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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Well fuck me pink and call me Rosie. AIBU?

454 replies

TooBigForMyBoots · 15/04/2023 22:44

Do you know that Belfast and NI are in the British Isles? Are you aware that some British people claim they do not know that NI is in the same timezone as the rest of the UK?

YABU = You can't expect British people to know the history and geography of their country.
YANBU = Of course British people know this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise is having you on.

OP posts:
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16
VeniVidiWeeWee · 15/04/2023 23:45

This really isn't difficult.

One needs to separate geographical terms from political term.

Museya15 · 15/04/2023 23:46

I lived in the south of England and a lot of people didn't realise there was a "border" they think Ireland is Ireland, would say things like we can't send your document there as Belfast is not part of the UK. No clue whatsoever about it's history and have absolutely no interest in finding out. Northern Ireland is a little forgotten place at times, which is sad as it's great!

Pseudonamed · 15/04/2023 23:47

mainsfed · 15/04/2023 23:44

But I have met Belfastians who corrected me to say Southern Ireland.

Whose view wins?

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I live with a Belfast boy who says the same but it is only cos he wants to wind me up the same as I refer to him as a Brit when I want to - he is Catholic and more Irish than I claim to be and I am the 'southern' one. We know what you are talking about referring to us as southern but the reality is the island is divided into Ireland of the 26 counties and Northern Ireland of the 6.

UCUNoMore · 15/04/2023 23:47

Do UK citizens really believe that NI has a different time zone to the rest of the UK? That is not a good thing.

who cares? I’d far rather that there was better understanding of the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland in GB. But time zones? Meh. Unimportant.

Wanderingowl · 15/04/2023 23:48

Ireland in not one of the British Isles. That is why the full name of the UK is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland. The island of Ireland is not British even though part of it is in the UK. The official position of the government of Ireland is also that term British Isles refers only to Great Britain and it's surrounding isles and not Ireland. Using that term is very literally coloniser language.

DownNative · 15/04/2023 23:48

Jourdain11 · 15/04/2023 23:38

No, I never did learn about time zones at school. But even if I had done, I don't think I'd remember the details of every single one of them...

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You don't need to know all of them, but knowing which European states have different times to the UK is a basic, I think.

The speed signs in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are in MPH.

But the ones in the Republic of Ireland are in KPH. Other than that, they're pretty similar to UK signs.

I'd say that's a basic too. Things between the UK and ROI are more similar than not.

WoodenFloorboards · 15/04/2023 23:48

Some people are ignorant about some stuff. Why is this such a surprise? Have you never watched Pointless?

Not knowing that the whole of the UK and Ireland are on the same time zone is ignorant but it's not shockingly so. Belfast is much further away from me than Paris, which is in a different time zone. Lots of countries have split zones, and there are semi-serious suggestions to split Scotland and England.

By contrast, not understanding that Northern Ireland is part of the UK and that Ireland isn't would display a disturbing level of ignorance because it would mean that you hadn't paid any attention to the news for the last fifty years.

gogohmm · 15/04/2023 23:49

It never ceases to amaze me what people don't know. We were watching celebrity mastermind earlier and is was quite astounding what they were clueless about, this regularly happens in real life too.

JaneJeffer · 15/04/2023 23:49

@WagnersFourthSymphony The British Isles is a purely geographical term

Well fuck me pink and call me Rosie. AIBU?
WagnersFourthSymphony · 15/04/2023 23:49

To answer your question: it doesn't surprise me that some people haven't a clue about Northern Ireland, its constitutional position or its time zone. But it saddens me.

JenniferBarkley · 15/04/2023 23:50

Completely agree that sneering at individuals for not knowing something isn't on, for all the reasons stated.

The systemic ignorance about Ireland and Northern Ireland is something else though. Ignorance about a civil war in your own country in your own lifetime, ignorance about the constituent parts of your own country, ignorance about the independence of your nearest neighbour - none of this should be viewed as ok.

Aylestone · 15/04/2023 23:50

Guardian12 · 15/04/2023 23:41

It’s really the bare minimum to know basic details about the country you live in! It’s not like the UK is even big.

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Thats such a stupid comment I can’t even be arsed to come up with a good answer. I could ask you a thousand ‘facts’ about the uk that other people might consider the ‘bare minimum’, a lot of them that will actually have a much bigger impact upon your life than what the op is about, but you won’t know the answers to at least most of them. And how does the size of a nation of kingdoms determine the amount of facts there are about it? The uk has a richer history than countries twenty times it’s size

Original poster
TooBigForMyBoots · 15/04/2023 23:50

I am relieved and thankful to see that 90% of Mnetters know that Belfast shares a timezone with the rest of the UK.
Grin <<phew>>

OP posts:
Pseudonamed · 15/04/2023 23:50

gogohmm · 15/04/2023 23:49

It never ceases to amaze me what people don't know. We were watching celebrity mastermind earlier and is was quite astounding what they were clueless about, this regularly happens in real life too.

There was an episode of The chase where Bradley whatsisname wrongly told someone they were wrong when they answered 'Derry' and he said no they were wrong the answer was 'Londonderry'!

JingleBellez · 15/04/2023 23:50

TooBigForMyBoots · 15/04/2023 22:44

Do you know that Belfast and NI are in the British Isles? Are you aware that some British people claim they do not know that NI is in the same timezone as the rest of the UK?

YABU = You can't expect British people to know the history and geography of their country.
YANBU = Of course British people know this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise is having you on.

R U ok?

Jourdain11 · 15/04/2023 23:50

DownNative · 15/04/2023 23:48

You don't need to know all of them, but knowing which European states have different times to the UK is a basic, I think.

The speed signs in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are in MPH.

But the ones in the Republic of Ireland are in KPH. Other than that, they're pretty similar to UK signs.

I'd say that's a basic too. Things between the UK and ROI are more similar than not.

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I don't get it, I'm sorry. What do speed signs have to do with time zones?

mathanxiety · 15/04/2023 23:52

Aylestone · 15/04/2023 23:07

This may come as a shock op, but not all UK Citizens know all of the facts about the UK. I hate the implication that someone is stupid because someone else has decided that their lack of knowledge on a subject is indicative of their intelligence. It’s attitudes like yours that contributes to the ‘dumbing down’ of society. People are afraid to ask simple questions because of answers like ‘omg I can’t believe that there are actual people who don’t know that Belfast is in the British isles’. People only know stuff that they have been taught. Humans don’t always know the answers to questions they haven’t been asked, and there are questions that people don’t even think to ask themselves.

I think you're seriously overestimating people's curiosity here. In order to ask questions you need to have an inkling that there is something you don't know. Some people genuinely don't know what they don't know and don't know that they don't know it.

They're not afraid to ask questions. Fear of looking stupid isn't what's holding them back. Ever heard of Dunning Kruger?

Jourdain11 · 15/04/2023 23:52

Oh well, clearly I'm thick.

EmilyGilmoresSass · 15/04/2023 23:52

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 15/04/2023 23:05

It doesn’t help when people smugly say “Ireland isn’t in the UK” when actually people in NI call themselves Irish. DH’s family is from Belfast - not one says “I’m Northern Irish”. They are Irish. And the possessiveness of the ‘Im more Irish than you’ attitude of some people in ROI is a massive bone of contention to them.

I disagree. I live in NI and have never regetr3d to myself as Irish. Nor does anyone I know.

JaneJeffer · 15/04/2023 23:52

Have you never seen Back to the Future @Jourdain11?

Wanderingowl · 15/04/2023 23:53

mainsfed · 15/04/2023 23:44

But I have met Belfastians who corrected me to say Southern Ireland.

Whose view wins?

Show quote history

The actual objective name of the country is the name of the country. It's not open to anyone's opinion or argument. The country is called Ireland. It is a republic and can be described as the Republic of Ireland, but that is not it's name any more than the Republic of France is the name of France. And the northern most part of the island is in Ireland (the republic) so using Southern Ireland for anything other than a descriptor of the part of the country where Cork is, is very, very stupid.

Pseudonamed · 15/04/2023 23:53

Can I just point out that when Ireland finally gets its hole in gear and stops daylight saving we will have a time difference on the full island between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Jus sayin.

Original poster
TooBigForMyBoots · 15/04/2023 23:53

gogohmm · 15/04/2023 23:49

It never ceases to amaze me what people don't know. We were watching celebrity mastermind earlier and is was quite astounding what they were clueless about, this regularly happens in real life too.

Celebrity Specials of quiz games are known as Thickie specials in our house.

I was delighted when Richard O mentioned it on a recent episode of Pointless Slebs.

OP posts:
Pseudonamed · 15/04/2023 23:54

EmilyGilmoresSass · 15/04/2023 23:52

I disagree. I live in NI and have never regetr3d to myself as Irish. Nor does anyone I know.

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did 51% of the census not prove that to be wrong?

VeniVidiWeeWee · 15/04/2023 23:54

Wanderingowl · 15/04/2023 23:48

Ireland in not one of the British Isles. That is why the full name of the UK is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland. The island of Ireland is not British even though part of it is in the UK. The official position of the government of Ireland is also that term British Isles refers only to Great Britain and it's surrounding isles and not Ireland. Using that term is very literally coloniser language.

Wrong.