Is Derry or Antrim as Irish as Cork ?

gigino · 25-10-2011 10:28PM #1

Martin McGuinnes said last night on Frontline that it (Derry ) was as Irish as Cork. Nobody really pulled him up on that. I know both are on the island of Ireland, and people in N. Ireland can choose to have either an Irish or a UK passport ( more than half choose the UK passport ). On the other hand, people in N. Ireland use a different currency - not even the euro, they use different laws and their taxes and social welfare etc are from / to Britain. People from N. Ireland cannot vote in our Irish elections, and they do not pay their taxes to support our Irish state......so is where they live as Irish as we are? Surely its more accurate to say they are a special case - Northern Irish ? Geographically they are all Irish. ...even if many choose to have passports of the "UK of Britain + Northern Ireland". The stamps they buy are British. If where they live is accurately ( eg for revenue / tax purposes ) described as being part of the UK, can it be as Irish as Cork or Clare?

hondasam · 25-10-2011 10:31PM

I don't think he meant it the way you are saying he did. His take is it is part of Ireland the same as Cork is but that is where the similarities end.

overshoot · 25-10-2011 10:36PM

are you going to tell a man from the bogside or the falls that his irish passport doesnt make him as irish as someone else? would you rather the 900000 or so irish passport holders in NI emmigrate down south?
and Derry has a slight Nationalist majority, as does fermanagh, but it was believed 4 counties wouldnt be a viable entity. Also the river foyle was traditional divider between donegal and derry and there was a land grab there too.
how would you feel if hypothetically it was roles reversed and you held a irish passport in the north?

holystungun9 · 25-10-2011 10:37PM

You mean like a republic?

Gee Bag · 25-10-2011 10:37PM

Tell you what, go up to the bogside and start debating with the locals about how they're not really Irish. You'll soon get your answer.

tonycascarino · 25-10-2011 10:37PM

Yes, of course Derry is as Irish as Cork, Armagh as Irish as Dublin and so on and so forth. That girl posing the question on the Frontline last night was an ignoramus of the highest calibre.

ejmaztec · 25-10-2011 10:38PM

Cork is Corkish, not Irish.

Bobby Baccala · 25-10-2011 10:38PM

Volkswagen.

MagicMarker · 25-10-2011 10:39PM

Don't know, never been to Derry or Antrim.

hardCopy · 25-10-2011 10:39PM

I agree, we should make Cork part of the UK

minidazzler · 25-10-2011 10:40PM

Gee Bag wrote: »

Tell you what, go up to the bogside and start debating with the locals about how they're not really Irish. You'll soon get your answer.

No, that wouldn't give him a correct answer just an opinion of a few people. As Irish as Cork? Nah, they're a much more angry lot really. Most Irish people are pretty placid as can be seen by how we let our government work. They tend to be less so for a lot of them.

staker · 25-10-2011 10:42PM

Are Derry or Antrim as Irish as Cork?
Couldn't give a fiddlers.

cailinardthair · 25-10-2011 10:42PM

waiting for Keith...

Mike 1972 · 25-10-2011 10:43PM

overshoot wrote: »

are you going to tell a man from the bogside or the falls that his irish passport doesnt make him as irish as someone else? would you rather the 900000 or so emmigrate down south?

Are there 900,000 men in the bogside and falls ? Must be pretty crowded ! I wonder if they can fit any women in there too ?

overshoot wrote: »

how would you feel if hypothetically it was roles reversed and you held a irish passport in the north?

Im just fine thank you

Cee-Jay-Cee · 25-10-2011 10:45PM

No theyre not....just like New Mexicans are not Mexicans. Theyre two different countries. People from Derry/belfast are Northern Irish.

pragmatic1 · 25-10-2011 10:46PM

Easily. Nationalists in the north also tend to have a much better appreciation for their own culture too and dont look down their noses at it as if its inferior.

admiralofthefleet · 25-10-2011 10:46PM

are there langers in derry?

cosanostra · 25-10-2011 10:46PM

It was ok for people living in cork to class themselves as Irish in the 1901 census

Gee Bag · 25-10-2011 10:48PM

minidazzler wrote: »

they're a much more angry lot really. Most Irish people are pretty placid QUOTE]

Your ability to use sweeping generalisations about people could make you an honourary Nordie!

Mike 1972 · 25-10-2011 10:48PM

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Nationalists in the north also tend to have a much better appreciation for their own culture too.

Surely Nationalists anywhere do that ?

Theyd hardly be Nationalists otherwise.

jimmycrackcorm · 25-10-2011 10:49PM

The woman asking McGuinness that question was a Sinn Fein plant.

FloatingVoter · 25-10-2011 10:50PM

Well, I'm part of the secretive and mysterious D4 brigade (as identified by Dana) and I feel we are all Yorkshiremen. Our day will come.

Chuck Stone · 25-10-2011 10:51PM

Those who consider themselves Irish in Derry or Antrim are as Irish as those who consider themselves Irish in Cork.

I'm Corkaderryian.

The Internet Explorer · 25-10-2011 10:51PM

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

are there langers in derry?

Yes. But they are probably called something else. This leads me to the conclusion that those from Northeren Ireland who identify themselves as Irish are indeed just as Irish as somebody from Cork.

Senna · 25-10-2011 10:52PM

Last time i was in Derry i seen a lot more Tricolours than when i was last in Cork.

My name is URL · 25-10-2011 10:52PM

It depends on the individual. I know many people in the North, some proudly consider themselves to be 'Irish' citizens.. they hold Irish passports and have a great interest in Irish culture, and some consider themselves to be British. It's too simplistic a question to ask people, especially in the South, whether or not Derry is as Irish as Kerry. That's the problem I think.. those in the South have an overly simplistic view on what 'Irish' actually means.

KeithAFC · 25-10-2011 10:53PM

Depends what parts of Londonderry you are talking about.

Mike 1972 · 25-10-2011 10:53PM

Senna wrote: »

Last time i was in Derry i seen a lot more Tricolours than when i was last in Cork.

But people in Cork can actually pronounce the word "tricolour"

biko · 25-10-2011 10:55PM

KeithAFC wrote: »

Depends what parts of Londonderry you are talking about.

He means Free Derry I think.

KeithAFC · 25-10-2011 10:57PM

biko wrote: »

He means Free Derry I think.

That could be the case.

bayern282 · 25-10-2011 10:57PM

who would you consider more Irish

someone born and reared in the UK, Irish parentage and passport, considers themselves Irish and one generation removed

or

Ultra loyalist Ulster Prod, UK passport, considers themselves British albeit hundreds of years since the plantation.

just throwing one out there

Is Derry or Antrim as Irish as Cork ?

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