Opinion of Ireland.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Well?

Might aswell get with the trend.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

The bus drivers are insane.

Very, Very True. Pity we have quite possibly have the worst system of Rail transport in the Western World. (Seriously you Brits who complain about Railtrack\Network Rail have no idea how lucky you have it.)

But yes there are plently of bus drivers' stories to tell. May I ask were you travelling just in Dublin or out on the National bus service.

Best breakfasts ever

Not a fan of a hot breakfast sadly. Really more of a cereal man. Perhaps that's because I live in the most Americanized\Anglocized parts of the country but nah.. never got the whole Sausage and egg at 8am thing..

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Very, Very True.

The worst ones all had moustaches for some reason.

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National...

Ah yes, well perhaps needless to say if you travelling a good distance outside the Pale well then you might have problems with the roads for one thing.

As for Moustaches, it seems to be a fashion thing (seen it plently of times). Though nowadays I'd say half of the bus drivers are of non-Irish origin. Still they are picking the crazy up somewhere.

Alas, every Irish I have met over here is very prone to breaking into song.  Enough said!

I have a friend who is going over to Thailand in the summer btw; if you ever meet him I doubt he'll break into song. But you won't meet him, what you do isn't his thing. Most Irish people have more self-respect than you.

Should be reunited. Positive though, especially county Monaghan, where one side of my family is from.

Why do you hate Ireland?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I have quite a bit of Irish blood in me, but I've never really researched it much.  I know much more about the Scottish, German, and Norwegian... but my temper is pretty short, which I like to blame on my Irish blood.

I'd also love to visit Ireland, but like England, it'd probably be terribly expensive.  And I think the weather would drive me nuts.. I guess all that emerald green comes at a price

Overall, my opinion of Ireland is moderately positive.  They've had a tough last oh... 1,000 years or so.

Potato Famine aside what's happened in Ireland in the past 1,000 years isn't really much worse than any other country. Quite alot of Irish people (Catholics and Protestants; though Catholics only really after 1829 or so) benefitted fairly well from the British Empire; often among the Merchant classes we were more the exploitees than the exploited.

As for it being expensive, well Dublin is pretty damn expensive to live in (which is why I hope to emigrate after I complete my undergrad; though that's not the only reason) and alot of the country especially west of the River Shannon is very economically dependant on tourist income. Apparently we are second most expensive country to live in the EU behind Finland. Oh dear.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Why do you hate Ireland?

I surely do not. I fully support Irish re-unification and the freedom fighter corps aka IRA.

It's funny States because I doubt you like to associate yourself with basically the only people left in Ireland who strongly support a united state. (As a reality; not as a mere hypothetical.) And they are:

1) Hard left Socialist-Nationalists; and Ireland has a history of left-wing Nationalism - basically people who see the current Dublin goverment as British pawns in the fight against the British capitalist system which once defeated will give us a Gaelic utopia for us all.

2) If you ever travel in Ireland for long enough (actually that not long) you will inevitably see graffiti written walls with slogans like "Up the 'Ra" or "Eire 32" - generally these people tend belong to the "Young thugs" caste you seem to hate so much.

Btw, Lol@Kevin Myers. Believe it or not for a long time he was something of a hero (slight overstatement; but only slight) to me.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Alot of people when it comes to Ireland (and Scotland too) seem to think things are alot more 'conservative' (for want of a better word) than they actually are.

Only people who abuse the word conservative.

I don't think Ireland is a conservative place; a more accurate term I'd say is complacent. (And still is; while attitudes towards "moral issues" ie. issues relating to sex have somewhat liberalized over the past 30 years - especially the last 10 and the Catholic church's institutional power has declined significantly - though it's still not completely irrelevant as many would think - I don't think the general attitude of the average Irish person has changed too much over a really long period of time.)

As Jas would know, I don't exactly hold a high opinion of "middle Ireland".

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But that means we'll have to give up such modern convincies like flushing toilets and central heating. I mean I almost live in Kildare now FFS and it's full of bleedin' savages who eat their young. (Note: not actually a joke when referring to Naas. No really..... Sorry, not really.. Yes I think only Jas would understand the reference but it was worth it anyway) I mean I can't imagine what voodoo magic and cant you produce down the country.. I'll have to farm next.

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Undoubtely the problem is with trying to make a balanced history is you have to emphasize the bits which are often left out. (Daniel O'Connell was a strong supporter of the British Empire and there was a significant Catholic element which after emancipation did quite well out of it, Wolfe Tone was an atheist.. something many nationalists don't like bringing up, etc.)

[Tetro Kornbluth]

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Well the far left is so fragmented over here that it's often hard to tell. The major *sn* far left group seem either obssesed with the cult of Che Guevara and good-ole America bashing (the SWP) while the other is an organization almost entirely dependent the figure of one man (The Socialist Party). Of course neither group is particularly Republican but there is still a significant republican element among far left group. And I'd say the majority of Ideological republicans have left wing sympathies.

As for Fianna fail, pardon my cynicism while I state that the only thing I think holding FF together a bunch of politicians protecting their careers. FF being the party of whatever happens to be in Fashion ATM, I doubt a united Ireland is much more than aspirational aim among FFers and that would be true nowadays of FGers too except for perhaps the most commited Anglos in the party.

I would think a referendum on unification would be close once it became apparent how much it would cost and the fact that we would have put up with Unionists for the unforseeable future.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I found that Abortion survey quite interesting btw. But that doesn't mean I think attitudes are changing; I still suspect that this is yet another example of the infamous Irish tendency towards groupthink.

Plus like always if we actually had a referendum on it we still wouldn't get it past, history shows that people tend to swing towards the conservative option during an actual campaign. (It happened in Divorce 1986, Divorce 1995, Abortion 1983, etc)

[Tetro Kornbluth]

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Ahh.. Tongue in Cheek? (Anyway alot of people I'm sure think I hate Ireland; which actually is something I'm making my mind up over. )

Your perhaps right about the small party membership; though I don't know about actual mainstream voters - around here having a United Ireland is about as big an issue as whether or not we should have Orange colored bins to go with the black and green ones. But then again I do live in Dublin South. So perhaps it's not representative.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

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Nah most of Dublin South isn't much different from your average lower\middle-middle class outer suburb regions. Except it has Dundrum in it, which for our foreigners here, is a small suburban town which contains a shopping centre the size of a castle where mindless female zombies women of a certain caliber tend to go shopping and whenever you enter your will to live decreases dramatically. And the University College Dublin campus on it; which is known (and mostly true from my experience) to attract a certain type of rich airhead. Most of the really posh areas are in the constituencies of Dun Laoghaire and Dublin South East. Though then again I live only down the road from Foxrock (uber-Posh area) to one side of me and on the other side there is plently of executive housing apart in a more semi-rural areas (I of course live a housing estate like most Dublin Southians.)

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I long for it in much the same way an Orthodox Jew longs for the Promised Land.

You part Irish Soulty?

Actually as a random aside does anyone have a link to or knowledge of how much % of people in each US state claim Irish ancestory. (NY First; MA second; PA probably third I'm sure but the rest.. just curious.)

Generally negative, although I like how much drinking goes on there.

LOL.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Actually as a random aside does anyone have a link to or knowledge of how much % of people in each US state claim Irish ancestory. (NY First; MA second; PA probably third I'm sure but the rest.. just curious.)

Color scheme?

Fantastic none the less (I can't believe I forgot about NJ) though I must say some of those are really, well, unusual.. what's with the Irish cluster in Western Montana\North Idaho.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

You're one day late. Lá an crúiscín was the fourth. Happy belated congratulations to everyone who knows what I'm referring to btw!

I think I'm embarrased to admit that I actually don't know what you're talking about.

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Indeed.

This is a country where the likes of Michael Lowry constantly top polls at general elections so..

[Tetro Kornbluth]

You're one day late. Lá an crúiscín was the fourth. Happy belated congratulations to everyone who knows what I'm referring to btw!

I think I'm embarrased to admit that I actually don't know what you're talking about.

We're talking about Flann O'Brien.

Ah. Okay then. He's been on my reading list for lonnnngg time. Never have got around to it though.

Should figured it out from Jas' quote though.