Why are we so boring, dull and mundanely corporate?

Yeh I agree to some extent. Living in other countries I noticed theres a lot more public events, little festivals celebrating fairly unspectacular things such as bluebarry harvest..or random fireworks displays during summer that didnt have to be only at halloween and new years..other celebrations parades and gatherings, more markets.
Could be more of that kind of thing going on in Ireland. Especially markets. Theres really quite few for the size of our country. Every little french village has impressive markets every week and we barely have one of note in Dublin

A Battered Mars Bar wrote: »

The great south run! An annual 10 mile race in Portsmouth. Note the emphasis on Great. Exciting huh.

Gee I wonder what the "mad craic" Irish would call a run? Oh... Dublin half marathon....riiiiight

Wembley stadium...you know because it's in Wembley....pretty simple right?

Well gee I wonder will the Irish...oh ok Aviva stadium....you know because like insurance and football...the whole connection there Ted.

Let's make a big ferris wheel and call it the London Eye! Triumphant are we!

Let's make a big steel spike and call it a spire which is literally what you'd find on a church incase we forget our Catholic ways and God forbid there be any fun. Has anyone ever used this to navigate through the city? No. Or to actually look at when near. No. I believe most people wouldn't notice if it was cut in half. Sure it's a meeting point. Who needs Clearys eh? Too much history and interesting stuff there.

Oxford and Cambridge boat race. Think ucd and trinity would bother. Actually sure why bother making use of our canals in general. Too much interest right there let's go for a pint.

Do we have anything interesting going on at all in general? We can't keep relying on a hurling final in september and a horse race in Galway once a year to maintain interest. I'm really bored of the endless fine gael dribble followed by the endless tech dribble. Where's the craic at?

Hmm.

We have a Great Ireland Run. It's a 10k run in the Pheonix Park every April. It's one of the biggest mass participation races of the year.

What the f*ck are you on about?

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

So many great running/rowing/sailing/cycling/hiking etc etc events in ireland with huge variations, themes and *sigh* interesting names (like that fcuking matters)

The Conamarathon and Gaelforce to name but two :pac:

A Battered Mars Bar wrote: »

Finally someone as well travelled and versed on subtle cultural nuances as me. You hit the nail on the head. It's the sheer lack of public events here, small fairs, festivals etc and it greatly contributes to a lack of community. I could pick any country in Europe and go there for 2 weeks and come back with mates galore. Live in Ireland for 10 years you'd be lucky to meet anyone new as people tend to stay friends with their school friends and gaa buddies only. Is there an egg and spoon race anywhere this weekend in the country? Ha you must be joking. There's sport on tele.

What a load of bollocks. You call yourself well travelled and versed on cultural nuance?

You're ****ting on a country that was strangled of all culture by the very country you're celebrating. You want antiquated fairs and festivals? Dungarven Food Festival every year, Spraoi in Waterford, Octoberfest, Trafest, Patricks day celebrations across the country, Countless music feis across the country, the Light Opera Festival and many more and that's just the south east. Try maybe up the country in Galway or Cork for music.
Complaining of a lack of Village Fetes and Rennaisance festivals is like complaining of a lack of line dancing. It's not the culture we have. It's a nation built on rough history, sport, celtic culture and in recent times after the Tiger, a more modern culture built on similar US and UK culture. We simply dont have the infrastructure for a lot of stuff throughout the country, our culture is more introverted.
Lastly in your opening statement about "hurling and GAA", the very backbone for culture for millions of Irish people across the country, you're ****ting on a sport that has spanned the atlantic. US teams exist and they cme over often enough to spend time learning more from people who grew up with the sport. It's a cultural phenomenon.

You're using your own pessimistic utlook and your own ****ty utlook on Ireland to try and make yourself more cultured. How about you stop "travelling" and maybe travel this country and attend a few fesivals and fairs here, before just comparing what the English do.
Finally when you reference going to the pub as a stricly bland Irish culture issue, look across the world. Going to the pub/ bar with your friends to talk and relax after work is something thats happened since the dawn of time. We happen to do it more because thats all we could do for so long it's ingrained in our minds.

Enough of this nonsense please. Hardly anyone agrees and plenty of evidence has been submitted to the contrary of what you've written.

Really........ right in the middle of mushroom picking season.