How do you define someone who is Irish? (multiple choice poll)

If you like gaa then you are Irish.

Easy.

Actually, he's Irish if that's how he sees himself. He could also legitimately claim to be Russian and take steps to get that officialised, but he's not, he's Irish (same goes for bodice ripper and indeed myself if it comes to that). Because the Irish State, that thing that's representative of all Irish citizens and can allow people to become Irish citizens or not, says so.

Now, people can get all Slytherin about whether, to them, true Irishness is all one's ancestors living through the Famine, or whether you first breathed Irish air (admittedly recycled in a hospital, but let's be poetic about it) or some rather unscientific guff about genetics, although how you'll get around the myriad problems with that approach is your own concern. or speaking Irish or being able to, on command, "doo something IRISH" and be able to answer "Ciúnas bothar cailín bainne". But it's completely irrelevant because the Irish government, made up of Irish people representing the Irish state, have come up with a number of ways to become "Irish", and that, frankly, trumps whatever anyone's more-Irish-than-thou individual opinion is.

Can argue away as to whether it's more "important" to be genetically, culturally or natively Irish, but it doesn't mean that anyone who isn't accepted as Irish by the State isn't. And because we're talking about people here, and not eggs, it is also swung by whether or not they choose to take that identity, rather than, say, me claiming British citizenship through my English parent, or NikoTopps claiming Russian citizenship through his birthplace. It takes time and a bit of integration, but we're just as Irish as you.

Brian? wrote: »

It's going to a wild few weeks getting this all sorted out. Lucky we have people with such black and white rules to make sure we know who's Irish/other nationality/no nationality.

Definitely a good thing that we have such experts to let us know where the Irish State has gone wrong and how all documentation to the contrary is useless in ascribing the magical quality of Irishness too

Mortpourvelo wrote: »

Behave, I'm Irish and it's just proper football with special needs measures - can't kick the ball properly ? Never mind, pick it up.

Can't score a goal and sky it into Row Z ? There there petal, have a point.

Ridiculous game.

Don't agree, but have to admit the above is funny :pac: