.. It's like as if they think my name is sef, and they are just saying Yo! rather than hi or something.. ha.. ah well, signs in pitty of their ignorance...

I dont drink, I'm a muslim, thats also another thing they have a difficulty understandnig, not that they are racist, not all of them anyway, they just can get their heads around it, a little slow. I'll say to them I cant eat anything from the pig, and then they will say.. can you have a ham sandwich?.. just lok at them and say, where does ham comefrom? they go.. Pig? and i say.. What did i just say.. like how can they be so slow.. in that aspect they are not friendly.. weather they mean it or not..

hussey

It depends on where they are from. I have an english friend who has lived here for 6 years now, but she still has her accent. whenever people hear it she gets abuse. if she had an Oz accent everyone would love her

Only Human

John2 wrote:

Depends who in Dublin you talk to. I do think that the staff in most shops here are awful. Talk about not making you feel welcome.

Most of the staff in the shops aren't Irish.

tabatha

hussey wrote:

It depends on where they are from. I have an english friend who has lived here for 6 years now, but she still has her accent. whenever people hear it she gets abuse. if she had an Oz accent everyone would love her

i too have noticed this. i also have an english friend who gets nothing other than lectures about the "oppression" all the time. he is constantly getting slagged for being english, i dont think that is on at all.

Megatron

Have to say my experence ( i'm irish, Bown a d dragged up in Dublin) is that the Irish as a rule are very friendly once outside of Ireland, but inside of it , we have the usualy divides, Northside Vs Southside , Dublin Vs Rest of the country.

Me i dont' care , I treat people the way i'd like to be treated, doesn't matter about how you look, what religion you practice...

But wrong me 3 times and i just won't have anything to do with you every again ( doesn't apply to boards.ie .... it's just a bit of fun in the end.)

fischerspooner

Yes I think that whole apartment thing is true too. Little closed societies in Swords and on the outskirts who rarely come to the city and when they do it's almost like they're afraid and weary of everyone. What I miss about being abroad, well like in Canada I could go to the bars there on my own, sit down, have a drink, and I always knew that I'd end up drinking with folk all night. People would just come up to me and ask if I wanted to sit with their table as they could see I was alone. Now I go out of my way to be friendly in Dublin, as I have been treated so well abroad, and I hope I can get across to tourists and new workers here that we're not ALL unfriendly. I've found getting to know people from other cultures and countries to be the best thing ever, and I really think we should try to embrace it more here now that we have so many new folks living here. so be nice!

Talliesin

As a rule the Irish are friendly when they think you aren't staying.

kstanl

Shrimp wrote:

I'll say to them I cant eat anything from the pig, and then they will say.. can you have a ham sandwich?.. just lok at them and say, where does ham comefrom? they go.. Pig? and i say.. What did i just say.. like how can they be so slow..

Hahaha. I seriously think you should start hanging around with smarter people, Youssef. This group clearly aren't your intellectual equals.

kstanl

I think, essentially, you need to take people as you find them. The Irish are no more friendly or unfriendly than any other nation. Yes, cities tend to be a bit more anonymous or even rude, but it's the same in any country and Dublin's no different.

Dimitri

as individuals we all have varying degrees of friendliness however as a nation i don't think we come across as being friendly, i dont know why it is but i think it could be a general fear of foreigners people, if you think about it whenever we meet a new irish person we ask "do you know x and y?" usually they do know one or two of the people you mention its almost like getting a reference!! we cant do that to people who didn't grow up here so i think its takes us way longer to accept them, i.e making us appear unfriendly!! also imho i think people from the north are the friendliest on the island and dubs the least.

kstanl

Dimitri wrote:

i think it could be a general fear of foreigners

I was born a bred in Dublin and to be honest, I know very few people (if any) that have any kind of a fear of foreigners. ???

otron

Having got to know a few foreigners who live/lived in Dublin over the years, I've always made it a point to ask them thier opinion of whether the Irish are friendly, or welcoming.

In every single instance I have received the same reply. That is that we are pretty friendly on the surface, but it's very difficult to get to know Irish people well. In other words, these people would be working with the Irish, and they would find that its easy to get to know people a little, if they go to the pub and so on, but they would always be kept at a bit of a distance. They found that they would never be invited to an Irish person's house for example.

Maybe this is just a side effect of the Irish pub culture - the majority of socialising is done on neutral ground so to invite someone into your home is a more significant step.

From thinking about it, Im still not sure whether this is how we are amongst ourselves or if its reserved for foreigners.

pickarooney

Yes. At least compared to most places. People are just prícks in general, you'd be hard-pressed to get a smile, let alone an invitation to dinner in most places.

damnyanks

Eh typical Irish bitching

Since I'm classed as a international student nearly all my friends are internationals. They have all pretty much been to Dublin and guess what. They all loved it... the people, night life and so on.

I'm not a particular fan of Dublin (Where I was raised for the last 20 years of my life). But its an alright place. I think Talisman (Spelling, programming mod ) summed it up.

Irish people are friendly as long as you arent staying. A lot of cultures aren't firnedly to new peoplel. Scandanavians and germans usually arent (I've met lots here) but once you get to know them they are great fun.

Italians & Spanish seem to love the Irish

The french... well they did a paper on why everyone hates them allegedly.

Americans love you the second you say your Irish.

They are the main nationalities I've had dealings with this year you meet their friends, and friends of firends etc. who are form those countires. So although you cannot label a whole nationality I'm doing it

The general opinion they have of me and any other Irish people they've met is they are open, friendly and like to drink.

Drinking culture is different here. But to those who bitch about it goto Scandanavia particularly Finland. Then you will know

Kernel

Shrimp wrote:

"My name is youssef" -Me
"nice to meet, yo-ssef" -them My name is YOU - SSEF not YO - SSEF.. It's like as if they think my name is sef, and they are just saying Yo! rather than hi or something.. ha.. ah well, signs in pitty of their ignorance...

Oi Shrimp, you're in Ireland now. Your name is Joe.

Sangre

Heard same for Australians, really open and friendly if you're just meeting them but really hard to actually get to know well.

Megatron

damnyanks wrote:

Drinking culture is different here. But to those who bitch about it goto Scandanavia particularly Finland. Then you will know

aye , a bit different.

The only difference i saw was that, when you get to that really sloppy drunk.
and then you realise how bad you are, There are a few options for you.

1. Stop drinkign and bugger off home.
2. Stop drinkign for a bit and have something to eat.
3. Drink a bit of coffee and then go back on the lash.
4. Try and rink through it.

The Finnish peeps i've encountered generaly will always choose option 4.
But they sometimes pull it off.

But Pint for pint, the Irish do win for the most amount drunk in a night.

HelterSkelter

otron wrote:

...but it's very difficult to get to know Irish people well. In other words, these people would be working with the Irish, and they would find that its easy to get to know people a little, if they go to the pub and so on, but they would always be kept at a bit of a distance. They found that they would never be invited to an Irish person's house for example.

Maybe this is just a side effect of the Irish pub culture - the majority of socialising is done on neutral ground so to invite someone into your home is a more significant step.

I don't think not getting invited to someone's house is anything to do with not being Irish. I never invite any of the Irish people I work with to my house. They don't invite me or my work colleagues to their house either. I've been working with some of these people for 7 years and get along very well with them. It's just not the done thing. All socialising is done in the pub. The only friends that come to my house are lads I hang around with since I've been in school.

HelterSkelter

fischerspooner wrote:

...well like in Canada I could go to the bars there on my own, sit down, have a drink, and I always knew that I'd end up drinking with folk all night. People would just come up to me and ask if I wanted to sit with their table as they could see I was alone....

If I was in a pub and someone I didn't know asked me to join them I would be very wary. I'd think they were up to something dodgy!! (unless it was a hot group of girls!!)

Ania

I find the Irish people very friendly, but then, I am friendly to you too.

Either the Irish love Polish people in general, or they love me!
I have never come across an Irish person who was not nice to me, however, I'm not in Ireland since a long time.
And Dubliners are very nice too, in my opinion.

HelterSkelter

toiletduck wrote:

i think we Irish, in general, are a friendly bunch but i think the dubs are the least friendly in the country

I think the culchies who live in Dublin are the least friendly. They give us Dubs a bad name!

meditraitor

HelterSkelter wrote:

I think the culchies who live in Dublin are the least friendly. They give us Dubs a bad name!

Thats a fact, all the beedin culchie's going around with there long faces moaning about dublin and how brutal it is,,,
Well **** off back to ballygobackways if you dont like our beautifull town

sailorboy

are you jokin with a few of the shams on here i dont think so lol

on a serious note.. i remember working in london and everyone was very cautious of everyone else ..
this town is way to small for all the hustle n bustles of a big city
hence people got a chip on thier shoulders ..
esp if you make a conversaation to a stranger.. they instantly think you got an angle or trying to rob them or sumtin

.

englander

I think its interesting the number of Irish people who think/believe Ireland is friendly.

I think this question should be asked of all foreign people who have visited/lived/stayed in Ireland for more than a couple of months to answer.

The answer you get might be very different than from Irish people or visitors who have spent a few days doing the pubs/clubs/bus tours/Johnny Foxes/Cliffs of Moher/doolin/Guinness Brewery thing.

Ireland (tourism) is very lucky that there is a very strong myth that all Irish people are friendly and an idea of such warmth and generosity like all irish people would invite strangers in off the road into their abodes for some Irish Stew and home made bread etc etc.

I am led to believe it used to be like this a long time ago.

I have lived here (as an Englishman) for 7 years.

The number of English people living in England who have told me that it must be great living over here as everyone is so friendly. I ask them if they have ever been. Most say no, but they just think .... or imagined.... that Ireland is friendly.

Fortunately tourists will only tend to come into contact with people who are in the tourist industry and its in the hotels/B+B/tour operator/tour bus driver etc etc interest to be all smiles and 100,000 welcomes.

It is a very different story living here and getting to know a place and its people.

I have had Irish people being friendly and welcoming and made some great friends in work and out of work. There have have also been moments when I have considered leaving due to the prejudice/hatred pointed at me by a minority of people because I am foreign. Being told to go and F*ck my queen by my manager was one example when we were discussing a football match !

(Likewise my Irish partner has had similar comments made to her when she lived in England - but thats for another thread)

I do not think Ireland is an especially friendly place at all.

I dont know where is ?

Kernel

englander wrote:

I have had Irish people being friendly and welcoming and made some great friends in work and out of work. There have have also been moments when I have considered leaving due to the prejudice/hatred pointed at me by a minority of people because I am foreign. Being told to go and F*ck my queen by my manager was one example when we were discussing a football match !

Well, most of the foreigners I have spoken to (both tourists and residents) think that it is a very friendly place.. maybe they just don't understand people being pissed and chatting away or whatever. The reason you are having trouble is because you are English, and there is still a lot of Irish people who hate England for all the ****e in the past etc. It's not been that long since the serious troubles up the north, so it will take time for that friendliness to build up.

When your manager told you to **** the queen, he was probably only joking? I've had an English mate slagging spud munching paddies and slagging us over the famine. He was ill informed, but I didn't take it too seriously tbh.

Finch*

irish are friendly out of ireland, talk to us IN ireland and we aint the nicest bunch

Stephen

Ania wrote:

I find the Irish people very friendly, but then, I am friendly to you too.

Either the Irish love Polish people in general, or they love me!
I have never come across an Irish person who was not nice to me, however, I'm not in Ireland since a long time.
And Dubliners are very nice too, in my opinion.

I don't know any poles personally but I have come across a few in work and in shops etc and they all (so far) seem like a hard-working, pleasant bunch.
Plus, many polish women seem to be very hot

ergo

Sangre wrote:

Heard same for Australians, really open and friendly if you're just meeting them but really hard to actually get to know well.

that's not a bad point

I spent 12 months in Australia and kind of made a point of not spending the whole time in backpacker bars hanging out with other backpackers etc (though that can be fun too) and instead of Sydney I went to Brisbane and worked for the year, now that place is the most genuinely friendly in the whole world, I wasn't sure if I could put it down to the year round warm weather (25 degrees in winter!) influencing people's mood and outlook, people back here are so miserable

but it did take a while to actually get to know some of the Australians and to get invited to their places etc, but it did happen eventually

but compared to IRL, which I have to say in response to OP I think is very unfriendly, especially people in shops, I mean the other day in Centra the women making up my roll said something along the lines of "are you having a good day ?" or "have you had a good morning?" and I nearly fell over with the shock of it all, she was even smiling (I swear, this happened, Centra in Rathmines!)

but in Aus, esp up in sunny Queensland it's so common for people in any shop, service industry (which co-incidentally is strictly non-tipping so it's not all false) to ask how your day has been, and are interested,
I bumped into random people say at open air concerts who are delighted to talk to you, or in bars or whatever similar to what has been posted about Canada

here people will grunt at you and throw back your change, I mean I remember e-mailing an Australian friend a few months back saying "someone asked me how my day has been today!!!") cos I had been bemoaning that and the general miserable service here, and now it's happend twice (in 10 months...)

but I think Irish people who have travelled or lived away probably are more conscious of this and maybe make more of an effort to be friendly ( I know I have)

and country people definitely more friendly, more down to earth compared to Dubs, but of course you can't generalise...

and yes, it depends where people are from, there will always be idiots who will give English people abuse for no reason

but I suppose IRL overall is "friendlier" or people are more approachable than in a good few other European countries but I wouldn't call it an overly friendly place

Sangre

Seriously, why are you judging the friendliness of people in shops when at least 90%+ aren't Irish or even speak that much English

cournioni

I'm friendly to all good looking women... Does that count?

ergo

Sangre wrote:

Seriously, why are you judging the friendliness of people in shops when at least 90%+ aren't Irish or even speak that much English

OK that's another fair point, a lot of the non-Irish people working in shops don't exactly come across as being delighted to be there but neither do the Irish, and even when it was all Irish working there( and I remember when I couldn't get a job in McDos not so long ago) the Irish there weren't exactly a bundle of joy, especially compared to in McD's in Australia, still staffed by Australians and I think they're all on happy pills or something, they so friendly, (well, in Queensland anyway)

but the likes of bus drivers here who mostly are Irish and majority not exactly friendly

or most of the Irish people who work in the canteen where I go to college are pure miserable and are more than happy to pass on their bad vibes

but I can't remember the last time I had an irish waiter or waitress serve me, though don't exactly eat out that often, but I suppose it's unfair to jusge from the service industry

service people aside then, I just think us Irish are very miserable a lot of the time, maybe it's weather related,

and we would be friendly to foreigners but most Irish people don't meet too many that often on a day to day basis but the ones we do meet eg. in work or college, well, I think we are quick to include them in whatever goings on were happening, maybe I'm wrong

The reason you are having trouble is because you are English, and there is still a lot of Irish people who hate England for all the ****e in the past etc. It's not been that long since the serious troubles up the north, so it will take time for that friendliness to build up.

I can't believe you seem to be defending this viewpoint. Treating people like crap because they're English is completely unacceptable. I've seen it many many times in Dublin, people getting abuse cos of their accent. English people are not responsible for what happened in the past. Holding a grudge for that is ridiculous. Many English people I know here have one or two Irish parents who just went over there to work and ended up staying. Why do they deserve any abuse? I got slagged loads when I first moved back here cos I had been living in England and had an English accent, and I'm half Spanish and half Irish.

I do not get this 'Irish people are friendly' thing at all. If anything, they are LESS friendly than most nations, from what I've experienced. I'm constantly appalled by the lack of tolerance and hatred of anything different. The people working in shops who ARE Irish are downright ignorant and rude, more often than not. I often get the feeling they feel they're doing me a favour by serving me. It's especially obvious when I've just been to Spain, where most people in shops etc are friendly and pleasant. It is unheard of not to smile and say hello to the shop assistant as you walk in. If they acted like most Irish assistants they'd be fired in a week. Interestingly most of the Spaniards working in Dublin shops come off as surly and rude, even with me talking in Spanish. I think the attitude must rub off on them.

I think the Irish 'friendliness' is a thing of the past, in Dublin, anyway. I do remember people being genuinely friendly but it isn't like that anymore. Now and then I get a really friendly, decent taxi driver or bus driver but they are not that common.

I do think the weather has a lot to do with the Irish being so miserable. Its hard to keep a positive attitude when its always freezing, wet and miserable. I think thats why the Aussies are so pleasant.

Spicy Lauren

I have been living in Ireland for almost 6 years now and I do have to agree with the fact that Irish people are a friendly nation. Don't get me wrong here, there are a lot of racist people everywhere. I mean 'friendly' in the sense that an irish person would talk to a stranger in the street while queuing at a pass machine, or to the bus driver, and would apologise when bumping into somebody by accident.
Back home (wherever that is) people are very weary of these things and tend to think you are a weirdo if you chat with somebody you dont know, because that that person could be asking for money or has the intention of robbing you or something. And nobody would ever apologise if they brush by me or anything.

Well thats my opinon anyway.

Thinking about it, I really do hate where I'm from!!

Kernel

Jermaine Massive Gorilla wrote:

I can't believe you seem to be defending this viewpoint. Treating people like crap because they're English is completely unacceptable. I've seen it many many times in Dublin, people getting abuse cos of their accent. English people are not responsible for what happened in the past. Holding a grudge for that is ridiculous. Many English people I know here have one or two Irish parents who just went over there to work and ended up staying. Why do they deserve any abuse? I got slagged loads when I first moved back here cos I had been living in England and had an English accent, and I'm half Spanish and half Irish.

I'm not really defending it in fairness - I never said it was right or wrong. I'm just giving reasons why an English person might think that Irish people are unfriendly. In the same way that a north korean person might think south koreans are unfriendly etc.

And before you start with the moral high ground effort, for years Irish were treated like absolute sh1t in England. "No dogs or Irish" etc... and I've spoken to people who worked over there years ago and got all that sh1t. It's still fresh in their memories, that's why they do it. Recently a friend of mine was attacked in England because he was Irish. It flies both ways.

tabatha

Kernel wrote:

I'm not really defending it in fairness - I never said it was right or wrong. I'm just giving reasons why an English person might think that Irish people are unfriendly. In the same way that a north korean person might think south koreans are unfriendly etc.

And before you start with the moral high ground effort, for years Irish were treated like absolute sh1t in England. "No dogs or Irish" etc... and I've spoken to people who worked over there years ago and got all that sh1t. It's still fresh in their memories, that's why they do it. Recently a friend of mine was attacked in England because he was Irish. It flies both ways.

you know what...that is why it "flies both ways". people like you who think an eye for an eye are the reason we cant move on. it is so silly. i agree totally with what Jermaine Massive Gorilla has said. i lived in england for a few years and "got it" so to speak but that didnt mean to say that i stooped to that level. i have seen my english friends get slagged off over here but they dont take it any further and thats what you should do. i think you may have one to many racist friends.

Kernel

tabatha wrote:

you know what...that is why it "flies both ways". people like you who think an eye for an eye are the reason we cant move on.

What are you on about? People like me? I'm not like that, I never said I acted like that, and I never said it was right or wrong!?!? I'm just giving honest reasons as to why people from England might think some people in Ireland were not friendly.

tabatha

Kernel wrote:

I'm not really defending it in fairness - I never said it was right or wrong. I'm just giving reasons why an English person might think that Irish people are unfriendly. In the same way that a north korean person might think south koreans are unfriendly etc.

And before you start with the moral high ground effort, for years Irish were treated like absolute sh1t in England. "No dogs or Irish" etc... and I've spoken to people who worked over there years ago and got all that sh1t. It's still fresh in their memories, that's why they do it. Recently a friend of mine was attacked in England because he was Irish. It flies both ways.

well if your not really defending it that what does this mean?

the_syco

tabatha wrote:

well if your not really defending it that what does this mean?

He's stating the facts.

=-=

I don't really care where your from, but speak of England as the "mainland", etc, your in my bad books.

tabatha

he is not just stating facts, going on about "moral highground" and talking about how the irish were treated like sh**e is not stating facts. are u a racist against english?

impr0v

Irish people, except the socially disfunctional ones (of which there are many) exist in social cliques which are commonly formed at different education levels and are extremely hard to break into after they have formed, even for an irish person. This process can be made easier if you are introduced into such a clique by a well-established member, but even so there is usually a lengthy period of being on the fringes. There is a latent neophobia within Irish people, except when it comes to handheld consumer electronics, and an emotional reticence which means that it takes a lot of time to gain get to know a specimen well, and even then they'll harbour a latent and instinctive mistrust of you, unless of course you are related to them.

simu

In shops, I agree that some shop assistants can be really unfriendly. However, it seems to be far more prevalent amongst teenagers who work in such jobs. They never say hello, they mumble something stupid like cheers instead of a thank you and they stare at you if you ask them a question. However, older people working in retail are fine and I find they often make conversation or ofer extra advice. I hope this is just a teenage phase and that this doesn't mean Ireland is on the way to becomming the land of the sullen!

I think it's hard to make real friends in any country, not just Ireland. Maybe it's because people here tend to act very friendly to near strangers that newcomers are later disappointed when they realise they're not yet friends with these people who seem to be acting so nicely towards them.

Altheus

If you asked me, someone from Dublin, were people friendly, I'd answer, generally... especially during the summer.

If you asked me what is going to be the biggest hiccup to that friendlyness, I'd say:

Speaking with an English accent.
Being a minority group.

If you ask me what would get you the best response:

Being a woman.
Speaking with a Scottish or Liverpudlian accent.
Never making gross generalistions about the nation's populace.