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Do you see Ireland as European?

  • 01-06-2013 02:23PM
    #1
    Stinicker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,102 ✭✭✭


    Ireland is located off the coast of the European continent alongside its neighbor the United Kingdom. We share a language with our neighbors and a long and fraught history but we share very little with the European continent. Our way of thinking is different and our beliefs.

    Culturally we are very different wheras we have more in common with the people in the United States and Australia, New Zealand and white South Africans. Politically Ireland is predominantly right wing which is also more in common with the aforementioned countries.

    Most native Irish are of European Caucasian ancestry and this is undeniable but is Ireland really European? We have so little in common with Germans; French and practically nothing in common with Eastern Europeans. This can be seen among immigrants in Ireland where the Irish get on grand with Americans, Brits etc. wheras other groups tend to be their own circles and rather clannish.

    Yes we live near Europe but I consider myself closer to Boston Betty than Bruno from Belgium.


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Comments

  • #2
    My name is URL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,260 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    Yes we live near Europe but I consider myself closer to Boston Betty than Bruno from Belgium.

    I don't know either of those people


  • #3
    Turtyturd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,402 ✭✭✭✭Turtyturd


    What about Borat from Kazakhstan?


  • #4
    hfallada
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,180 ✭✭✭hfallada


    I think we are far more European than we like to admit. Before entering the EU we were very conservative. However now we are possible the most liberal english speaking country after Canada. Irish values are more similar to that of Europeans rather typical english speaking countries


  • #5
    snubbleste
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 31,117 ✭✭✭✭snubbleste


    Yes
    to Amsterdam, Masstricht, Rome, Lisbon, Nice..


  • #6
    Grayson
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,790 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    hfallada wrote: »
    I think we are far more European than we like to admit. Before entering the EU we were very conservative. However now we are possible the most liberal english speaking country after Canada. Irish values are more similar to that of Europeans rather typical english speaking countries

    Except for the blasphemy laws, abortion laws and gay marriage laws. ;)

    But trolling aside, you're right. Ireland is actually a very tolerant society. Sure there's some scumbaggery, but by and large it's not bad.


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  • #7
    Chucken
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,459 ✭✭✭Chucken


    Stinicker wrote: »
    Ireland is located off the coast of the European continent alongside its neighbor the United Kingdom. We share a language with our neighbors and a long and fraught history but we share very little with the European continent. Our way of thinking is different and our beliefs.

    Culturally we are very different wheras we have more in common with the people in the United States and Australia, New Zealand and white South Africans. Politically Ireland is predominantly right wing which is also more in common with the aforementioned countries.

    Most native Irish are of European Caucasian ancestry and this is undeniable but is Ireland really European? We have so little in common with Germans; French and practically nothing in common with Eastern Europeans. This can be seen among immigrants in Ireland where the Irish get on grand with Americans, Brits etc. wheras other groups tend to be their own circles and rather clannish.

    Yes we live near Europe but I consider myself closer to Boston Betty than Bruno from Belgium.

    Can you explain how you think we have anything in common with People from New Zealand and white South Africans?

    If you take a little look at our history and the history of Eastern Europe, you'll find a lot in common. But of course us Irish will never admit that anyone else had it as bad as we did..

    Speaking of clannish...where do all those hurley wielding boys end up when they head to Oz, USA etc? With their own "kind"!!.

    I feel more affinity with Eastern Europeans than Americans.


  • #8
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    Betty and Bruno are every bit as likely to have more in common with each other than either would with you.

    As the world gets increasingly smaller, cultural differences have much less to do with geography.


  • #9
    pragmatic1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,573 ✭✭✭pragmatic1


    Not really. I think we have more in common with the rest of the anglosphere. And considering how this country has been treated in recent times by the EU, I'd like looser ties with Europe.


  • #10
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    hfallada wrote: »
    I think we are far more European than we like to admit. Before entering the EU we were very conservative. However now we are possible the most liberal english speaking country after Canada.
    We're probably the only English speaking country outside of Africa where it is illegal to have an abortion which safeguards the health of the mother.

    And i'm not even sure about Africa.

    Most independent measures of 'liberal' wouldn't really stand to us, compared to Oz, NZ, even the US....


  • #11
    problemchimp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,025 ✭✭✭problemchimp


    Are we really very similar to white South Africans? Speak for yourself!
    We generally have a more social community based way of living. I don't mean we are socialists, I just think we "keep an eye out for each other more than Betty from Boston.
    I would consider myself more European than American or Australian or indeed South African.
    (struggling to get my head around the South African comparrision)


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  • #12
    MomijiHime
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 620 ✭✭✭MomijiHime


    Well.. I've always thought of myself and Ireland as European


  • #13
    Augmerson
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,162 ✭✭✭Augmerson


    Closer ties to the UK and North America rather than Europe but like most European peoples and think its a great place altogether to visit.


  • #14
    shamrock55
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,296 ✭✭✭shamrock55


    Not in the slightest


  • #15
    Jhcx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,776 ✭✭✭Jhcx


    I have mutual friends in Indonesia.

    Strangely when speaking to my American friends I refer to everything in Ireland and Europe as European ie "us european's have a different way of life" on a personal level I don't think of myself as European. I consider myself as an islander considering I've lived on two Islands off the main continent.


  • #16
    crockholm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,448 ✭✭✭crockholm


    I suppose it is tough to see yourself as European sometimes, when throughout Europe over the past 1000 years there has been little or no focus on us. We rarely made headlines on the continent. As uncomfortable as it is,we hardly register on the minds of Europeans. I have been asked at least 4 times whether Ireland was in the EU here.

    We would be better understood amongst the "Anglo" world.


  • #17
    charlemont
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,725 ✭✭✭charlemont


    I'm European first Irish second.


  • #18
    orestes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,972 ✭✭✭orestes


    Stinicker wrote: »
    Ireland is located off the coast of the European continent alongside its neighbor the United Kingdom. We share a language with our neighbors and a long and fraught history but we share very little with the European continent. Our way of thinking is different and our beliefs.

    Culturally we are very different wheras we have more in common with the people in the United States and Australia, New Zealand and white South Africans. Politically Ireland is predominantly right wing which is also more in common with the aforementioned countries.

    Most native Irish are of European Caucasian ancestry and this is undeniable but is Ireland really European? We have so little in common with Germans; French and practically nothing in common with Eastern Europeans. This can be seen among immigrants in Ireland where the Irish get on grand with Americans, Brits etc. wheras other groups tend to be their own circles and rather clannish.

    Yes we live near Europe but I consider myself closer to Boston Betty than Bruno from Belgium.

    What a load of sh!te.

    I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you haven't spent much time in mainland Europe. A month inter-railing after you finished the Leaving doesn't count.


  • #19
    Richard Hillman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,033 ✭✭✭✭Richard Hillman


    I would say more Eastern Caribbean than Western Europe.


  • #20
    Dyr
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,246 ✭✭✭✭Dyr


    hfallada wrote: »
    However now we are possible the most liberal english speaking country after Canada. Irish values

    aha ha ha ha

    Irelands full of conformists and yes men, that makes us a little bit european


  • #21
    Stinicker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,102 ✭✭✭Stinicker


    orestes wrote: »
    What a load of sh!te.

    I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you haven't spent much time in mainland Europe. A month inter-railing after you finished the Leaving doesn't count.

    I have never been inter-railing but I have traveled across Europe on different occasions and have been to Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Spain and spent quite a bit of time on the continent.


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  • #22
    Grand Moff Tarkin
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 862 ✭✭✭Grand Moff Tarkin


    I always state I am a proud Corkman first and foremost.


  • #23
    Lenin Skynard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,970 ✭✭✭Lenin Skynard


    If you take language out of the equation, I don't think we're at all like South Africans or Australians. America is a different kettle of fish because every country now has a certain amount of American influence. We have similarities to the UK in the same way that they have similarities to the French and the French have similarities to the Belgians. It's bound to happen on a continent like this.


  • #24
    pabloh999
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 516 ✭✭✭pabloh999


    We've (most of us)probably more in common with UK/USA than mainland Europe.
    Language
    Food
    Music
    Movies
    Social scene(pubs etc)


  • #25
    Son Of A Vidic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,370 ✭✭✭✭Son Of A Vidic


    Stinicker wrote: »
    Do you see Ireland as European?


    Certainly not. But are we the gimp of europe? Absolutely.


  • #26
    Greentopia
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,221 ✭✭✭Greentopia


    Stinicker wrote: »
    Our way of thinking is different and our beliefs.

    What do you mean, 'our beliefs'? religion? culture?
    Stinicker wrote: »
    Culturally we are very different wheras we have more in common with the people in the United States and Australia, New Zealand and white South Africans. Politically Ireland is predominantly right wing...

    Apart from US cultural hegemony and influence that effects most countries I don't see us as having much in common with them apart from large numbers of Irish people living there. Aus/New Zealand for the same reason and because we share a common language. Apart from that I don't see those countries as having any more in common with us than with European countries.

    Ireland is a predominantly Centrist country, not Right Wing.
    Stinicker wrote: »
    This can be seen among immigrants in Ireland where the Irish get on grand with Americans, Brits etc. wheras other groups tend to be their own circles and rather clannish.

    Obviously because we speak the same language we can communicate well with Americans, British etc. How many Irish speak Polish, Latvian, or in fact any other language apart from English and maybe Irish?
    And the Irish are very clannish when they move to other countries and tend to seek out the company of other Irish.
    It's not something only people from other countries do!
    Stinicker wrote: »
    Yes we live near Europe but I consider myself closer to Boston Betty than Bruno from Belgium.

    Ok, I don't. I'm Irish first, European second. There's a lot more I like and would like to see replicated here about the European way of doing things than the American-healthcare, education, public transport, social policies etc.


  • #27
    yara
    Closed Accounts Posts: 158 ✭✭yara


    I don't see Europe and being European!! :eek:


  • #28
    seven_eleven
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,558 ✭✭✭seven_eleven


    Not really. I identify more with the UK than mainland Europe. We're similar in many ways to be honest.


  • #29
    orestes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,972 ✭✭✭orestes


    Stinicker wrote: »
    I have never been inter-railing but I have traveled across Europe on different occasions and have been to Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Spain and spent quite a bit of time on the continent.

    Yup, I've visited most of those places, including living in the Netherlands for a year, Belgium for a year, Germany for a few months, and Czech Republic for a year (moving back to Prague for the summer on Wednesday actually). I work in international tourism, so on top of living there I spend a lot of time meeting people from all over the place and have to get to know a bit about the history and people, and we have far more in common with Europe than with Americans or South Africans, particularly Eastern Europe when it comes to the history of countries. Unless you're basing common culture on Starbucks and the Simpsons your comparison is very naive.


  • #30
    Greentopia
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,221 ✭✭✭Greentopia


    Lenin Skynard wrote: »
    If you take language out of the equation, I don't think we're at all like South Africans or Australians.

    I agree. The South African example in particular boggles my mind.


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  • #31
    Yamanoto
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,489 ✭✭✭Yamanoto


    pabloh999 wrote: »
    We've (most of us)probably more in common with UK/USA than mainland Europe.
    Language
    Food
    Music
    Movies
    Social scene(pubs etc)

    There's undoubtedly a marked cultural crossover with the US , but it's kinda superficial in many respects.

    Despite myriad differences in language and tradition, I think our sensibilities and way of life are mirrored to a far greater degree by other European nations.


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