Things about us micks that drive you foreigners nuts...

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 09:52AM

Definately cool to be Irish where I come from in Scotland....there are Irish pubs on every other corner & they are always busy....there is a large Irish polulation there too....we always have good craic with our Celtic cousins!

adonis · 19-07-2006 10:01AM

yeah if i wasnt irish there would be a couple of things that would annoy me

the general appearance of the irish - fat
the general attitude of the irish girls - stuck up
and the general "it'll do attitude" -- sometimes it doesnt do
and the americanisms...but apart from that the weather is pretty good these days

mike65 · 19-07-2006 10:44AM

I think its the "t'will do" attitude that most annoys me, that and the time-keeping of course!.

Mike.

toomevara · 19-07-2006 10:56AM

what about the American/Australian interrogative which drives me nuts...everyone under twenty five and of a certain social grouping uses it...you know like? where like? every statement you make? is framed as a question? it makes me want to scream?

RandomOne · 19-07-2006 11:41AM

qwytre wrote:

Yes....yes....em, intentional of course

Seriosuly though, a lot of what is said here I agree with but I was wondering if the people replying have spent all their time in Dublin? I find other parts of Ireland (e.g. Galway) to be be quite different to the "culture" in Dublin.

I'm not in Dublin and have only visited it once before I moved out here!

toomevara wrote:

Even now there's still a residual whiff of cool about being a muck mucher over there....but a good friend of mine who's a senior nurse in london often gets alot of abuse in A&E and even had an incident where, recently, an older chap refused to be treated by him 'cos was a 'paddy', mind you he says the filipinos and nigerians get constant abuse.....

Everyone working in A&E gets a lot of abuse whether English, Irish, white, black etc. My white, English daughter was punched three times in the stomach by male patients whilst visibly pregnant. That's not anti-Irish attitude, it's anti-authority, & "the world owes me, my taxes pay your wages" mentality prevalent in England. If there's a whiff of cool re the Irish still in existence it wasn't obvious to me. (But then I'm not Irish so possibly wouldn't see it) General attitude is they're courteous and good fun ... and English girls & guys go for the accent and blue eyes big-time.

toomevara · 19-07-2006 12:13PM

RandomOne wrote:

Everyone working in A&E gets a lot of abuse whether English, Irish, white, black etc. My white, English daughter was punched three times in the stomach by male patients whilst visibly pregnant. That's not anti-Irish attitude, it's anti-authority, & "the world owes me, my taxes pay your wages" mentality prevalent in England. If there's a whiff of cool re the Irish still in existence it wasn't obvious to me. (But then I'm not Irish so possibly wouldn't see it) General attitude is they're courteous and good fun ... and English girls & guys go for the accent and blue eyes big-time.

Christ, thats bloody awful re: your daughter...excellent point on the whole 'world owes me' business. Totally in agreement.

metrovelvet · 19-07-2006 12:44PM

Inertia.
Scapegoating England or America for everything and yet import their culture from entertainment to clothing from both nations.
How **** and SORRY are the two most used words in Hiberno English.
The ah sure it'll do attitude.
The willingness to pay high prices for utter crap/junk thereby keeping up an overpriced economy.
The need to have several pints before you can talk about anything real.
Cliquishness
How in love they are with themselves for being Irish. They think everyone loves them, yet the only time ive heard this is from them! Go figure.
Terrible customer service.
Driving.
Stuck in the past.
The attitude to sexuality and the body.
The class system [which seems almost feudal].

toomevara · 19-07-2006 01:02PM

Can I ask where you're from MetroVelvet, and how long have you been living here?

Fanny Cradock · 19-07-2006 01:10PM

metrovelvet wrote:

Inertia.
Scapegoating England or America for everything and yet import their culture from entertainment to clothing from both nations.
How **** and SORRY are the two most used words in Hiberno English.
The ah sure it'll do attitude.
The willingness to pay high prices for utter crap/junk thereby keeping up an overpriced economy.
The need to have several pints before you can talk about anything real.
Cliquishness
How in love they are with themselves for being Irish. They think everyone loves them, yet the only time ive heard this is from them! Go figure.
Terrible customer service.
Driving.
Stuck in the past.
The attitude to sexuality and the body.
The class system [which seems almost feudal].

back to your own country then.

IRELAND FOR THE IRISH

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 01:17PM

Lol - And how the Irish can't accept criticism unless from another Irish person....:p

Metrovelvet, I was reading your list, nodding & laughing!

joe_chicken · 19-07-2006 01:19PM

Ickle Magoo wrote:

being laid back to the point of almost being unconcious & so nothing ever gets done

This is why our economy is so bad then?

Ickle Magoo wrote:

moaning to each other but never to the appropriate authorities so things change

This is exactly why I love Ireland so much, things do get done, but in their own time... It's a national past time to moan (escpecially) when you know nothings gonna get done about it... it's fun, you should try it

Ickle Magoo wrote:

the drinking culture is unbelieveably good

Finally we agree on something... phew

Ickle Magoo wrote:

it's like a mini US but several decades behind

American culture is sweeping every country in the world... not just Ireland

Ickle Magoo wrote:

the Catholic Church & the hold they seem to have on A) the public & the state

Give me an example of you or someone you know being affected adversly by the Catholic church in the last 5 years (as far as state policy or public opinion)
I think you've been reading a few too many Frank McCourt books... The Catholic Church has had no influence in this country for the past 20 years (or more)

LadyJ · 19-07-2006 01:22PM

joe_chicken wrote:

Give me an example of you or someone you know being affected adversly by the Catholic church in the last 5 years (as far as state policy or public opinion)
I think you've been reading a few too many Frank McCourt books... The Catholic Church has had no influence in this country for the past 20 years (or more)

What about on schools and their attitudes towards gay marriage?

They might not directly control anything but they do have an influence on the people who vote.

RandomOne · 19-07-2006 01:23PM

Ickle Magoo wrote:

Lol - And how the Irish can't accept criticism unless from another Irish person....:p

Metrovelvet, I was reading your list, nodding & laughing!

It had to happen didn't it. Someone invites "foreigners" to tell what's good and bad about Ireland/Irish ....... I'm surprised it took so long :rolleyes:

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 01:24PM

joe_chicken wrote:

This is why our economy is so bad then?

This is exactly why I love Ireland so much, things do get done, but in their own time... It's a national past time to moan (escpecially) when you know nothings gonna get done about it... it's fun, you should try it

Finally we agree on something... phew

American culture is sweeping every country in the world... not just Ireland

Give me an example of you or someone you know being affected adversly by the Catholic church in the last 5 years (as far as state policy or public opinion)
I think you've been reading a few too many Frank McCourt books... The Catholic Church has had no influence in this country for the past 20 years (or more)

And I repeat....how the Irish can't accept criticism....:rolleyes:

joe_chicken · 19-07-2006 01:25PM

LadyJ wrote:

What about on schools and their attitudes towards gay marriage?

They might not directly control anything but they do have an influence on the people who vote.

I had an a$$hole religion teacher in school who hated gays and would tell us quite regularly...

That, however, has nothing to do with religion in my eyes, that has to do with him being an a$$hole

joe_chicken · 19-07-2006 01:28PM

Ickle Magoo wrote:

And I repeat....how the Irish can't accept criticism....:rolleyes:

We can take criticism... just not when those critiques are based on outdated stereotypes

Archeron · 19-07-2006 01:30PM

LadyJ wrote:

What about on schools and their attitudes towards gay marriage?

They might not directly control anything but they do have an influence on the people who vote.

How and who? I dont see the church as having any affect on any aspect of society anymore, and the only people who IMO would be swayed by church morals are the elderly in society who have more familiarity with the church and who also (again, IMO) have a greater fear of their own mortality and therefore feel more of a need to have a spiritual side to their lives. from speaking with people that I know, more and more people are investigating how they feel spiritually, and this is leading to more and more people moving away from the Catholic church and to alternative ways of thinking.

I am 29 years old and the church has never had ANY impact on my life. OKay, I made my communion, confirmation etc, but its never swayed my mind or my opinions on anything at all, and I can safely say the same for pretty much everybody I know.

As regards gay marraige, I know we're all wonderfully open minded and modern :rolleyes: but I reckon Bertie hit the nail on the head when he spoke about it being pointless to put it to referendum. Homophobia is sadly, a big part of society here and you cant blame the church for that.

LadyJ · 19-07-2006 01:30PM

joe_chicken wrote:

That, however, has nothing to do with religion in my eyes, that has to do with him being an a$$hole

Yes but you have to admit that if all the "good catholics" were banned from voting then we might have a more liberal country.

RandomOne · 19-07-2006 01:31PM

joe_chicken wrote:

I had an a$$hole religion teacher in school who hated gays and would tell us quite regularly...

That, however, has nothing to do with religion in my eyes, that has to do with him being an a$$hole

True, but teachers can influence at least some pupils' thinking - however they can't vote so hopefully the real world undoes such "teaching". Priests influence rather more of their congregations' thinking. Since there is still a strong church here, that thinking is spread across the congregation who vote, therefore affecting/influencing matters.

LadyJ · 19-07-2006 01:33PM

RandomOne wrote:

True, but teachers can influence at least some pupils' thinking - however they can't vote so hopefully the real world undoes such "teaching". Priests influence rather more of their congregations' thinking. Since there is still a strong church here, that thinking is spread across the congregation who vote, therefore affecting/influencing matters.

Exactly.

This is all I'm saying.

I'm not saying that they control the country but they do have an effect on certain things.

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 01:33PM

Why so defensive joe_chicken? I don't feel I should have to defend what I have written, in my experience if living here those are the things that drive me nuts, as per the title of the thread....

Have you lived in another country & experienced the differences in politics, people & cultures? Pride is good - but better when tempered with a little modesty....:)

metrovelvet · 19-07-2006 01:34PM

Fanny Cradock wrote:

back to your own country then.

IRELAND FOR THE IRISH

Oh and did I mention xenophobic?

RandomOne · 19-07-2006 01:39PM

Ickle Magoo wrote:

Why so defensive joe_chicken? I don't feel I should have to defend what I have written, in my experience if living here those are the things that drive me nuts, as per the title of the thread....

Absolutely. Joe may think they're outdated stereotypes, but it's how we find things now, when living here among them. What Joe doesn't (probably) realise is we're laughing at all these things affectionately rather than slating the country(men).

Fanny Cradock · 19-07-2006 01:41PM

metrovelvet wrote:

Oh and did I mention xenophobic?

I don't believe you did.

Anyway, I prefer to think of myself as jingoistic

Actually, there are many things about the Irish that piss me off. I’m open to criticism. Though, I’m a bit surprised that the laid back approach annoys so many people.

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 01:41PM

joe_chicken wrote:

We can take criticism... just not when those critiques are based on outdated stereotypes

Sadly, it's not outdated....gay marriage, abortion, free contraception, etc, etc...these kind of things are all not available here because of the influence of the Catholic Church, be it on the state or in the pulpit...

The general attitudes here, the old Catholic guilt, some of the narrowmindedness definately stems from generations where the church had/has influenced....everything from RE in schools and ET schools only just being introduced to the criticism & comments received by not having a church wedding or giving a child a Christening....the amount of religious artifacts Irish people give me for gifts is unbelievable...it's almost as if it is impossible to see that others don't follow those sets of beliefs...in general conversation & looking at the laws governing Ireland, it is very obvious to an outsider that the church plays a huge part in life here...

metrovelvet · 19-07-2006 01:43PM

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Anyway, I prefer to think of myself as jingoistic

Actually, there are many things about the Irish that piss me off. I’m open to criticism. Though, I’m a bit surprised that the laid back approach annoys so many people.

There's laid back and then there's horizontal.

RandomOne · 19-07-2006 01:46PM

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Actually, there are many things about the Irish that piss me off. I’m open to criticism. Though, I’m a bit surprised that the laid back approach annoys so many people.

It's both great and annoying. Great in social/everyday environment, but massively frustrating/annoying when you need to get something done and all around you are saying "Ah, it'll happen " - :mad: no it flipping won't, unless someone decides to shift their backside and do it.

(Am literally laughing all the way through this thread)

Ickle Magoo · 19-07-2006 01:47PM

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Actually, there are many things about the Irish that piss me off. I’m open to criticism. Though, I’m a bit surprised that the laid back approach annoys so many people.

The laid back approach only annoys me when I'm trying to get something done (build a house, set up a policy, deal with beaurocracy in some way) there just seems to be this "Manana, manana" attitude & I would rather everything is dealt with promptly & professionally ASAP because that is what I am used to....it's just different business cultures.....out of business the laid back approach is fantastic!

joe_chicken · 19-07-2006 01:48PM

Ickle Magoo wrote:

Why so defensive joe_chicken? I don't feel I should have to defend what I have written, in my experience if living here those are the things that drive me nuts, as per the title of the thread....

Have you lived in another country & experienced the differences in politics, people & cultures? Pride is good - but better when tempered with a little modesty....:)

I don't mean to sound so aggressive, but from your points, it's seems like your views of this country have been solely based on reading the papers and watching the news... (for some points anyway) that's just the way it looks to me

Thanks for the patronising tone by the way

Fanny Cradock · 19-07-2006 01:52PM

Please, for the love of his holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, not another thread on how the Catholic Church has ****ed the country up!

:::edit:::

I'm not Catholic

Things about us micks that drive you foreigners nuts...

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