Let's not go around in a circle again, from Canada get really pissed off when they are referred to as American and yet they are clearly from America. There really isn't anything unusual about my position
Depends where you have got yourself in trouble, DC. An Irish passport might be very handy in and around the Middle East (except Israel)/Afghanistan/Argentina etc. Its amazing how many British people have found having an Irish granny/grandfather came in handy when in a pickle or even Brian Keenan from Belfast when he was kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut.
The EU has not blocked UK sausages. There is a rule however that chilled meat from non-EU countries is not permitted for food safety reasons, unless an agreement can be reached that the meat satisfies EU minimum standards (which the UK will not agree to). So what you're saying is that you believe that the EU will drop their food standards to accommodate a few disgruntled unionists? That won't happen. What you will find is that the UK will in time agree to the rules and your can then go back to eating crappy English sausages!
Which would make the closure of the French outlets (because of the nasty EU rules) all the more strange and just highlight the poor top management in M&S
I agree. This "you're British" or "you're Irish" stuff is pointless and unrelated to the topic especially as the Protocol does not affect the nationality or soverignty of NI or its people (it is a trade protocol).
You're comparing apples with oranges.
Would a Canadian get as pissed off at being referred to as North American? any more than an Irish person being referred to as European? or a Brazilian, Columbian, Argentinian, Peruvian,.... being referred to as South American?
The "America" you refer to is clearly the continent (sometimes also referred to as two continents, North and South America). The guy from Canada is clearly from the continent of America (or North America) and therefore American in the same sense that I am European. If you called him American though he would obviously immediately think you were referring to the country that is the United States of America whose citizens are almost universally (outside the Americas anyway) called American. Had you explained you meant American in the sense of the continent he would probably have nodded and left you to your ranting.
Ireland on the other hand is not the name of a continent as well as a country. They are very much not the same thing.
I strongly suspect that you already know all this though.
Michel Barnier has stated in his book that excluding Ireland from the single market was one of the early options on the table (story on RTE website today). This is actually what I think the UK were expecting to happen - to appease them. I'm not sure whether or not they've even got the point even now that it won't happen!
You actually explained it pretty well.
Ireland is an island, people from the island can be Irish of British.
North American is a continent, people from the continent can be American or Mexican or Canadian.
Or French...
For someone who delights in pedantry, shouldn't it be your Canadian 'friend' is from the Americas, not America.
American is globally understood to refer to a citizen of the USA, and not a citizen from any other component part of the Americas, each of who have their own descriptors - Canadian, Brazillian, Mexican etc
I was asking a Peruvian workmate about this. He had a think about it and said firstly he's Peruvian, and you could also call him American. When I asked him would he not describe himself as South American, he said no. He would just refer to himself as American.
As far as I understand it, people from the Americas generally see it as one continent but people from elsewhere generally see it as two - North America and South America.
We’re not so far apart. I would have no problem if you done the same to me as you are proposing for the Canadian.
if you called me Irish and explained you did not mean the country of Ireland but rather the other country to the north. Then I would have no problem whatsoever
Surely not. That would be like people in ni being British 😀
Absolutely and ditto for roi
And such is his right
These forays in to "identity" are a useful distraction. Disrupts the discourse on 'blocking sausages' statements or the interviews with McGuinness & Barnier.
A Peruvian workmate?
An interesting choice you made to pick that one.
Except you can get an Irish passport at any time of your choosing (whether you want to or not is not relevant.) Anywhere else in the UK where this is true ? As someone else said above, why do you believe you can’t be “Irish” and yet still a British citizen ?
I didn’t say any such thing
the Commission has started to privately inform the Member States about harsh sanctions if London still ignores the protocol at the end of this year. This does not only concern the usual lawsuits, but direct trade restrictions (import duties) as well as the denial of British requests to participate in research programs (funded by EU funds). Also on the sanctions list: restricting the freedom of British financial services providers to operate in the lucrative European market.
https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/nu-londen-brexitafspraken-blijft-negeren-bereidt-brussel-zich-voor-op-het-ultieme-ultimatum~b91f92f3/?utm_campaign=shared_earned&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
The only way to get this 'shire of bastards' in Whitehall to honour their agreements is to threaten economic pain.
If I was an Irish unionist now I'd be extremely concerned about blowback from Westminster because you can be sure that, should there be an economic war, there'll be scapegoats sought.
you can be from North Korea for all I care Mr Downcow but you be still be korean...I think for a lot of Unionists to say you are Irish implies for are a nationalist so they invent Northern Irish identity. I dont believe in a hybrid Irish.
Honestly no idea what you are saying - but it doesn’t sound to supportive of unionists 😂
The longer the Brexit mess continues unresolved the less likely it is that the Conservatives will be re-elected. A resurgent Labour government will do for the country what would represent a defeat for Boris i.e. Veterinary agreements and whatnot. They will campaign on a ticket of 'Brexit got done but we can finish it'. Finishing Brexit means implementing the protocol.
The DUP tried their best to torpedo the GFA and return to hard borders in Ireland and now they are waving the GFA agreement around claiming they are being undermined. Their moral authority is shot. I imagine Joe will read Mr Trimble's letter but Jeffreys will have gone straight to trash.
The protocol will be implemented for sure. Just a matter of time
You didn’t say that you can’t be Irish and a British citizen ? My apologies in that case, I seem to have misunderstood your position, since you always strenuously maintain that you’re not Irish.
I have friends up in the North of Ireland. I have no issue with ordinary people from a unionist background. But I wonder why you are so defensive and aggressive towards others on this forum at times. My Girlfriend is from the north and is protestant. She has seen some of your posts and has no idea what you are talking about my friend and I say that honestly;)
Thanks. Appreciate your apology but it wasn’t really required as I think your misunderstanding was accidental unlike a few posters. BA invites anyone born in ni to apply for Irish nationality and I’m completely fine with that
Of course your desire for a rise in labour could back firs for you. It could make ni unionists the kingmakers with power well beyond their size. And in that case I hope the shinners wipe out the SDLP as the shinners have zero power as they don’t take their seats
Thanks. Sounds like you are being genuinely inquisitive.
did you show your girlfriend any of the posts I am subjected to eg that refer to my community as KKK. Nazis, etc? Does she think I have the right to react to posters telling me I am Irish whether I like it or not? Does she respect unionist culture and identity?
and could you identify something in particular that is confusing her that I say? It would be good to ground her concerns? Where is she from approx?
sorry for all the questions but without some context it’s difficult to know what she means.
and let me assure you I am ‘an ordinary person’
So can you help me out here in that case ? Do you consider that you are Irish (as in from the Island) and British ? At least there is a logic to that, rather than “I’m not Irish, I’m British.” Which I’ve never understood. We don’t expect you to wrap the tricolour around you and sing the National anthem “as Gaelige” just because you concede/accept/admit/whatever, that you are Irish.
Geography isn't a strong suit of yours, granted...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon
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