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.

Surely it has to be part of Europe?

I mean it's hardly going to make itself an Asian, African or South American country is it??????

amadàns

Crown dependency, apparently. But not part of Europe. Very small though.
I've a friend from Swaziland and she doesn't like people assuming she's South African.

Not part of England, if not part of the UK .

I love the word amadáns!

It is part of Europe the continent (obviously, its not in Africa or another continent) It is not part of the European Union.

I am very annoyed that someone has already mentioned BIFFO, I was going to say it and feel smug.

I know what a begrudger and a cornerboy is too.

Anyway, DF's family are from Ireland and we lived in Norn Iron for a bit, so I try to keep up with what's going on there and Ireland too, as I do feel a link.

Dh and I very nearly ended up living in Dublin,I felt a bit sad about it not happening until the crash, as I'd have been one of those with a 15% paycut.

I love BIFFO, so accurate. I slept with went out with a BIFFO once

There are no ladies or gentlemen from Offaly. So no.

:o

Dia Dhaoibh. Ta se ag cur sneachta anseo inniu agus mar sin ta la saor agam. Woohoo!

I'm enjoying all this talk about Ireland. I won't be going back for Christmas as my baby is due Christmas Day so I'm feeling a teeny bit homesick :(

One of my best friends lives in Southern Britain - in a place called Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It's lovely!

Dias Mhuire guit WoD. Ta se ag cur sneachta anseo chomh maith agus ta me ag dul a dheanamh an sneachta fear.

The only thing that really pisses DH off is when he has the following conversation:

DH :
R : Oh, are you Irish?
DH : Yes
R : Oh, where are you from?
DH : Dublin
R : Is that the North or the South?
DH :

I do think that that is a supreme level of ignorance.

Dia's Muire duit a Writer - Bhú Hú! = an litriú ceart ansin, sílim

A: the East

That's what I always say anyway :o

What often surprises me is that a lot of people don't recognise my Irish accent, which is very strong and clear. I've had people ask if I'm from America, Canada and South Africa Do none of these people watch Father Ted??

To be fair, I'm from Essex and live in the mIdlands. I am regularly asked if I'm from Australia. Some people are just shit with accents.

Lots of people from South Co. Dublin, and part of North Wicklow (East Wicklow, natch!) really do sound American.

Or maybe they sound like us, I don't know.

My accent very quickly went native when I lived in the States. That's never happened anywhere else, but it was just so easy - barely had to chance how I pronounced things - just emphasis really, and BINGO I was a native New Yorker! :o

Dia is muire dhaoibh is Padraig Spidookly agus Chickens. Is fuath liom and Ghaeilge ach taim ag baint taitneamh as i a labhairt inniu :)

Unfortunately I've also encountered some very unexpected racism while I've been in England, but I suppose that's normal enough really. You're always going to get stick from someone when you're a forrin. The really surprising thing was that the racism came from well-educated people who thought they were being funny

I have been verbally abused in Dublin for being English, so I think that particular problem works both ways. Some nobber shouted at DH and I 'Feck off home you English bastards!'. We were getting in to our car at the time, which had British plates. Dh let rip with a stream of very interesting Irish swearing, the only words of which I could make out were 'Ya bollix'

Good on your DH Chickens! I do think Irish people have a knack for swearing

I totally agree about the racism thing working both ways, in fact I'd say it's a lot worse in Ireland. When my mum found out my DH was English I could tell she wasn't too happy about it and but she hid it as best she could. I also got a few barbed comments from the rest of my family. Of course now that they know him they're all fine with him, but the fact that there was even a very low level of palpable unease about the irrelevant fact that he was English bothered me.

And yes, I watch far too much American tv cos I think British tv is shit I used to be an ardent devotee of H and A but then one day I actually watched it with my brain switched on and realised what utter shite it is!