To be surprised at how little British people seem to know about Ireland?

[WriterofDreams]

I'm from Ireland and I've lived in England for a total of two years. In Ireland we watch all the British channels and get all the British newspapers so most Irish people are pretty up to date on everything that's going on in Britain. Also, the Irish news tends to mention Britain a lot, so even if you only watch Irish tv or read Irish newspapers you'll still get a lot of information on current affairs in Britain.

When the whole thing with Ireland going down the pan financially came up on Channel 4 my mum rang me to say "Ireland's on the British news!" and we knew then it must be bad, simply because Ireland is so rarely mentioned over here. Now I know it's a tiny country but it's a close neighbour of Britain and a large population of Irish people live in Britain, so I would have thought it was reasonable that there would be a fair amount of mention of Ireland in schools and in newspapers and on the tv. But that's not the case.

Since living here it has struck me that so many people don't seem to know basic facts about Ireland, such as who the President is, who the Taoiseach is, what the native language is called, what the native sports are and so on. I've noticed in primary schools (not sure about secondary) that Ireland is rarely mentioned as part of history or geography despite the long and complicated historical links between the two countries.

Would it be fair to say that there isn't much mention of Ireland in Britain? Do you feel you know much about Ireland? Not saying we're special or owt, just curious.

Bpb, no Donegal gets 'Donegal' or 'over to 'donegal' whereas we say we're use 'down south' for the rest of Ireland unless we're talking about a specific county :)

When My husband and I visited the US we were shocked by how many people thought we all lived in small whitewashed thatched cottages with no electricity or running water. One guy also made a point of telling us that he loved the movie 'braveheart'. um, great!

Yeah however little British people might know about Ireland, it can definitely be worse in America. When my sister said to her American friend that she would email him when she got home his mum was absolutely flabbergasted that she had a computer. She honestly thought Ireland had no electricity

Oh dear. I'm American and was just waiting for the 'how stupid Americans are' to come into the thread...

Bye!!!

Fuck me you are sensitive. If you read the thread the same has been said about the British and indeed the Irish. But if you are only obsessed with your own country, then.......

Don't go I love my dog! My husband and I both grew up over there and we love it! We were just shocked by how many people asked us those type of questions. You can claim back some dignity by how well you cope when you get snow in comparison to the complete chaos it causes over here :)

If DH is hungry he declares "he could eat a scabby horse". He might then go to the "chipper". Failing that, he can raid his stash of Kimberley biscuits, iced caramels and Tayto crisps.

One of my colleagues went to the UK to do a course. One of her fellow students was quite surprised to discover we use the Euro in Ireland. "You have the Euro. Wow! It's like a whole different country!"

I also overheard a woman in Birmingham Airport who was queuing to get on the same Dublin flight as me telling her husband it was a "domestic flight"

But in all fairness, I think that we can be equally ignorant about the UK. In secondary school, in geography, I learned all about France, Germany, the Netherlands etc..
About the UK, nothing! It was "optional".
Now why it would be optional to learn about our nearest neighbour and compulory to learn about mainland Europe is beyond me, particularly as we are far more likely to end up working and living in Britain than anywhere else.

I have subsequently learned British geography on a "need to know" basis as I do a lot of courses in the UK and have holidayed there and will be doing so again. Otherwise my knowledge would have been of the Jade Goody variety ( RIP Jade.)

I just remembered another phrase that separates the goats from the sheep.... to plug something out instead of unplug. Well we say plug something in...

To be fair, chipmonkey, flying to Dublin was always classed as 'domestic' because it's such a short distance. I didn't used to need a passport to fly, just presented my student union photo ID Interestingly, they tightened the rules over one weekend when DS1 was a baby. We flew to Dublin using just his birth certificate, and on the way back a narky Ryanair check in woman said we couldn't take him home without a passport. The scene I created was stuff of legend....

I worked in Dublin for about 8 months a few years ago. I had a great time (although I was bemused by the fact that I couldn't do anything without all my colleagues knowing about it before I got to work the next day). I would say, though, that occasionally being held personally responsible for the Potato Famine and having oranges left on my desk did pall after a while.

I wonder, really, how much mutual history is taught in either country? I understand that there would necessarily be a focus in Ireland on the horrors inflicted by the "English" but it would perhaps be helpful if there was a clearer understanding of the lives of most of the English (ie workers) at the same times in history. The majority of English people are not directly descended from the then ruling classes.

Similarly, I don't think it's surprising that Irish history is not taught in England. It was hardly the finest hour in English history.

A bit busy to get involved now, ladies but I give you..

"I could eat the arse off a baby through the bars of cot"..

I could eat a scabby babby anyone? Makes me feel a bit sick everytime I hear it!

Have read through most of this thread yes we English are pretty ignorant about Ireland but are we any less ignorant about Wales or Scotland? Doubt it. In terms of the anti Irish sentiments some people have mentioned surely that's the Post 60 generation not ours.. in fact I would have thought being Irish was a plus over here. From trips I've made to Ireland we seem to like the Irish more than they like us! The kind of racism that the Irish experienced now seems to be directed at the Welsh .. even educated left leaning people seem to think taking the proverbial out of them is totally acceptable. Which it's not (but then Im of Welsh descent so..,!)

I thought only OPs were supposed to get arsey and flounce off. How dare you steal my thunder Ilovemydog!!

Anyway, back in non-hysterical land, I hate those hungry/scabby sayings, of which they are many. It seems the more gross it is the better. I could eat the arse off a scabby child was a common one among my friends. I like the "bullock between two breadvans" though, not heard that one before!

(sorry haven't read whole thread, so apologies if repeating)

When you ask about the lack of knowledge about politics and who is in power, yes I'll hold my hand up to not knowing much about Ireland. But I also don't have a clue who is the Scottish First Minister (I think that's what it's called) or the Welsh whatever they have. In fact, the only Scottish/Welsh politicians I can think of are Alex Salmon and Rhodri Morgan, but I have not idea if they are in power.

Feel free to call me ignorant, but I'm not directing my ignorance at the Irish in particular. I think the majority of English people wouldn't be name any of them either.

It doesn't put you in the best light though, saying, its not personal; I'm equally clueless about the rest of my neighbours!

How can you not know such fundamental things as the First Minister of Scotland or the welsh equive? Isn't that just basic knowledge if you ever pick up a newspaper? Or is UK regional reporting even more insular than I assumed?

maryz, did you mean British or English

Rats, just read it properly

Like I said, feel free to call me ignorant. I would agree with you Bonnie that UK regional reporting is very insular.

However, would anyone like to discuss the West Lothian question?

Yes, op makes a good observation I suppose as she's looking out for that news.

But then again I have background that is not Irish but from a few other places and my dh from another country so we tend to look out for that news.

Also I note that uk is not great on european news - possibly as we're not a great eu nation. DH watches his country tv all the time and there's lots of British news. Just not reciprocated.

If you like. IMO its an anomaly that shouldn't be that difficult to get rid of legislatively. Its not really helpful to anyone and doesn't make for harmonious relations.