Are the stereotypes of the Irish people actaully correct ?

Vandango · 22-11-2014 10:00AM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Roads in Ireland are better than in most countries in the first world, never mind the third world.

I suspect you need to visit the First World more.

mad muffin · 22-11-2014 10:11AM

Vandango wrote: »

I suspect you need to visit the First World more.

I know right.

Driving around last night. I was amazed at the amount of curb flooding there was. Has Ireland never heard of curb gutters?

And don't get me started on the shoddy state of the roads around here. Did the Irish never hear of cats eyes?

fryup · 22-11-2014 10:21AM

mad muffin wrote: »

And don't get me started on the shoddy state of the roads around here. Did the Irish never hear of cats eyes?

we certainly did,

but its very cruel don't you think...farming cats and killing them for their eyes to be used on roads.....i don't agree with it anyway begob

mad muffin · 22-11-2014 10:25AM

fryup wrote: »

we certainly did,

but its very cruel don't you think...farming cats and killing them for their eyes to be used on roads.....i don't agree with it anyway begob

I don't think so. They save lives. The cats should be happy they contributed their eye sight for the life of a human.

fryup · 22-11-2014 10:29AM

no, cats are pets

mad muffin · 22-11-2014 10:37AM

fryup wrote: »

no, cats are pets

Not those farmed for cats eyes.

Dunford · 22-11-2014 10:39AM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

I bet my bottom dollar that your chap has never ventured anywhere else in the world.

when all is said and done, it's not a bad place to live.

Damn right....for all its problems its paradise compared to some places I've been.

I can understand his frustration though.

Buona Fortuna · 22-11-2014 10:43AM

Rubberchikken wrote: »

we're no different than any other country.
you can't tell me that we're the only country with cute hoors, dodgy planning, crap hospitals/roads etc. not possible for even one second.

your chap sounds too bitter for his own good.

Any country I've lived in complain about the same sort of stuff: UK, Spain, Malta, here.

Roads, planning - someone getting it where they disagree, or them not getting it, politicians being inept or corrupt, people getting one over on the system.

Funnily enough they don't moan about the weather as much in Spain and Malta:D

22-11-2014 10:48AM

jimgoose wrote: »

Oi, we're not all homo innit. I've been saying it for years, what Castletown needs is a West-African themed restaurant.

Can you really see folks handing over good money for garri and fried plantain?

Graces7 · 22-11-2014 10:59AM

HardenendMan wrote: »

Having worked with many many foreign companies, whose employees have had the chance to visit ireland, I can say that we as a people are held in high regard.

Sure and VISITING is the key word here. I trade at a street market where the tour buses top and everyone LOVES Ireland... sure, they are paying, here for a wee while and everyone love them... they see the pretty villages and no need to know of the fueds and sure, everyone is so laid back and Ireland is quaint and different from eg LA..... As I tell some, they get the cream while we get the skim

Still a safer place to live than most others and the welfare system is grand

Graces7 · 22-11-2014 11:01AM

PS to the above... of course there are the Healy Raes as fine examples of paddies.

NB they are keeping very quiet re the water matter.. wonder what they are up to...

Graces7 · 22-11-2014 11:49AM

Marion Morrison wrote: »

I don't think this is where we should be setting the bar, yet so many people think as long as we do, the rest is not worth striving for.

There are still major problems in this country, and the causes need to be treated as well as the symptoms. They are treatable if the will of the people is there. Ireland has the potential to be as least as good as any of the benchmark Scandinavian countries.

First and foremost we need to start getting honest people into Irish politics, that's fundamental for any democracy. At the moment honest and educated people avoid going into Irish politics. This is not a good situation. None of the Irish political parties are in any way trustworthy. The sum ambition of all Irish politicians is to get into government to look after your particular personal gang of cronies and hangers on, and to qualify for the fabled ministers pension.

For far too long the chronic problems in Ireland have been silenced and swept under the carpet.

The problems in Ireland are worth highlighting, and demanding change, I don't believe we have yet slipped the point where demanding change and desiring improvement is pointless.

What is worrying is for as long as I can remember the Irish people seem to be happy to lurch from one corruption scandal to the next. They get annoyed about the current scandal, but then it just dies down and is forgotten about until the next one. This season its Irish Water, last season it was the CRC, before that it was Anglo, and it goes on , and on, and on , and on , and on, right back to the 80's and beyond, the same families, the same connections, the same scandals, the same temporary annoyance of the people before we trundle onto the next scandal.

Meanwhile for generations, our least connected and often our best and brightest and most honest young people leave every year, and continue to do so.

This is not a complaint. It's a desire for permanent change, for the better, for everyone.

Just one point occurred to me re corruption. I live in Healy Rae territory. They get elected because the people vote them in knowing what they are like. Unless the people choose else this will continue. It is a cycle that seems unbreakable. Votes for favours....this is what people want it seems .

Micky Dolenz · 22-11-2014 11:59AM

nocoverart wrote: »

I can tell you one Irish stereotype that is completely wrong... the whole "cead mile failte" thing we have going on is complete BS! we are no better or worse than any other country in welcoming other people in. The only difference is we believe our own hype.

I wouldn't agree with that. In my experience we are very friendly compared to a lot of other places, certainly where I have lived anyway.

I think a lot of it comes down to how we speak and the way we use English. We greet people with a question, even random strangers, intentionally or not, by doing so we invite conversation. I have yet come across a culture that does similar.

One thing I miss about being home is the random conversations with random people. We do love our small talk.

Saying that, I was in Athens a few weeks ago and the people there were outstanding. great craic and love an ould chat. They would give us a run for our money.

Graces7 · 22-11-2014 12:03PM

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

One stereotype that I find to be generally true as an outsider is that you have a great facility with the language, actaully. Well in most cases.

Not only that, a wonderful sense of humour, an unwarranted modesty, a civilized demeanour, and occasionally quite good looking too.

I would keep the place a secret in case the outsiders spoil it all.

That is a typical outsider appraisal.. lol... we all believe that for a while until reality sets in! Like being for evermore on honeymoon

Outsiders when they realise the truth tend to congregate and live in cliques

Grand Moff Tarkin · 22-11-2014 12:14PM

It is better than some African or South American hell holes which are out there.

seamusk84 · 22-11-2014 12:16PM

Your friend is wrong, simple as.

We have decent roads and a good social inclusion system. The hospitals may not be great but better than the vast majority of countries in the world.
The irish are a friendly and decent folk.

If your buddy wants to see basket cases he should go to any African country, even the supposed better off ones like Morocco are kips. Same for Middle East and South america.

Your friend needs to travel more so he can appreciate what an amazing country we have.

johnnyskeleton · 22-11-2014 12:33PM

6541 wrote: »

Irish Water goes from them charging the population money to the population receiving money. No Other country in the western world would have a system like the one that is proposed here.

What?

Post codes based on a nonsense random generated number, non of the courier companies will (can) use. Sly way of protecting An Post.

We dont really need postcodes but are beinging them in to standarise our post wuth the rest of the world.

Hospitals that just don't work.

Our hospitals do work quite well. Of course they have problems but they are by and large functional.

Roads that are third world.

Well technically we are a third world country, beig neiher a nato ally (first world) or a soviet bloc country (second world) we are a non alligned naion (third world), but i digress - what exactly is wrong with our roads. The motorways linking dublin to cork galway and belfast are superb, while the other routes are mostly double lane dual carriageways. Sure dublins traffic is bad in the mornings but its an old viking city so it wasnt designed with the modern commute in mind.

Selling off what natural resources Ireland had to vested interested.
Gombeen and cute hoor job creation via tax breaks.
The planning process, basically everything.

The shell stuff is covered elsewhere and is nonsense - the government trying to extract the gass itself would be worse. While i agree with you that the tax breaks is not ideal, they have caused a lot of jobs and growth so were a good stroke.

Traditionally Ireland had large families. Most of them where encouraged to immigrate. The one or two that remained then had to become cute hoors in order to survive. Therefore they excelled in the ingrained Gombeen culture in order to survive.

Joyce said something similar 100 years ago. It is a curious phenomenon that a lot of irish people who go on to be successful abroad didnt fit in in ireland but did in new york, london etc. But im sure the same is true of americans/english who move from a smaller town/city to a big international city. To be honest, assuming you are not a frustrated genius, Dublin is a much better place to have a decent quality of life.

Laura Palmer · 22-11-2014 03:06PM

Hospitals that just don't work.
Roads that are third world.

How would hospitals "not work"? The HSE has problems for sure (as someone pointed out, the saturation of administration - some functions are being outsourced now to private companies though) but "don't work" - that statement needs some qualifying really. Insulting too to the excellent healthcare professionals in hospitals throughout this country.

Some roads certainly are atrocious in fairness. The really good ones don't cancel out the bad ones. The latter are in rural areas with not much traffic, but could still do with serious improvement.

AlekSmart · 23-11-2014 01:15AM

seamusk84 wrote: »

Your friend is wrong, simple as.

We have decent roads and a good social inclusion system. The hospitals may not be great but better than the vast majority of countries in the world.
The irish are a friendly and decent folk.

If your buddy wants to see basket cases he should go to any African country, even the supposed better off ones like Morocco are kips. Same for Middle East and South america.

Your friend needs to travel more so he can appreciate what an amazing country we have.

Whats more alarming for me,is the dervish like enthusiasm now being shown by sections of Irish people for "Rebellion","Revolution" and the likes.

Egged on by a motley crew of Politcians like Ms Coppinger,Mr Murphy and various grey-shaded "activists",now offering consultancy services in how to break the shackles of oppression and such like,the plain people of Ireland,or at least the more vocal ones,have apparently decided that after 3 decades of taking European money and using it to become more...em..."European" they have changed their minds and wish to declare unilateral independence from Europe,Reality and The World.

Watching and listening to the repository of recent U-Tube clips "from the frontline" is like watching a slow-mo re-run of the Titanic going under.

The notion being flung around,of an Ireland under the Jackboot,is just SO wrong as to be a form of treachery in itself...The rump of middle-Ireland,workers,taxpayers and contributors in the main are sensible enough to see the reality,but the threat of a hard-done-by's revolution is I feel increasing by the minute.

24-11-2014 09:51AM

Irish people looking into a hole...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30158267

Are the stereotypes of the Irish people actaully correct ?

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