I can't believe there are still Northern Irish people like this.

A_Sober_Paddy

omgitsthelazor wrote: »

I decided recently to sign up for a Northern Irish football forum. Why? Because I was interested to see what they were saying on the James McClean twitter stuff. I LIKE LURKING FORUMS OK, don't judge.

The one I found from google was called "our wee country", all posts weren't viewable by default so I registered an account.
During registration it asked me where I was from from a list of NI, ROI, England, Scotland or other. I picked ROI
They asked me to wait for an administrator to approve my account, I waited a week and nothing. Eventually I couldn't log in, the administrator had apparently rejected and deleted my account.

I made another using a northern Irish proxy and lied that I was from NI, this one was approved. And what I see there, my gosh the bitterness, bile and hatred would put even the After Hours hardcore to shame.

Just some examples.

-> They refer to the club "Derry City" as "Londonderry City". That isn't its name.

-> In discussion of an article involving a poor lad getting beaten up in Derry for wearing a NI shirt their collective response to the article is complaining that the media didn't report this enough but report Loyalist led violence a lot. Strangely I didn't see any discussion of loyalist violence in 3 years worth of threads.

-> In a thread advertising an RTE program on football the spend its duration ranting about how RTE supposedly is the broadcaster for the "free state" but continuously ignores the 6 counties. On the 5th and last page one guy asks "so did anyone watch it?", to which there was no reply.

-> Language is seemingly a big thing, in a lengthy and non-political thread about the recent world cup bid a nationalist slips a reference to Ireland and NI as "both Irish countries" to which the thread was derailed with much disapprovement and political rebuttal to his utterance. The guy defended it as his beliefs, he was seemingly banned.

-> The forum claims to welcome NI fans of any background yet it one of its forum categories for Scottish/English football is entitled "the mainland".

-> Their description for the "other sport" forum is "Rugby, Cricket even GAA!". Why "even" GAA?

-> They describe NI born players who play for the republic as "defecting". I guess the GFA never happened.

-> On Darron Gibson closing his twitter account 2 hours after creating it, one of them admits to being responsible for deluging him with abuse. He is promptly congratulated by the rest of them.


Sorry if I'm not explaining it well but for a sporting website the serious cynical and political tone was a real eye opener for me. They really do appear to attempt to see everything in a nationalist/loyalist light and everything, absolutely everything is about scoring points against one another with a real with/against attitude.
I thought we'd moved past this kind of thing.

What's the name of this forum?

FanadMan

This is def a site to be trolled

Cú Giobach

true wrote: »

Our little country down here has only the population of a small to mid size city....and is being bailed out by the EC/IMF/UK....after decades of massive EC/EEC subsidies ....so we can hardly say we are a great nation either, as we have made a b**ls of things since independence.

We made a balls of things did we?
Is that why the standard of living is the same for folks here today as it was in 1920. :rolleyes:
If you want to see countries that really ****ed up then how about Germany in the mid 20th century, or Russia throughout the whole of the 20th century, look what Britain drew on itself between 1914 and 1930, or how the US screwed up in 1929. You have a very narrow perspective.

cyrusdvirus

Lads, in fairness if you had spent any time on any of the soccer forums from Ireland ( the boards one, Dangerhere (now defunct) Dangerthere (the poor mans successor to DH) PLB, ) you'd have heard of OWC. And laughed.

All this talk of trolling is silly. And probably against charter here.

ted1

cesc77 wrote: »

No need for that.

Its my country and I wouldnt refer to any other country in such terms.You are looking foir something which you will not receive from me.

By the way,I consider myself as Norn Irish,British,Agnostic and Irish.Figure that one out,and when youve l,evelled enough hatred towards me let me know...Royal Mail first class mind,because Irish mail is bollocks.

Just out of interest do Northern Ireland have their own Olympic team, or are they bundled in with team GB, because there passport says the united kingdom of Great britian and northern Ireland. So they are not technically in great Britain.

Ellis Dee

Lumbo wrote: »

I was in Belfast at the weekend. Nice little city. Walked past the South Belfast Northern Ireland Supporters club at one stage. Decided it wasn't the best place to nip into for a quick pint.

I walked past it in early April. There were two tattooed, shaven headed fellows, so scuttered drunk that they could barely stand, trying to beat the crap out of each other on the pavement just outside the door and roaring what I supposed to be obscenities and a doorman trying with limited success to pull them apart.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

What an advertisement for the Herrenrasse that considers itself superior to the decent people who form the majority on this island!:)

Nodin

true wrote: »

Our little country down here has only the population of a small to mid size city....and is being bailed out by the EC/IMF/UK....after decades of massive EC/EEC subsidies ....so we can hardly say we are a great nation either, as we have made a b**ls of things since independence.

N. Ireland may not be a nation, but at least it is part of a nation. A nation with its own currency. A nation with a proud history in defending the free world against Nazism, Communism etc etc. A nation which is one of the G7.

...................

Yes, and we can forget about this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/18/colonial-office-eliminations-malayan-insurgency
this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/25/malaysia-military?INTCMP=SRCH
and Aden, India, Uganda, Kenya etc and so on. What a long and glorious history.

Wibbs

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Wow. Same (ironically) celtic cross as stormfront, same protected forums, the whole package. Its like euro-taleban central. We are going to have a hell of a time bringing that lot into the 21st century after the english finally clear out.

At this stage DR I suspect behind closed doors the same English establishment would be happy to clear out if given half the chance.

cyrusdvirus

Nodin wrote: »

Yes, and we can forget about this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/18/colonial-office-eliminations-malayan-insurgency
this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/25/malaysia-military?INTCMP=SRCH
and Aden, India, Uganda, Kenya etc and so on. What a long and glorious history.

That's gotta be a record......

a whole 10 hour wait until someone made a totally blatant reference to the Evil English Empire :rolleyes:

oranbhoy67

If you want to read some real nice anti-Irish bigotry try the forum known as rangersmedia .. some real nice friendly intelligent chaps on there

NiallFH

I find it odd that this surprises you. Being from the North myself its a very common thing. I know it will sound biased coming from a Nationalist but Unionists/Loyalists for the most part tend to be a nasty bunch.

I go to a gym in the middle of what would be a very Nationalist area and I know a few fella's from the other end of town who go and will never wear anything but Rangers/NI tops. It sounds stupid I know but surely to avoid conflict you wouldnt wear something like that and if you must wear it at least put them in the wash once in a while, because wearing it every day to me at least seems like your just trying to start something.

mikemac1

Free State?
Something that's been gone for over half a century

I understand older people but what are the young people learning in schools?

gurramok

Not surprised at the level of bigotry by a chunk of NI fans, they displayed that down here when they played in the "Nations Cup" in February last year. Using Union and Loyalist flags as their allegiance, its no wonder Nationalist players and supporters desert them.

hattoncracker

I'm quite surprised at how shocked you all are aswell, tbh..

Parents pass it onto their kids, Your surname is asked to find out what religion you are.. Where you can and cannot go, what colours you wear is still very real in some parts of the North.. And most cities have catholic and protestant areas...

And it doesn't really matter what's being taught by teachers, parents pass this on to kids, who pass it onto other kids, while everyday you hear of pipe bombings, the kids know there are estates theyre not allowed to go into, and then it keeps going..

When I moved south I couldn't believe the difference, but did u seriously think that these things change over night?

Larbre34

I have no experience of NI football fans but I have been to Glasgow on match days (not attending) so Ive had my eyes opened a few times (not literally by a glassing or anything)

On the flip side, in the past 5 weeks Ive been fortunate enough to be at the Leinster v Ulster games at Ravenhill and Twickenham. At both games we found the Ulster fans to be the most welcoming, gracious and humourous types you could meet, especially in Belfast where they went out of there way to chat to us, a small group in blue among their season ticket section, and insisted we go back to their club house for pints to show us around before we headed home. In London they were brilliant and joined in the celebrating wherever they were.

Its a stereotype but a true one to say soccer in NI is a working class sport, and its in the most deprived areas that the worst sectarianism existed and still exists due to ignorance, anger and a festering siege mentality. It could well be the last and toughest nut to crack in the peace process, and all this talk of defecting players and unifying the national soccer team is making it worse.

On the wider issue, there is a need to resolve once and for all the issue of representation in sport of people from Northern Ireland. It comes up repeatedly in rugby, golf, motor racing, track and field, and now soccer. Although I understand the GFA provision for citizenship, someone needs to nail down the criteria for competitors from NI. They should all either be Irish, British or NIR in their own right. Its a farce to hear so many mix ups in flags, anthems and commentator references. Rugby is the worst offender, that disaster of a made up flag and 'team' anthem just sucks the life out of people. Id be happy to take the hit of losing McIlroy, McDowell, the Ulster rugby etc as Irish if they would just draw the line one way or the other.

Im not suggesting withdrawing rights to people but it is a question of national and sporting integrity to whichever state. I feel the same way about the joke of cricketers from Dublin being allowed to tog out for England at test level, or Brad Thorn getting to play Rugby League for Australia and Union for the All Blacks, or sub saharan African runners competing for Denmark or that time Sonia O'Sullivan considered running for Australia in the Commonwealth Games!!

I just feel that wherever you are born is your luck of the draw, you should not be able to go back beyond your parents for a family link, and once you have represented at national level at any grade, you should never be able to change nation on some technicality. I think if everyone knew where they stood it would take a lot of the uncertainty and bitterness out of it and people would just get on with it on that basis

LordSutch

NiallFH wrote: »

I find it odd that this surprises you. Being from the North myself its a very common thing. I know it will sound biased coming from a Nationalist but Unionists/Loyalists for the most part tend to be a nasty bunch.

You say "but Unionists/Loyalists for the most part tend to be a nasty bunch." Well I am not from Northern Ireland, but I find this firstly unbelievable, secondly uninformed, and thirdly blinkered. Yes Loyalists would be fervently anti Republican, & they would of course have their fair share of 'nasties' as you well know, but can you really say that Unionists are also a nasty bunch??? bearing in mind that Unionists are not necessarily Loyalists.

Agricola

Its hardly surprising. This is a forum for football supporters, and football supporters like nothing more than injecting the mundane with the theatrical. Making a game about kicking a ball around a field into the most life affirming and emotionally charged thing in the universe.
Take Man United and Leeds Utd. Why would people from two cities who live a short motorway drive apart, display such antagonism toward each other if it wasnt in the context of a football match. They really have no reason to dislike each other part from some medieval bust-up that no-ones knows much about or cares about.
So when you have people in a REAL conflict zone like NI, its fairly obvious that you will have this kind of carry on on a football forum.

NiallFH

LordSutch wrote: »

You say "but Unionists/Loyalists for the most part tend to be a nasty bunch." Well I am not from Northern Ireland, but I find this firstly unbelievable, secondly uninformed, and thirdly blinkered. Yes Loyalists would be fervently anti Republican, & they would of course have their fair share of 'nasties' as you well know, but can you really say that Unionists are also a nasty bunch??? bearing in mind that Unionists are not necessarily Loyalists.

I would agree that Unionists arent as bad as Loyalists but I still find a lot are very intolerant of other peoples beliefs and are more likely than a Nationalist to try and start something.

I'm not saying all Nationalists are saints but for the most part at least from what I have seen they are willing to ignore things and move on. There are of course exceptions to this.

But as an example, as they always do come the 12th and around it, they plaster the place with flags and what not and nothing is said. Years ago when Armagh won the all Ireland people were putting up flags and the up roar from the unionist community (considering all the flying of flags etc they do) was ridiculous

HalloweenJack

Jimoslimos wrote: »

The "London-Derry" City guff is childish and poor trolling attempt at the very few Nationalist posters.

Yeah but I've seen similar on Foot.ie

One poster is a Northern-born Nationalist who constantly refers to the capital as "Béal Feiriste" when posting (in English I might add) in threads about the NI team.

Simply put, there's idiots on both side of the divide.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Doc Ruby wrote: »

The normans were long gone by the time of the plantations.

Never mind the fact they weren't actually French.

Nodin

gatecrash wrote: »

That's gotta be a record......

a whole 10 hour wait until someone made a totally blatant reference to the Evil English Empire

Traditionally, as in this case, it was preceded by a reference to the 'Saintly Enterprise Of Goodness'.

Pedant

Northern Irish people are the most miserable people I've ever encountered. There isn't even any tone in their voice.

omgitsthelazor

Fenian Army wrote: »

You should try PULSE, that stuff is tame in comparison!

Use a proxy to sign up or else you are automatically banned for being a "fenian bastard"

Whats the link to this place?

omgitsthelazor

NiallFH wrote: »

I find it odd that this surprises you. Being from the North myself its a very common thing. I know it will sound biased coming from a Nationalist but Unionists/Loyalists for the most part tend to be a nasty bunch.

I've never been to the North before so don't know very much about, but I'm interested to know more! I grew up with the impression caused by the "troubles" that the place was dangerous, bigoted and not someplace I should consider going to.
Since the GFA I felt like the media has tried to portray a lot of progression up there, I've certainly noticed progression down here and what religion someone is along with the presence of the IRA has become a far less significant part of society. Assumed (it seems falsely) that it would be the case up there.

Out of curiosity for yourself and other northerners, have you noticed any major progression in the past 10 years or is that aspect of life the same as its always been?

cesc77

ted1 wrote: »

Just out of interest do Northern Ireland have their own Olympic team, or are they bundled in with team GB, because there passport says the united kingdom of Great britian and northern Ireland. So they are not technically in great Britain.

semantics

Deviation necessary?

Northern Ireland is a country.

Geography lesson much?

cesc77

Ellis Dee wrote: »

I walked past it in early April. There were two tattooed, shaven headed fellows, so scuttered drunk that they could barely stand, trying to beat the crap out of each other on the pavement just outside the door and roaring what I supposed to be obscenities and a doorman trying with limited success to pull them apart.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

What an advertisement for the Herrenrasse that considers itself superior to the decent people who form the majority on this island!:)

No court in the land would....

Ive no idea what youre trying to infer.

Do other Irish people drink and fight?


We are both cnuts especially when alcohol is involved.


Same brush?

Magill

A good ole chunk of the "Die hard" supporters up here are arseholes alright, it doesn't help that a large portion of those that attend the matches are the Linfield crowd. Really is a minority/concentrated thing tho, im 24 and have never really experienced any sectarian related violence or insults been thrown about (The odd time at school, but was never really any real hatred in it). Went to a mixed religion school and one of my best friends when i was younger was protestant. Its obviously more common in certain parts of Belfast and a few other parts of the Country, but its certainly not as common as some people seem to think.

Its also not isolated in the north either... i worked in a few different places in and around Dublin for a few years (For a maintenance contractor) and a few places we were working at received complaints because they were employing Northern Irish !

TBH, the football fans could learn a thing or two from the ulster rugby supporters, great atmosphere with no division between the supporters/players.

seanmc1980

meeh, nationalists are just as idiotic tbh, i see no distinction between either,

Rented Mule

Does anyone else remember the 'Love Ulster' march ?

How did that go over ?

Ms.M

There are lots of ignorant bigoted people in the Republic.

It's gone out of fashion to be anti-Protestant here but there are plenty of other communities that are considered fair game. A lot of thickos need a label like "sectarian" to perceive their views are bigoted.

You'll find plenty of trendy little bigots muttering bile all over boards as well. We've as many thickos here as anywhere else!

As long as they're in the minority, let them natter on I say!

J Cheever Loophole

NiallFH wrote: »

I would agree that Unionists arent as bad as Loyalists but I still find a lot are very intolerant of other peoples beliefs and are more likely than a Nationalist to try and start something.

I'm not saying all Nationalists are saints but for the most part at least from what I have seen they are willing to ignore things and move on. There are of course exceptions to this.

But as an example, as they always do come the 12th and around it, they plaster the place with flags and what not and nothing is said. Years ago when Armagh won the all Ireland people were putting up flags and the up roar from the unionist community (considering all the flying of flags etc they do) was ridiculous

Whilst I remember the stories about Armagh flags (the then DUP councillor Paul Berry raised an issue about the local firemen having a banner in support of Armagh, up on the fire station - it had to be taken down), there were also many from the Unionist / Protestant community who I know of who were very supportive of Armagh, and I know of a good number were down on the day for the match and come back raving about the fantastic experience it was!

omgitsthelazor wrote: »

I've never been to the North before so don't know very much about, but I'm interested to know more! I grew up with the impression caused by the "troubles" that the place was dangerous, bigoted and not someplace I should consider going to.
Since the GFA I felt like the media has tried to portray a lot of progression up there, I've certainly noticed progression down here and what religion someone is along with the presence of the IRA has become a far less significant part of society. Assumed (it seems falsely) that it would be the case up there.

Out of curiosity for yourself and other northerners, have you noticed any major progression in the past 10 years or is that aspect of life the same as its always been?

There has been a huge change in attitudes on all sides and how that manifests itself in everyday life - I would say that change is most marked over the last twenty years. There are exceptions, and at times incidents can happen that arouse animosity, but generally society up here has become very 'normalised', for want of a better word.

A friend of mine, whose Dad was a local photographer, has found old photos that were taken during the troubles, of Armagh, and has put them up on Facebook - those photos represent my childhood and even I was surprised to see how bad the place looked - it was like post war Berlin!! :eek:

When I show them to my kids, the response is 'does not compute', and to be honest, maybe that's a good thing.

Next chance you get, come up North - you'll be fine!!

kermit_the_dog

seanmc1980 wrote: »

meeh, nationalists are just as idiotic tbh, i see no distinction between either,

its easy and PC to say that but like the rangers v celtic rivalry - feud , the reality is rather more disproportinatley one sided , the bulk of sectarian crimes ( or just sectarianism itself ) commited in the north like in glasgow are against catholics

kermit_the_dog

Ms.M wrote: »

There are lots of ignorant bigoted people in the Republic.

It's gone out of fashion to be anti-Protestant here but there are plenty of other communities that are considered fair game. A lot of thickos need a label like "sectarian" to perceive their views are bigoted.

You'll find plenty of trendy little bigots muttering bile all over boards as well. We've as many thickos here as anywhere else!

As long as they're in the minority, let them natter on I say!

their is nothing to suggest bigotry in the republic of ireland is anything like it is in glasgow or parts of northern ireland , its stupid to suggest otherwise , when has the religon of a sports person , politican or businessman become an issue in the irish republic in the past several decades , constrast that with neil lennon or even rory mc elroy and the difference is stark

rgmmg

kermit_the_dog wrote: »

its easy and PC to say that but like the rangers v celtic rivalry - feud , the reality is rather more disproportinatley one sided , the bulk of sectarian crimes ( or just sectarianism itself ) commited in the north like in glasgow are against catholics

I'd like to see your evidence of that.

golden lane

presbyterians..(meaning priests).....have an inherrent fear of the pope....

that is the basis for all hatred in northern ireland.........

it is silly and completely outdated........

awec

kermit_the_dog wrote: »

their is nothing to suggest bigotry in the republic of ireland is anything like it is in glasgow or parts of northern ireland , its stupid to suggest otherwise , when has the religon of a sports person , politican or businessman become an issue in the irish republic in the past several decades , constrast that with neil lennon or even rory mc elroy and the difference is stark

Rory McIlroy?

What are you on about?

You're making it up as you go along.

With all that bitterness you need to make sure you don't ruin your dinner!

Rented Mule

kermit_the_dog wrote: »

its easy and PC to say that but like the rangers v celtic rivalry - feud , the reality is rather more disproportinatley one sided , the bulk of sectarian crimes ( or just sectarianism itself ) commited in the north like in glasgow are against catholics

I'm not doubting what you are saying, but are there any documented statistics on this ?

NiallFH

Out of curiosity for yourself and other northerners, have you noticed any major progression in the past 10 years or is that aspect of life the same as its always been?

There has been huge progression in the past 10 years. Back then where I'm from there was an invisible line in the town where cathloics wouldnt go up past and protestants wouldnt come down past. You would also get funny looks or comments made if you had friends of the other side.

'Catholic' and 'Protestant' estates are still very clearly defined and you wouldnt walk through one in a football top for example showing that you were 'of the other side'.

It's generally safe enough and has progressed a lot but I for one certainly wouldnt walk into certain area's in Belfast wearing my Ireland top.

Things are gradually getting better now and a lot of people just don't care anymore. I know a lot of protestants, some are unionists, some dont care, I even know a few nationalists. I have no problems with them or their opinions providing they arent secterian about it. (I'm an atheist myself but I know catholics in my situation who feel the same)

awec

Rented Mule wrote: »

I'm not doubting what you are saying, but are there any documented statistics on this ?

It's hard to get statistics for something that's just made up.

Good luck getting any official figures that document how many of the crimes were supposedly against Catholics or against Protestants. Figures describe a crime as sectarian and that's that.

kermit_the_dog

awec wrote: »

Rory McIlroy?

What are you on about?

You're making it up as you go along.

With all that bitterness you need to make sure you don't ruin your dinner!

rory was carefull to exhibit signs of nationalism , that would not happen in a country without sectarian tension , btw , i think he played it very shrewdly

kermit_the_dog

Rented Mule wrote: »

I'm not doubting what you are saying, but are there any documented statistics on this ?

there are and im trying to dig them out , something three quaters of reports of sectarianism made to police in glasgow were by catholics

Crooked Jack

cesc77 wrote: »

semantics

Deviation necessary?

Northern Ireland is a country.

Geography lesson much?

You sound like the worst kind of patronising arsehole. Yer man was only asking a question and a fairly legitimate one given that people from the north can opt to play for either Ireland or Britain.
Also "geography lesson much." I feel compelled to inform you that you are not Ace Ventura.

awec

kermit_the_dog wrote: »

rory was carefull to exhibit signs of nationalism , that would not happen in a country without sectarian tension , btw , i think he played it very shrewdly

What?! :pac:

See this is the issue. Too many people like you trying to work out what religion / political outlook our sports men and women have. As if that's in any way important.

And I take issue with anyone trying to claim the moral highground for "their" side when it comes to sectarianism and hate crime.

kermit_the_dog wrote: »

there are and im trying to dig them out , something three quaters of reports of sectarianism made to police in glasgow were by catholics

Who cares about Glasgow in a thread about Northern Ireland?

DEFTLEFTHAND

We all remember the horrible night 93 in that concrete kip Windsor Park I presume. Terrifying experience for anyone with a southern accent. When Alan McLoughlin stuffed them with that equaliser it looked like a riot could break out. I was a young child at the time and that night forever engrained in me the divide between North and South, Loyalist and Republican etc.

Crooked Jack

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

We all remember the horrible night 93 in that concrete kip Windsor Park I presume. Terrifying experience for anyone with a southern accent. When Alan McLoughlin stuffed them with that equaliser it looked like a riot could break out. I was a young child at the time and that night forever engrained in me the divide between North and South, Loyalist and Republican etc.

I dont know why it engrained a north south divide in you given that half the people in the north would have been supporting the Republic in that match

ronjo

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

We all remember the horrible night 93 in that concrete kip Windsor Park I presume. Terrifying experience for anyone with a southern accent. When Alan McLoughlin stuffed them with that equaliser it looked like a riot could break out. I was a young child at the time and that night forever engrained in me the divide between North and South, Loyalist and Republican etc.

I remember wanting to go up to that but we were told in no uncertain terms that we were going at our own risk. Safety in no way guaranteed.

IrishAm

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

Whilst I remember the stories about Armagh flags

Do you post on the resdubs forum?;)

kermit_the_dog

awec wrote: »

What?! :pac:

See this is the issue. Too many people like you trying to work out what religion / political outlook our sports men and women have. As if that's in any way important.

And I take issue with anyone trying to claim the moral highground for "their" side when it comes to sectarianism and hate crime.



Who cares about Glasgow in a thread about Northern Ireland?

so you think sectarianism was visited upon each community in equal measure by the other ?

DEFTLEFTHAND

Crooked Jack wrote: »

I dont know why it engrained a north south divide in you given that half the people in the north would have been supporting the Republic in that match

Not those who were there that night, the NI fans were bitter of our success and when we qualified for the world cup on their backs they went ape. That scumbag Billy Bingham was also doing his best to wind them up from the sideline.

eamo12

See absolutely nothing wrong with that. You seem to be a nationalist shinner type so of course your offended if you hear Londonderry. Thats what some people call it. Deal with it.