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Would you move up North?

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,507 ✭✭✭Buona Fortuna


    Winter is coming - and everyone will move south.


  • Registered Users Posts: 22,231 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    I lived in the north for a year and a half. Glasnevin. Was OK. Handy for town. Never saw any flegs.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    Senna wrote: »
    Lived in Belfast once and never again, it might seem fine for visiting and I still visit fairly regularly but there is deep hatred in both communities that hasn't disappeared just because of the peace process and that hatred is still found in the younger generations.

    Its not that long ago you had parents stoning kids walking to "that" school through "their" area.

    I wouldnt let a child of mine go to a school in the north, the schools are the breeding ground for hatred.

    Sure they can get all the ignorance and misinformation they need from you, no need to send them to school up there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,898 ✭✭✭circadian


    Senna wrote: »
    Lived in Belfast once and never again, it might seem fine for visiting and I still visit fairly regularly but there is deep hatred in both communities that hasn't disappeared just because of the peace process and that hatred is still found in the younger generations.

    Its not that long ago you had parents stoning kids walking to "that" school through "their" area.

    I wouldnt let a child of mine go to a school in the north, the schools are the breeding ground for hatred.

    Aye I'm full of hatred, so am are.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Sure they can get all the ignorance and misinformation they need from you, no need to send them to school up there.

    I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

    I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

    I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

    I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

    My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

    The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 22,929 ✭✭✭✭ShadowHearth


    Easily. I was a few times in there and have good few friends. Would love to and maybe will at some point.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,363 ✭✭✭✭mariaalice


    As long it was a nice middle class enclave I would have no problem with it but somewhere like Bushmills absolutely not.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

    I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

    Oh the horror!

    I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

    Did they leave a note or could this have been random idiots being idiots (they have these in the south also)

    I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

    Thats a pretty stupid time to be up in belfast.

    My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

    Kids enjoy stoning buses/trains in the south aswell its a fairly regular activity of the idiot.

    The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

    Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,642 ✭✭✭MRnotlob606


    I'm doing volunteering in Omagh during the summer. Couple of years ago that would of meant something different


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭blinding


    Never had a moment's bother in Belfast and I've been through it all, Mount Vernon, Tiger's Bay, Twinbrook, Ballymurphy, you name it, I've been there at all hours.

    Worst thing that ever happened me was got my back window in the van blew out in Ballyclare. By a stone threw up from a strimmer! :D
    What religion/political view did the strimmer have ? :D


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,116 ✭✭✭Trent Houseboat


    Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".

    Are you suggesting that s/he imagined the harassment, questioning of his religion and vandalism or are you suggesting that s/he is lying?
    There is nothing preconceived about this. These things happened or they did not.

    Personally I was in Belfast a couple of times and quite liked it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".

    Well, being called a "taig" and having one's car attacked doesn't exactly do wonders for tourism.

    People have preconceptions about Northern Ireland due to a combination of personal experiences and the news. The majority of coverage that the world sees of the region is very negative - mostly riots, violence or very strange political issues around sectarianism.

    Also the DUP is doing you no favours at all - The commentary that comes out of that party, particularly aimed towards the GLBT community, is just spin chilling and pretty unbelievable in this day and age.

    If Northern Ireland's electorate would stand back for a moment and consider how their politicians are seen by the outside world, maybe they might reconsider who they're voting for.
    At the end of the day, these are the people who are forming the image of Northern Ireland in the media.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,835 ✭✭✭✭cloud493


    I do like Northern Ireland, and would move up there, I spend a fair amount of time up there anyway. But people who say they don't care about religious affiliations anymore or the communities have entirely moved on is wrong, cos they definitely haven't. Its kinda sad to see in a way.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    Are you suggesting that s/he imagined the harassment, questioning of his religion and vandalism or are you suggesting that s/he is lying?
    There is nothing preconceived about this. These things happened or they did not.

    Personally I was in Belfast a couple of times and quite liked it.

    What im questioning is the motives behind the "harrassment", vague stories about cars being vandalised because of the irish reg and buses getting bricks thrown at them because of the donegal plates.

    Cars get vandalised and buses get stones chucked at them EVERYWHERE because people are morons. It never ceases to amaze me the irrational fear of crossing the border and peoples belief that lads in belfast etc give a flying f**k about their car reg.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Well, being called a "taig" and having one's car attacked doesn't exactly do wonders for tourism.

    People have preconceptions about Northern Ireland due to a combination of personal experiences and the news. The majority of coverage that the world sees of the region is very negative - mostly riots, violence or very strange political issues around sectarianism.

    Also the DUP is doing you no favours at all - The commentary that comes out of that party, particularly aimed towards the GLBT community, is just spin chilling and pretty unbelievable in this day and age.

    Why are the DUP doing ME no favours?..i never voted for them or do i live in the north.

    Are you now saying that a person was attacking you car while calling you a "taig" or were these two seperate issues?


  • Registered Users Posts: 33,727 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


    No, living in the warmer south east and in a very scenic location, and with a farm here that can't be physically moved.
    Also I have great friends and neighbours here, so no, I wouldn't move up North.


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


    blinding wrote: »
    What religion/political view did the strimmer have ? :D

    Was spinning too fast for me to see the colour of the gut. :p


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


    What im questioning is the motives behind the "harrassment", vague stories about cars being vandalised because of the irish reg and buses getting bricks thrown at them because of the donegal plates.

    Cars get vandalised and buses get stones chucked at them EVERYWHERE because people are morons. It never ceases to amaze me the irrational fear of crossing the border and peoples belief that lads in belfast etc give a flying f**k about their car reg.
    TransLink and the NI Fire Service have stopped putting Donegal regs on their vehicles for this very reason


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Why are the DUP doing ME no favours?..i never voted for them or do i live in the north.

    Are you now saying that a person was attacking you car while calling you a "taig" or were these two seperate issues?

    Look, I can see you're quite passionately protecting your home place and I fully appreciate that point of view. We all do, but the reality is that's how a lot of people perceive it and that's because of reported facts on the news and because of personal experiences that get reported back.

    Aspects of Northern Ireland are perfectly nice and normal, but it doesn't mean that I would ever want to live there because I really don't like the underlying problems and the attitudes.

    I would find it extremely difficult to live in a bubble in some nice bit of Belfast and pretend that the DUP didn't exist and that there was no issue with sectarianism. It would really grind me down after a while.

    There are many aspects of the Republic that drive me nuts too and put me off living here, particularly the school system which I think is lost in the dark ages and still bound up in religiosity with little option other than Educate Together to escape that.

    However, most other things are pretty modern and forward looking and I don't see any sense of a divided society on religious grounds.

    All that I'm saying is that, personally, based on my experiences of Northern Ireland and on who I am and my personal values, I would not feel comfortable living in Northern Ireland.

    I would be particularly offended by the DUP's continuously negative attitudes to LGBT rights and I think that stands in absolute and stark contrast to what's happening south of the border.

    The OP asked how people felt about living up there. That's what I'm answering. People do not have to agree with me, but those are my personal opinions and experiences.

    Also, I'm not saying that the DUP does you any favours or that you voted for them, but they're part of the Northern Irish Government and ultimately that has an impact on policy making up there and a very serious one and that would impact me if I lived there, so while they're in power, there is no way I would live there.

    That's not a unionist vs nationalist argument either - it's largely about attitudes to secularism and LGBT and general human rights.

    I would have major issues living in certain US states for similar reasons.


  • Registered Users Posts: 20,409 ✭✭✭✭kneemos


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

    I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

    I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

    I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

    My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

    The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!


    We'd stone NI cars as well, except they're moving too fast.


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  • Administrators Posts: 53,365 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    "OMG one of the nordys just glanced at me, I feel so on edge!"

    Thread contains a lot of ignorance.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Look, I can see you're quite passionately protecting your home place and I fully appreciate that point of view. We all do, but the reality is that's how a lot of people perceive it and that's because of reported facts on the news and because of personal experiences that get reported back.

    Aspects of Northern Ireland are perfectly nice and normal, but it doesn't mean that I would ever want to live there because I really don't like the underlying problems and the attitudes.

    I would find it extremely difficult to live in a bubble in some nice bit of Belfast and pretend that the DUP didn't exist and that there was no issue with sectarianism. It would really grind me down after a while.

    There are many aspects of the Republic that drive me nuts too and put me off living here, particularly the school system which I think is lost in the dark ages and still bound up in religiosity with little option other than Educate Together to escape that.

    However, most other things are pretty modern and forward looking and I don't see any sense of a divided society on religious grounds.

    All that I'm saying is that, personally, based on my experiences of Northern Ireland and on who I am and my personal values, I would not feel comfortable living in Northern Ireland.

    The OP asked how people felt about living up there. That's what I'm answering. People do not have to agree with me, but those are my personal opinions and experiences.


    Fair enough, i just find it interesting when people talk about the "atmosphere" and have preconceptions that cloud their experiences while talking about politics/school systems they dont have the first idea about.


  • Administrators Posts: 53,365 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

    I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

    I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

    I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

    My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

    The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

    I don't believe you.


  • Administrators Posts: 53,365 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    Fair enough, i just find it interesting when people talk about the "atmosphere" and have preconceptions that cloud their experiences while talking about politics/school systems they dont have the first idea about.

    You have to take a lot of it with a pinch of salt.

    People will say they have recurring problems going up to NI, yet thousands upon thousands go without hassle all the time.

    You have to wonder what it is about these people that claim to have constant issues. Getting grief once is bad luck, getting grief all the time goes beyond bad luck.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,752 ✭✭✭pablomakaveli


    I'll mention that to the two Cork lads who play in our seven-a-side soccer on a Thursday night.

    There's also a Dundalk lad who plays - but sure that's North anyway!! :D

    Whats my being from Cork got to do with it? I went up there 4 or 5 times and didn't like it. Thats purely down to my experience there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭Tiger Mcilroy


    awec wrote: »
    You have to take a lot of it with a pinch of salt.

    People will say they have recurring problems going up to NI, yet thousands upon thousands go without hassle all the time.

    You have to wonder what it is about these people that claim to have constant issues. Getting grief once is bad luck, getting grief all the time goes beyond bad luck.

    Oh yeah obviously, its like anywhere if you look for certain things you will find it.

    walking about with a sense of impending doom born out of misplaced paranoia is something else entirely. Plus all the northies are definitely staring at the plates on all the cars so they can show the "taigs" whats what.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,088 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    awec wrote: »
    I don't believe you.

    Fair enough, but I do not post lies online and I have absolutely no agenda other than that someone asked for a view on opting to live in Northern Ireland.

    Sadly, because I do think NI has a lot of great places and people, I think a minority of sectarian thugs and the political leadership does the place absolutely no favours at all.

    It's a constant stream of bad PR for the region and actually it has a direct impact on the Republic too as we tend to get assumed to be one and the same place by a lot of people who don't know the nuances of Ireland.

    I was asked in France "how do you live with all the bombs?" ... (In Cork never mind in Belfast...)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭blinding


    We will send the LGBT community up there first.

    That will confuse them and lead to spontaneous combustion from the most extreme nutters.

    The LGBT community will civilise them and then it will safe for the rest of us to venture North:D


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,678 ✭✭✭Crooked Jack


    Spent a couple of days in Belfast Last year for work, didn't like it at all. Felt on edge all the time and always looking over my shoulder and that was with a large group of people (30+). Wouldn't really like to visit again never mind live there.

    That sounds more like you were the problem than Belfast


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,294 ✭✭✭thee glitz


    Did you know...
    that 5 of the counties in the north are in the top 11 in Ireland in terms of population?

    4 are in the top 7 going by population density. It can't be all that bad.

    I do go to Enniskillen every so often to pick up a few bargains, grand place.
    There's something in the air up north - it feels like anything is liable to
    happen at any time, a bit edgy like Glasgow.

    It certainly has the scenery, some funny characters up there and stories about gay cakes etc.

    I'd move up there for a while for a job i really wanted.

    Fermanagh should probably be in the republic.


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