Is Boards representative of society in Ireland?

Not of the general population but gets closer when you consider people under the age of 35. There are also a few more extreme people of both sides like those who think they are an oppressed majority, we can just point to certain people who think there is something we need to worry about when it comes to gay babysitters for that.

newmug wrote: »

Of any parents here, honest answer, would you leave your kids with a gay babysitter?

No.
I just think the risk of them turning my children gay is too great.

Tony EH wrote: »

Why? What do you think might happen?

The kid gets a better sense of style? :pac:

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

I dont agree. I regularly come across homophobia and transphobia here.

Seek and ye shall find, as they say.

Tbh I'd largely agree with newmug's chronically badly worded post (sorry newmug, you're in front of the firing squad on your own for that one! ), but the reason I say that is because Ireland is still as conservative, and as liberal (don't fall off your chairs just yet!) as it always was! You're always going to graduate towards those people who share your point of view, and by that same token, you're always going to be surrounded by those that don't. That's why "keep your opinions to yourself" used be such a powerful way to silence people before the prevalence of the Internet in our lives - It means that nowadays, nobody has to keep their opinions to themselves. In some ways that's a good thing, in some ways that's a fcuking tragedy :pac:

Depends on your perspective.

Anyway, with regard to the whole "previous generation=conservative, blah blah", David Norris was fighting for LGBT Rights in this country before some people's arse were as big as a shirt button. How old is he now? (Granted not the best example given how he's lost his way somewhat in the last couple of years, the irony that this fellow was giving out about Tallafornia in the Senad, when only a couple of decades earlier, HE was the bright young thing campaigning against homosexuality being viewed as immoral behaviour!).

One of the other big game changers from forty years ago? How quickly we forget " the contraceptive train" -

http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1666-women-and-society/370226-contraceptive-train/

Changed the public and political perception of women in this country massively, no longer comely maidens dancing at the crossroads, or getting married and then being tied to the kitchen sink, they were no longer just a useful commodity for bearing children while the menfolk went to work. Now women were allowed work too, and not just in War Time any more (before then if they worked in the public sector, they had to give up work when they got married).

We also joined the EEC forty years ago -

http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/ireland_in_the_eu/impact_of_membership_on_ireland/index_en.htm

Changed the face of industry, agriculture, fisheries and education in this country (some for the better, some for the worst, depending again on your perspective).

Eesh, I could go on all day, but in summary, to blithely come out with "Wait till the conservative old farts in this country die off, then we'll see real change", is massively ignorant of the swathes of historic social changes those same "conservative old farts" brought about in this country that we now happily take for granted today.


Anyone watching the Rose of Tralee last night, my wife commented "Does anyone really watch this any more?", right before the Kentucky Rose came on, introducing us to the " Biggest Catholic Church in America", and her Catholic University (accepting students of all faiths and none, but still Catholic ethos), and of course I think the most commonly uttered phrase of the night was "The bigger the hair, the closer to Jesus!" :pac:

You're damn right people still watch it, and it'll be the highest rating TV viewing in the TAM ratings this week. The Late Late Show hosted by Gay Byrne was never off the top of the TAM ratings for nearly 30 years, and UTV Ireland yesterday were practically beside themselves with glee announcing that the epitome of Conservative Ireland himself, Mr. Pat Kenny, would be hosting a prime time spot on their new TV channel soon to be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

For anyone that thinks Ireland has become more liberal over the last 40 years I would say stop kidding yourselves. All that's changed is that the people in power have gotten better at hiding their conservative ideology, and the easiest scapegoat has become the RCC (not least of course through their own fault), but if politicians really, I mean REALLY wanted social and political change in this country in the morning, they could have it. Why don't they want it? Because the people don't want it (not badly enough at least, nor not nearly enough people want change), and politicians know which side their bread is buttered (apart from the odd one or two character politicians that will never have any effect on the balance of power anyway, looking at you Ming), and they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them, which is an overwhelming conservative majority in this country. Same-sex marriage? Pfft, that's small fry stuff, scraps off the table, you're not getting it because you fought for it, you're getting it because they're giving it to you, to distract you while they shaft this country royally to our European Overlords, who themselves are quite the conservative bunch.


Liberal ideology is great in theory, but it has no power. So is Boards representative of Irish society? On the whole, with over a thousand public forums, and nearly as many private forums, groups, agendas, etc, going on in the background; Boards is definitely representative of Irish society, and After Hours is only representative of a tiny minority of that society, the outspoken liberal minority that are all bark and no bite.

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Its a pointless talking shop which achieves nothing and is mainly ignored by anybody who makes decisions in the world. As for Boards.ie being representative of that, it probably is. The younger, liberal thing is crap. I've seen opinions on here that would make Hitler blush. Posted by kids dossing off school.
The age thing is certainly true - I'm hitting 40 this year (oh joy) and would be one of the older posters. The fact that with a few exceptions our oldest regular posters would be in their early 50s has to do with the age of the Internet itself. Its 23 years old or thereabouts. So we'll have been net-aware since our early twenties.

Godwin, never gets old, but funny because at least in this context, it's absolutely true!

steddyeddy wrote: »

Good point. Everytime animal rights comes up the hunting forum pm each other and flood in.

There's only about half a dozen Shinnerbots on Boards, but's it's amazing how they'll all turn up in certain threads and engage in a big circle-jerk of thanking each other's posts.