Sinn Fein in a huff over new signs

MagicSean · 07-08-2012 04:43PM #1

TWO SIGNS PLACED in border counties welcoming people to Northern Ireland have been removed as a political row breaks out between Sinn Féin and DUP

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

07-08-2012 04:46PM

MagicSean wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

It should be tri-lingual, English, Irish & Ulster-Scots!
Then they won't be complaining so much. :pac:

ardmacha · 07-08-2012 04:47PM

it is bad enough being at the butt end of the British Empire without signs gloating about the fact.

AnonoBoy · 07-08-2012 04:48PM

Sinn Féin in being irritating nitpicking dipsh*ts shocker!

Varied · 07-08-2012 04:48PM

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

foxyboxer · 07-08-2012 04:50PM

Let me get this straight.

There are signs labelled "Welcome to Northern Ireland" on the border as you enter Northern Ireland which is a seperate jurisdiction from the Republic of Ireland. And this is an issue how?

Skid · 07-08-2012 04:51PM

We need less road signs in Irish, not more.

They make it harder to read the English version, and increases reaction times, causing more accidents.

waywardsun · 07-08-2012 04:52PM

Should it say 'North-Eastern Ireland'.

foxyboxer · 07-08-2012 04:53PM

WELCOME TO NORN IRELAND

MrStuffins · 07-08-2012 04:53PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

How are they ignoring them exactly?

Jesus Shaves · 07-08-2012 04:53PM

I don't understand where this is coming from now, when I was growing up I used to be "up the north" every month to see family and there was always signs saying welcome to northern Ireland, actually much worse from what I remember

MagicSean · 07-08-2012 04:56PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

They can consider themselves whatever they want. They still live in a different country with a seperate government, different laws and different currency. How is it in any way affecting them? Why would they be consulted? What possible discussion could take place in such a consultation?

Exactly what signs would this catholic/Irish community be erecting?

IrishAm · 07-08-2012 04:56PM

Put one up facing the opposite direction saying "Welcome to the Island of Ireland."

foxyboxer · 07-08-2012 04:56PM

What they should have done was send out a notification in the local papers stating the plans to erect new road signs with the title "Welcome to Northern Ireland". Just get it out there in the public arena. But, it should have been written completely as gaeilge and say that any objections should be sent as gaeilge.

I'd imagine the replies would be quite low.

Nichololas · 07-08-2012 04:57PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

redalan · 07-08-2012 04:58PM

MagicSean wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

Hear, hear.
Plus, it is going from KPH to MPH and drivers need to know what speed limit they are driving.

the_syco · 07-08-2012 04:58PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish.

Do they accept euro in their shops?

ejmaztec · 07-08-2012 05:00PM

Looks like it's plan B now.

Sonics2k · 07-08-2012 05:02PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

And they can consider themselves Irish all they want, but the fact is Northern Ireland is a different country. And it's a only a sign saying 'Welcome to Northern Ireland'.

What an utterly stupid thing for people to get uppity about.

Jesus Shaves · 07-08-2012 05:03PM

the_syco wrote: »

Do they accept euro in their shops?

Yes

bleg · 07-08-2012 05:09PM

The only sign that lets you know you're in NI are the speed limit ones.

Chuck Stone · 07-08-2012 05:10PM

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

Stripey Cat · 07-08-2012 05:10PM

Sonics2k wrote: »

And they can consider themselves Irish all they want, but the fact is Northern Ireland is a different country.

Funny that you can be born there and still qualify for an Irish passport, isn't it?

Nodin · 07-08-2012 05:11PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

Considering the previous posts of the OP, you've two chances of that being considered.

dlofnep · 07-08-2012 05:12PM

Sonics2k wrote: »

What an utterly stupid thing for people to get uppity about.

It's not really. Nationalists will see it as furthering distancing the north and south symbolically. You only view it as stupid because you're incapable of empathy. I can perfectly understand why they don't want partition to be paraded and highlighted at every opportunity.

We quite happily live where the borderline doesn't exist in any visible sense. Ireland is a complex island, where many see it as a single nation and in many instances it's treated as such. The Olympics for example has 2 boxers from Belfast who are in medal contention for 'Ireland', an all-island sporting team. To pretend that the north and south are like any other two neighbouring countries would be a lazy analysis of an extremely storied history.

It's simply not an issue of road signs, and the intention by the Unionist parties is to intentionally provoke the nationalist community, rather than for any practical purposes. They know very well that the Nationalist community views their home as Ireland, and not 'Northern Ireland'. Listen in on any of Stormont's proceedings and you'll get to see the bigger picture behind some of these decisions.

Chuck Stone · 07-08-2012 05:13PM

Nichololas wrote: »

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

Pragmatism and common sense might have seen them not being put up in the first place.

Defiler Of The Coffin · 07-08-2012 05:17PM

redalan wrote: »

Hear, hear.
Plus, it is going from KPH to MPH and drivers need to know what speed limit they are driving.

That has nothing to do with the issue, 'Speed Limits In Miles Per Hour' signs have already been on the border ever since the republic changed to KM/H.

There's absolutely no need for these signs at all, all they do is antagonise local communities and get vandalised anyway. The border was fine the way it was with the Speed Limit signs.

Guy:Incognito · 07-08-2012 05:18PM

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.
.

They can consider themselves whatever the **** they want, they live in Northern Ireland the sign said "welcome to Northern Ireland".

If they want to be Iriah and live in Ireland they should move out of th eUnited Kingdom.Otherwise, relax, enjoy life and stop worrying about bloody geography. Do so many people spend their lives complaining and worrying about things because they've nothing to do or what?
These people will live their 80 odd years then die and end up oin the same place whether their passport says Irish, British , Pakistani or anywhere bloody else.

FanadMan · 07-08-2012 05:19PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

Well, seeing as when I've told some people that I'm from County Donegal they seem to think that I'm from the North :rolleyes:

MagicSean · 07-08-2012 05:20PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

But it isn't just about the different speed limits. There's many differences. Currency, immigration policy, road traffic legislation, criminal legislation. While you may know which of the six counties are in Northern Ireland there are many that don't. A look at the comment section on the journal will show that. And these are irish people. What chance has a foreign national got of knowing they are entering a different country?

Stripey Cat wrote: »

Funny that you can be born there and still qualify for an Irish passport, isn't it?

Not really funny. Your problem is that you see no difference between being Irish and living in the Republic. You can be Irish and be born in the north, It doesn't change the fact that it is a different country though.

dlofnep wrote: »

It's not really. Nationalists will see it as furthering distancing the north and south symbolically. You only view it as stupid because you're incapable of empathy. I can perfectly understand why they don't want partition to be paraded and highlighted at every opportunity.

We quite happily live where the borderline doesn't exist in any visible sense. Ireland is a complex island, where many see it as a single nation and in many instances it's treated as such. The Olympics for example has 2 boxers from Belfast who are in medal contention for 'Ireland', an all-island sporting team. To pretend that the north and south are like any other two neighbouring countries would be a lazy analysis of an extremely storied history.

It's simply not an issue of road signs, and the intention by the Unionist parties is to intentionally provoke the nationalist community, rather than for any practical purposes. They know very well that the Nationalist community views their home as Ireland, and not 'Northern Ireland'. Listen in on any of Stormont's proceedings and you'll get to see the bigger picture behind some of these decisions.

It's practical and necessary signage. If a person chooses to get upset over them then they are feeding the trolls so to speak.

Varied · 07-08-2012 05:21PM

MrStuffins wrote: »

How are they ignoring them exactly?

No consultation, no engagement with both communities.

Nichololas wrote: »

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

Again, common ****ing sense would have prevailed had they thought about BOTH communities, it offends people both sides of the border.

the_syco wrote: »

Do they accept euro in their shops?

Not that it makes a blind bit of difference and the fact that it is a stupid ****ing question notwithstanding, yes a lot of shops do accept euro.

Sinn Fein in a huff over new signs

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