To think that UK voters should be ashamed of their apathetic ignorance?

[MrsDustyBusty]

Never heard of the DUP before today? Really, it's embarrassing.

Yet so many posters don't seem to find it that way. I'm a filthy foreigner and I literally know more about UK politics than many posters here.

AIBU to think that's really shameful?

I have never heard of dup. I have asked about it. But I still don't understand it. There's loads of shit I don't know about. But op I'm not ashamed and I don't give a duck what you think.

I think YABU to be rude or judgemental about people being ignorant over a particular topic.

YANBU to be surprised though, I don't think. Anyone who's ever watched UK election coverage as it comes in will at least have heard of DUP. I didn't know their policies though, except that they are right wing.

And to be fair to people who don't know, they are often lumped together with the other NI parties as 'other' on bar graphs.

OP has a point - it is odd how little mainland Brits know about Ireland, North or South. If we knew more we might not have blundered into the Brexit fuck-up without wondering what it would mean for the Good Friday agreement.

But hey, who gives a fuck about the Irish. It's not like they're our nearest neighbours, or like we do more trade with them than with India.

I can't vote for
Labour Party
SNP
Lib Dems
Scottish Conservatives
Plaid Cymru
Fine Gael
Fianna Fail

I have however heard of them, could probably have a good guess at their leaders names, would have a fair idea of their leaning.
The wording of your OP was dickish but that doesn't mean you're wrong.

Cheese I am exactly the same age as you. You might have been 3-12 in the 1980s, but you were 12-22 in the 90s, and if you really have no idea who Iain Paisley is you must have had a very limited political awakening!!! Also, you don't need to have pored over their manifestos to have had a very basic idea of who the main players in the troubles were. It did after all involve people being blown up across the UK - it was hardly a remote foreign dispute!!!

While we're at it, this from Wikipedia: Loyalist paramilitaries [who are to the DUP as Sinn Feinis to the IRA] were responsible for about 30% of all deaths in the Troubles,[24] and were responsible for about 48% of all civilian deaths.'

Lovely bunch of people.

You are missing the point.
Everyone in England (and well yes in the uk) should know about the DUP. Not because of who to vote for.
But because whatever happens in NI happens IN BRITAIN that is in our country.
All the negociations and all the major issues between the two sides should be well known by people all over Britain beause this WILL have some impact on us, and yes incl in England/Scotland etc...
And because surely the central givernemetnin Westminster also has a big impact on NI (which means that whatever way we are voting outside NI will have an impact on them too).

Yes they are a separate 'country' but in the way that beligium of Germany is a separate country to the uk. They are still part of Britain and yes that means we should all know what happens in Britain as a whole, not just in the 'country' where you live (aka England, Scotland etc...)

Fwiw, I'm pretty sure that in NI, they do know what's happening in England or in Scotland. So why not the other way around??

"I don't have any knowledge of Ireland or Irish politics because it's never interested me, I've never been there and I don't know any Irish people."

But Irish politics isn't separate - DUP MPs are MPs in Westminster... that's our politics.

ODFOD

ImplantsandaDyson, I don't really understand... FG & FF are parties from a different country than the UK. Of course you can't vote for them.
As far as I know the other parties are all British. Am I missing something?

Not interested in policies of DUP (or PC or SNP) because I live in a rural English backwater and none of those parties have candidates here.

Not interested in your opinion either, OP.

There's some serious celebrating ignorance here.

Have seen the DUP referred to as Irish many many times on here and elsewhere today, which is kinda hilarious. err they are Irish the term Irish refers to the island of Ireland which they are from

bluegreenyellow Not sure if you're joking here or not - please excuse me if you're engaging in satire.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK. Its citizens are UK citizens and thus British (there is no nationality called UKish, British is the correct term even though NI isn't in Britain). Under the Good Friday Agreement, NI citizens can choose to view themselves as British or Irish, it's up to each individual. Many have both passports.

The DUP are unionists (clue in the name). This refers to the union with Great Britain. They will in no way regard themselves as Irish. They would find you referring to them as Irish to be highly offensive. Assuming you are from GB, they would regard that to be as correct as someone referring to you as French. They are British, not Irish, and it is their absolute (legal) right to define themselves as such, and pretty ignorant to deny them that.

I'm from Ireland* (the country, as in Republic of) and I also find it offensive when you refer to them as Irish. They are extremely right wing, in a way that would never fly with the Irish electorate and we would like nothing to do with them, thank you very much. In contrast to what many seem to think, Ireland is in many ways more left wing than the UK, never mind the DUP voting parts of NI.

(* I have now lived in NI for 10 years. There will be a lot of slagging off of NI over the next few days. It's in many ways justifiable, the politics are fucking awful. But this is a fabulous place to live, and if we can ever get away from the seemingly endless cycle of approaching elections, the politics don't infringe on day to day life and most people are lovely. Please don't judge us all by the DUP and Sinn Fein.)

The thread will have moved on so far by the time I post this.

Yes, I'm in NI and I have still have heard of parties in England, Scotland and Wales even though they don't stand in my constituency and I can't vote for them and I know the parties in the Republic because they are my nearest neighbours. I've been really surprised at the lack of knowledge and even the name of the largest political party in NI.

if you really have no idea who Iain Paisley is you must have had a very limited political awakening!!! Also, you don't need to have pored over their manifestos to have had a very basic idea of who the main players in the troubles were. It did after all involve people being blown up across the UK - it was hardly a remote foreign dispute!!!
I've heard of Ian Paisley before. Not everyone takes a keen interest in politics and studies them though, so when I was 12-22, no, I didn't know the ins and outs of the parties/who was in what as it just wasn't something I studied.
Instead I took a keen interest in all things related to space - really interested in learning more about wormholes, speed of light, other planets etc.
Different things interest different people. Would I call you stupid if you didn't know what a wormhole was? No, because I appreciate different things interest different people.
Why do people into politics automatically think everyone else who doesn't know all the ins and outs are "inferior?"
They're not.
I'm nowhere near the troubles of Northern Ireland, it's never been a party that I've ever been able to vote for, so it's never crossed my radar before.

No there's no celebrating ignorance at all, the OP worded their post in such a vile way that people are reacting towards that. You can make a point in a decent way without insulting peoples intelligence.

I hadn't heard of them. I wasn't asleep in the 90s I was just a kid who didn't care much for politics at the time!

The DUP will make a good partnership with the Tories so think it's a wise move.

oh but I do a good impression of Ian Paisley though!?

Of the hundreds of countries in the world I only know the politics of less than 10, mostly because I have a strong interest in those countries, or I've lived there. That doesn't make me ignorant.

Nobody outside NI knows or cares about Unionist politics.

Liv thanks for that explanation between British and Irish and the good Friday agreement.
I didn't know that (but I have the excuse of not being British so I am still learning)

Wow! How judgemental! Really OP?? As a foreigner you may not understand the intricacies and nuances of our country or our mindset. There are many many reasons some uk citizens may not know much about the DUP, but I doubt you have bothered to ask any citizens in a polite enough way to get a reasonable response. I think it is incredibly rude to judge UK citizens when u likely have little knowledge of the culture and intricacies of our way of life (if you did have, you would not be so offensive). There are complex historical, social, cultural and educational reasons for the way uk citizens currently relate to and understand politics and Uk-wide political affiliations. Please don't cast uninformed and offensive judgements. Where are you from? How would you feel about uninformed 'foreigners' casting I'll-informed judgements about your nation and it's people?

It's quite interesting to see how many people don't know about the politics in NI but somehow have some ideas of what happens in France or in Germany, both of which ARE totally different countries.....

But Irish politics isn't separate - DUP MPs are MPs in Westminster... that's our politics.

IRISH POLITICS IS FIANNA FAIL VS FINE GAEL. ALONG WITH OTHER MINOR PARTIES.

THE DUP ARE NORTHERN IRISH POLITICS AND THUS PART OF THE UK.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP CONFUSING NORTHERN IRELAND AND IRELAND ON THIS OF ALL DAYS. DEFENDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR OWN POLITICS BY DEMONSTRATING YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT COUNTRIES MAKE UP YOUR OWN NATION DOES NOT INSPIRE CONFIDENCE.

IRELAND IS ITS OWN COUNTRY.

FFS.