Fed up with jokes about 'stupid Irish' people?

The education system again. Not much there about the British effect on Ireland's history is there? Many British people still think Ireland is part of the UK. Seriously.

Is your office in the 70s?!

Not you aren’t being over sensitive, that is bizarre. send the trail to HR and ask them to send a reminder out.

Er what ? Ireland has nothing to do with Westminster.

Agree. I'm fed up of the casual racism and pompous superiority levelled against English people by a tiny minority of people from elsewhere in the British Isles and elsewhere.

Yes, there are historical reasons for this but, frankly, most people have moved on and this kind of narrow-minded, lazy and ignorant flag-waving belongs to Trump the past.

This. It all feels very last century and now more likely that people scratch around to find and claim Irish/Welsh/other ancestry for a more interesting identity - and passport where possible. There are clearly some thicko dinosaurs around like OP encountered who would get in big trouble for such comments, esp in civil service. It still seems okay to make jibes at straight white males, which gives said males grounds to get wound up about it, which no good will come of.

Maybe I’m from the wrong generation to notice though. I’m 29 and from Northern England and I don’t think I’ve heard an anti-Irish statement my whole life. If anything I’ve only heard family feeling bad for the Irish because they think they’re victims of Westminster like my home town.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say anything like that. All I get is the Irish and Scottish calling all English people evil tbh

This is certainly worth complaing about, there have been cases won for constructive dismissal, where Irish people have been targeted with this sort of rubbish at work. Imagine being the (unjustifably) butt of everyone's "jokes," day in, day out.

Gotback · Today 11:50

Mark Wood is from Ashington in South Northumberland. Us Geordies can tell quickly that someone is from Ashington / Bedlington.

Like some posters here, I have Irish and Wesh ancestry. Dad's dad was from Armagh, mam's mam from Ballymena and mam's dad from rural Wales. It seems to be a certain type who complains about Irish, Scots and Welsh, with lazy stereotypes and urban myths:

"Oh, I went into a pub in Wales and they stopped talking English and started in Welsh."

The kind who go to Spain, complain about the food and want a cooked breakfast and moan that the waiter's English isn't 100% flawless.

.

To make such sweeping generalisations about a country that has a population of nearly 70 million as opposed to Ireland's just over 5 million, seems a bit drastic a position.

Absolutely agree with this, Ireland at this stage is far ahead of the Britain in a lot of areas, Britain has been rapidly declining for decades whereas Ireland has been rapidly progressing during that same time and continues to progress

Tbh, I think this is a divisive nonsense thread!

Sorry the Brits don't value literature, music and poetry- eh? Is this satire? I am not being defensive as have Danish heritage only a couple of generations back and still have family there, that is certainly not the view of English people which I think you are getting at.

This. You can’t complain about offensive nonsense and then go into a similar rant.

Irish here - I find this idea that the English are a nation of uncultured swines and that the Celts are somehow bastions of cultured civilisation equally offensive, tbh.

TBH deep down I'd take it as a compliment from those undereducated and far less sophisticated than you are. I see it as envy really. All forms of racism usually stem from idiots.

The Irish are highly educated very warm welcoming people, come from a wealthy well run country that values education, looks after its underprivileged and its elderly very very well. I envy you, but not in the racist way I described above!

And dummy Brummies!

yanbu, I would also report it to a manager/hr

YANBU - somehow it’s still fine to be racist towards white people (or cultures perceived to be mostly white). See also “miserly” scots and “sheep shaggers” of Wales. I’m Northern Irish by birth and have actually had work colleagues make jokes about me knowing how to make bombs - I have called it out because it’s insensitive, and much worse, not actually funny. I’d describe myself as anti-woke if anything and love a joke, but Paddy jokes can get in the bin of comedy along with every other lazy race-based “joke”.

Do you work in 1985? I work for a public body and any jokes of that nature would be reported to HR and people disciplined. It's racism, deal with it like you would any other racist "joke" or comment.

Mr Monkey is Irish and he hasn't heard that sort of stuff since the early 1990s