People who still think Ireland is part of the UK

3DataModem · 25-03-2021 3:07pm

riffmongous wrote: »

Some very stupid comparisons here so far lads, PNG and Andorra ffs

"PNG" is bigger than Ireland. It's a perfect comparison. To you its a tiny wee country miles away. To most of the world, that's what we are.

bb1234567 · 25-03-2021 3:08pm

Happens all the time. Some American lad on twitter was saying I was only applauding the UK vaccine rollout because I was British ! My location says Dublin on my profile.

Having said that it doesn't annoy me. what do you know about other small countries worldwide, what do you know about Serbia , Uruguay , Oman , Kyrgyzstan , Georgia or Bhutan ? Would you have a keen awareness of any history of colonial border disputes in these places ? I doubt it unless you have a close contact who happens to be from there .. Compared to most of the world Ireland is extremely disproportionately over represented in terms of the knowledge and appreciation of our culture and history and current affairs people outside Ireland would possess compared to what they know of other small countries

25-03-2021 3:11pm

There's no doubt that we tend to overstate our importance but comparisons to Papua New Guinea and Andorra along with statements that 99% of French people don't know that the Republic of Ireland exists...comical overcorrections.

cgcsb · 25-03-2021 3:16pm

bb1234567 wrote: »

Happens all the time. Some American lad on twitter was saying I was only applauding the UK vaccine rollout because I was British ! My location says Dublin on my profile.

Having said that it doesn't annoy me. what do you know about other small countries worldwide, what do you know about Serbia , Uruguay , Oman , Kyrgyzstan , Georgia or Bhutan ?

I would know that they are countries at least and where they are in the world, without having to know their entire histories.

dxhound2005 · 25-03-2021 3:26pm

A lot of Irish people would have been to the Canary Islands. But how many of them know that the islands are in Africa?

riffmongous · 25-03-2021 3:43pm

3DataModem wrote: »

"PNG" is bigger than Ireland. It's a perfect comparison. To you its a tiny wee country miles away. To most of the world, that's what we are.

meeeeh · 25-03-2021 3:50pm

Ireland has one of the biggest if not the biggest diaspora in comparison to it's population. So people will recognise the name, many will know about IRA but what is part of what can be confusing for people. And mostly they just don't care.

25-03-2021 4:00pm

Strumms wrote: »

He’s having you on...I’ve lived in France, all be it living and working with educated people and they all would have been aware that just like France, Ireland was a Republic..

Yeh. He’s talking bollocks.

Here’s Le Monde on the Brexit tensions re Northern Ireland. Just a week or so ago.

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/03/11/brexit-tensions-entre-londres-et-bruxelles-sur-le-statut-de-l-irlande-du-nord_6072737_3210.html

Rothko · 25-03-2021 4:54pm

Some people really like to downplay Ireland for some reason.

km991148 · 25-03-2021 5:15pm

Its normally American bs/ignorance.. which is weird given the amount over their claiming to be Irish...

But they don't just do it with Ireland - Scotland (for example) is generally refereed to as "England" - where "England" means Britain of UK.

murpho999 · 25-03-2021 6:27pm

Deleted User wrote: »

We are an incredibly small country. If you asked people even what continent Papua New Guinea is in, let alone the currency, most people would get it wrong even though they have about twice the population.

This is a ridiculous answer.

Firstly, Ireland is small but it's not that "ridiculously" small.

It's similar or larger than Denmark, Norway, New Zealand ets.

Why do you pick a far off place like PNG?

The point is that many people in closer by countries think that Ireland is part of Britain or UK.

Lived in Holland and faced daily battles convincing people I was not English (everything in UK is "English" to them) and that I'm Irish and we're an independent nation.

I find it baffling as I remember studying first year senior school geography in the 80s and learned about European countries, learned their capital, location, size, population, languages and major industries.

For example don't you think most Irish people would know that Denmark, which is smaller than Ireland, is independent and not part of Germany.

Clearly us speaking English doesn't help with our identity, but nobody thinks that Austrians are the same as Germans.

I've even met people in the UK that thought Ireland was still in the UK.
I do find it strange.

murpho999 · 25-03-2021 6:29pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

A lot of Irish people would have been to the Canary Islands. But how many of them know that the islands are in Africa?

I think most would as we have maps.

I think people can distinguish between geography and politics.

cgcsb · 25-03-2021 6:39pm

murpho999 wrote: »

Clearly us speaking English doesn't help with our identity, but nobody thinks that Austrians are the same as Germans.

Not really. The older generation in Austria would even refer to themselves as German as a secondary identity. Their primary identity is their state/bundesland. The modern Austrian state is a bit of construct, assembled from the German speaking parts of the former empire and kept separate from Germany by force as part of the terms of Germany's surrender in both wars. Bavaria and West Austria wouldn't really view eachother as 'different'. Although there is a view of Austrians being more backwards, which is generally true.

Ireland's island identity is much older and much more distinct.

dxhound2005 · 25-03-2021 6:45pm

murpho999 wrote: »

I think most would as we have maps.

I think people can distinguish between geography and politics.

Ireland is just a dot on the global map, with a tiny population. I doubt if too many people in the mega cities in Asia know or care much about us.

Rothko · 25-03-2021 6:57pm

Paddy's Day is celebrated or marked all across the world. I don't think Papua New Guinea has a similar day that gets such international recognition.

Joe Don Dante · 25-03-2021 7:00pm

no one gives a **** if your Irish except Irish people. we are a small country with no say in the world's affairs

Tyrone212 · 25-03-2021 7:03pm

I've come across a lot of Irish people who didn't know Donegal was in the Republic. Some of them were teachers. Totally stunned and in disbelief when they learnt it was in the Republic.

maestroamado · 25-03-2021 7:13pm

Tyrone212 wrote: »

I've come across a lot of Irish people who didn't know Donegal was in the Republic. Some of them were teachers. Totally stunned and in disbelief when they learnt it was in the Republic.

Sure its not border starts around Bundoran....

Greyfox · 25-03-2021 7:18pm

Yes we are a small country and it's understandable why this happens but I think Irish people should always make sure to correct anybody who makes the mistake and never just let it go. If I was to make a list of the most important things to know about Irish people then no.1 on that list is that were not part of the UK, its a very important fact that's built into our identity. I say this as someone who likes the UK a lot.

murpho999 · 25-03-2021 7:25pm

Joe Don Dante wrote: »

no one gives a **** if your Irish except Irish people. we are a small country with no say in the world's affairs

The country that has no say in the world's affairs that currently sits on the UN security council?

So are you saying that people would only know about the G8.

That's not how the world works.

People know about countries for more reasons than politics.

The arts are important. Ireland has a long literary history and 4 nobel prize winners as well as other famous writers such as Joyce and Wilde that are translated into many languages.
Music, apart from our well know traditional music we have a long history in "modern" music U2 of course being the most famous. How could people not know they're Ireland?

Sport: Often the most famous people on the planet, especially footballers and Ireland has produced a fair few of them, Roy Keane arguably the most famous one recently.

My point is that Ireland, is small, as many here say but I think we punch above our weight interns of societal and cultural impact and influence and I do not understand how people think we're just English.

murpho999 · 25-03-2021 7:29pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Ireland is just a dot on the global map, with a tiny population. I doubt if too many people in the mega cities in Asia know or care much about us.

Who mentioned mega cities in Asia?

Why are people comparing Ireland to this places?
Why are so many here obsessed with putting Ireland down. It really seems to a be strange Irish habit.

I'm talking about people in UK & Europe not knowing that Ireland is not English.

Only thing I'm hoping is that Brexit will help people see that Ireland is still in the EU and therefore must be different.

dxhound2005 · 25-03-2021 7:48pm

murpho999 wrote: »

Who mentioned mega cities in Asia.

Why are people comparing Ireland to this places?
Why are so many here obsessed with putting Ireland down. It really seems to a be strange Irish habit.

I'm talking about people in UK & Europe not knowing that Ireland is not English.

Only thing I'm hoping is that Brexit will help people see that Ireland is still in the EU and therefore must be different.

The OP is talking about one American who thought that Ireland is in the UK. It is hardly putting Ireland down to point out that this sort of ignorance is worldwide and applies to all sorts of similar misconceptions.

Edgware · 25-03-2021 7:57pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

Triggering to Irish people who think the world revolves around Ireland and every nationality should have a potted history of Ireland in their head.

You must admit we have the "best supporters in the world"

25-03-2021 8:05pm

murpho999 wrote: »

This is a ridiculous answer.

Firstly, Ireland is small but it's not that "ridiculously" small.

It's similar or larger than Denmark, Norway, New Zealand ets.

Why do you pick a far off place like PNG?

Because America is far away? I could have picked somewhere closer like Denmark, but I wanted to be fairer?

joe40 · 25-03-2021 8:15pm

Tyrone212 wrote: »

I've come across a lot of Irish people who didn't know Donegal was in the Republic. Some of them were teachers. Totally stunned and in disbelief when they learnt it was in the Republic.

That is surprising, I have yet to meet an Irish person that thought that.

whisky_galore · 25-03-2021 8:19pm

Edgware wrote: »

You must admit we have the "best supporters in the world"

To many nationalities, we are just another pasty variety of farang/Western foreign devil who don't fare well in sun, like dutch, Russian or *clutches pearls* English.

Some may have detailed knowledge of this country, some may associate us with a type of theme hostelry, a band, a soccer player or a certain black beer, some don't know or don't care what we are as they don't have a Western centric / Anglophone centric view of the world.

bigar · 25-03-2021 8:23pm

Uncle Pierre wrote: »

Belgium, then.

How many people here would know the intricacies of the divide between the Flemish and the French speaking parts, and how deep the feelings between them run?

I do

Most annoying thing is that most think we all speak French as our first language while only 40% of the population does so. I blame Agatha Christie.

boardise · 25-03-2021 8:38pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Papua New Guinea is better known abroad than Ireland is

got it :rolleyes:

Not in Western Europe-but perhaps in Asia. Depends where you place your centre of perception.
The point being made is that the political status of islands many thousands of miles away may not register as facts that people feel they need to be knowledgeable about.
I feel I'm pretty well educated but I don't feel at all obligated to inform myself about details of remote territories.
If the need arises -the relevant info can be readily obtained.

dxhound2005 · 25-03-2021 8:51pm

bigar wrote: »

I do

Most annoying thing is that most think we all speak French as our first language while only 40% of the population does so. I blame Agatha Christie.

That's nearly as annoying as an American thinking that Ireland is part of the UK.

Five Eighth · 25-03-2021 8:55pm

Many people in overseas countries just don't care enough to distinguish between Ireland, Northern Ireland, Britain and the UK. It's not anyway relevant to them and their lives. There is some recognition of Ireland as an independent state in the UK (geographical/political/ social reasons), in the US (diaspora) and within some sections of European society (EU membership/Troubles). It's hard to fault people in other countries for not giving a toss.

People who still think Ireland is part of the UK

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