Hammer89 wrote: » I'd also like to know what is going on in our UN meetings. I'm a secret spy as many of you know and I've set foot in a number of these meetings and the number of flags on display was deeply upsetting. I only saw ONE Irish flag. And 'Ireland' was written in English for some reason. I asked Morgan Freeman about this and he was delighted someone asked him. He said: 'I'm Kofi Annan'. This is madness.
The_Valeyard wrote: » Cant believe you also got hold of a time machine!!
Oldtrope wrote: » The centenary of 1916 and we are giving away our nation to another batch of foreigners. T'is very sad. Someone said we absorbed the Normans and English! They came as planters and invaders. Perhaps the Irish will get reservations and casinos like the Red Indians!
Mr. Incognito wrote: » "Our children"? My son goes to school with children of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds.I am very happy that he gets to experience this and will not grow up bigoted where children are divided into "our children" and "their children". As for Irish being a second class language- It's been like that since the foundation of the school system because they dont use immersion but ram grammar down childrens throats May with so many of "them" they might bring some fresh ideas to teaching it.
katemarch wrote: » If they are now "minorities" then the schools aren't their schools. But it seem to me that children of foreign nationals, born or reared here, ARE "our children" and 'twas ever so. We've absorbed Norman children, before that Viking children, more recently Huguenot children, English and Scots -- the movement of peoples is as natural as the wind and tides around the globe and the Irish have always done, it, too. Irish children turned up in American, Canadian, British and Australian schools: and got an education, and settled in...even now, all over the EU, in assorted languages. The door is open, as it should be.
BobbyPropane wrote: » The Normans and vikings tried to conquer these lands, and they were a far more civilised and educated people than the Celts who originally settled here. It's a completely different situation to the current immigration of foreign nationals (non EU) and refugees from dirt poor backward countries with no sense of manners or respect. You're also forgetting that the Normans destroyed our language and set the foundation for a fractured island and the result was English occupation. So yes, it is completely understandable that an Irish person would stand up and try to protect their national culture,identity and language without being forced into accepting the destruction of the national identity. "The door is open, as it should be." We should not be bowing down to other cultures and letting them take priority over our own cultures. I have nothing against Eastern Europeans who of the many I know are respectful and astonished at how Irish culture is being extinguished and not fully embraced. I have heard time and time again at how they are saddened by the fact we can't even maintain our own language like their own countries. I believe entirely in the concept of an open EU by the way. It is us ourselves that is to blame for pandering to immigrants to the point were we have completely forgotten what makes nations unique and exciting, which is their own individual strong cultures.
Oldtrope wrote: » I live in a very rural part of Ireland as many of you know, .
cnoc wrote: » Grammar and spelling is very important.
Grayson wrote: » I just took a look at the thread on the site the OP was taken from. The people there are poisonous.
Oldtrope wrote: » I live in a very rural part of Ireland as many of you know, the village I live in can have no more than 500 homes in the surrounding area.
Pherekydes wrote: » I didn't fancy cooking so I got a Chinese on the way home. It's cultural genocide, so it ...
meeeeh wrote: » In fairness Chinese food here is cultural genocide of proper Chinese food.
_Kaiser_ wrote: » So I've skipped past the usual/predictable AH responses, so apologies if this was already said The OP has a valid point in there. Our classes are increasingly diverse and while that's not a bad thing, it IS an issue if it means that Irish children's opportunities to learn are being stunted by a need to first develop basic (English - I don't care about Irish) skills of their classmates. My own little fella was down for a local school that historically had great feedback but when speaking to one of the teachers this very point was brought up as she felt he would be "held back" by this. I (genuinely) hadn't even considered it before then, but it made sense too. If you first need to establish a common language then that's time lost for other topics. As a result he's down for a different school instead. It's great that they get to experience different languages and cultures at a young age, but this needs to be balanced against the need to actually get on with teaching them new things as well. I couldn't give a toss whether that's un-PC or whatever other nonsense term some here will use, but the welfare of my child comes first - even if some are offended by that.
Oldtrope wrote: » I live in a very rural part of Ireland as many of you know, the village I live in can have no more than 500 homes in the surrounding area. This morning I took my Granddaughter to school, its her first year and she is junior Infants. What I witnessed was shocking and upsetting. The classroom was nicely laid out but everywhere I looked foreign words were displayed all over the walls with pictures of flags and their name in their language. For Ireland the words were wrote in English, no Gaelige anywhere. I enjoy talking to some of the other parents as I have done in the past when I took one of my grandsons to the school in the past, today was much different. Nearly every mother I spoke too were foreign, I encountered a lot of Eastern Europeans, a few Brazilians, and some English. If I had to put a number on it I would say the majority of the classroom had foreign children with only a small percentage of Irish children. I waited to speak to the teacher, I wanted to know why Ireland was represented in English and not Gaelige. When she arrived she was welcoming and appeared almost happy someone had finally asked her the question. She told me that because the majority of the classroom could speak very little English they had to use their own languages to welcome them and make them feel at home, English was the 2nd language that all children must learn and so even Irish has to be represented in English. They do still teach Irish as part of the curriculum, but it is only taught at the bare minimum acceptance level as it was no use to the classroom because the majority of the children had been exempted by the school governors and the department of Education. I asked her why were there so many non Irish children, she replied to me that if I thought this was bad then I should look at the bigger towns and Cities where the problem was far worse. This is madness, we are losing our cultural heritage and now our children are minorities in their own schools and suffering because of it.
