Sinn Fein in a huff over new signs

MagicSean

TWO SIGNS PLACED in border counties welcoming people to Northern Ireland have been removed as a political row breaks out between Sinn Féin and DUP

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

MagicSean

MagicSean wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

It should be tri-lingual, English, Irish & Ulster-Scots!
Then they won't be complaining so much. :pac:

ardmacha

it is bad enough being at the butt end of the British Empire without signs gloating about the fact.

AnonoBoy

Sinn Féin in being irritating nitpicking dipsh*ts shocker!

Varied

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

foxyboxer

Let me get this straight.

There are signs labelled "Welcome to Northern Ireland" on the border as you enter Northern Ireland which is a seperate jurisdiction from the Republic of Ireland. And this is an issue how?

Skid

We need less road signs in Irish, not more.

They make it harder to read the English version, and increases reaction times, causing more accidents.

waywardsun

Should it say 'North-Eastern Ireland'.

foxyboxer

WELCOME TO NORN IRELAND

MrStuffins

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

How are they ignoring them exactly?

Jesus Shaves

I don't understand where this is coming from now, when I was growing up I used to be "up the north" every month to see family and there was always signs saying welcome to northern Ireland, actually much worse from what I remember

MagicSean

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

They can consider themselves whatever they want. They still live in a different country with a seperate government, different laws and different currency. How is it in any way affecting them? Why would they be consulted? What possible discussion could take place in such a consultation?

Exactly what signs would this catholic/Irish community be erecting?

IrishAm

Put one up facing the opposite direction saying "Welcome to the Island of Ireland."

foxyboxer

What they should have done was send out a notification in the local papers stating the plans to erect new road signs with the title "Welcome to Northern Ireland". Just get it out there in the public arena. But, it should have been written completely as gaeilge and say that any objections should be sent as gaeilge.

I'd imagine the replies would be quite low.

Nichololas

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

redalan

MagicSean wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

Hear, hear.
Plus, it is going from KPH to MPH and drivers need to know what speed limit they are driving.

the_syco

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish.

Do they accept euro in their shops?

ejmaztec

Looks like it's plan B now.

Sonics2k

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.

I bet if it was the catholic/Irish community that erected Irish signs on the border youd surely be on your high horse about it.

And they can consider themselves Irish all they want, but the fact is Northern Ireland is a different country. And it's a only a sign saying 'Welcome to Northern Ireland'.

What an utterly stupid thing for people to get uppity about.

Jesus Shaves

the_syco wrote: »

Do they accept euro in their shops?

Yes

bleg

The only sign that lets you know you're in NI are the speed limit ones.

Chuck Stone

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

Stripey Cat

Sonics2k wrote: »

And they can consider themselves Irish all they want, but the fact is Northern Ireland is a different country.

Funny that you can be born there and still qualify for an Irish passport, isn't it?

Nodin

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

Considering the previous posts of the OP, you've two chances of that being considered.

dlofnep

Sonics2k wrote: »

What an utterly stupid thing for people to get uppity about.

It's not really. Nationalists will see it as furthering distancing the north and south symbolically. You only view it as stupid because you're incapable of empathy. I can perfectly understand why they don't want partition to be paraded and highlighted at every opportunity.

We quite happily live where the borderline doesn't exist in any visible sense. Ireland is a complex island, where many see it as a single nation and in many instances it's treated as such. The Olympics for example has 2 boxers from Belfast who are in medal contention for 'Ireland', an all-island sporting team. To pretend that the north and south are like any other two neighbouring countries would be a lazy analysis of an extremely storied history.

It's simply not an issue of road signs, and the intention by the Unionist parties is to intentionally provoke the nationalist community, rather than for any practical purposes. They know very well that the Nationalist community views their home as Ireland, and not 'Northern Ireland'. Listen in on any of Stormont's proceedings and you'll get to see the bigger picture behind some of these decisions.

Chuck Stone

Nichololas wrote: »

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

Pragmatism and common sense might have seen them not being put up in the first place.

Defiler Of The Coffin

redalan wrote: »

Hear, hear.
Plus, it is going from KPH to MPH and drivers need to know what speed limit they are driving.

That has nothing to do with the issue, 'Speed Limits In Miles Per Hour' signs have already been on the border ever since the republic changed to KM/H.

There's absolutely no need for these signs at all, all they do is antagonise local communities and get vandalised anyway. The border was fine the way it was with the Speed Limit signs.

Guy:Incognito

Varied wrote: »

That's right Sean, lets ignore half the population of the north who consider themselves Irish. This served no purpose and no consultation took place.
.

They can consider themselves whatever the **** they want, they live in Northern Ireland the sign said "welcome to Northern Ireland".

If they want to be Iriah and live in Ireland they should move out of th eUnited Kingdom.Otherwise, relax, enjoy life and stop worrying about bloody geography. Do so many people spend their lives complaining and worrying about things because they've nothing to do or what?
These people will live their 80 odd years then die and end up oin the same place whether their passport says Irish, British , Pakistani or anywhere bloody else.

FanadMan

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

Well, seeing as when I've told some people that I'm from County Donegal they seem to think that I'm from the North :rolleyes:

MagicSean

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Ya see that ol' border there led to much grief for a deliberately created and discriminated against minority on the other side of it and maybe they'd rather not be reminded of it. 'Welcome to county XXXX speed limits in MPH' would have done just fine.

I suspect someone is doing a bit of trolling in the background and deliberately trying to be antagonistic to those on the border who'd rather not be reminded of the shit they've had to put up with because of it.

They dismantled all the look-out towers, rebuilt blown up bridges and roads in an attempt to normalise the situation there - this smacks of pissing on lamp posts again and the people of the area have every right to object to it if they so wish.

But it isn't just about the different speed limits. There's many differences. Currency, immigration policy, road traffic legislation, criminal legislation. While you may know which of the six counties are in Northern Ireland there are many that don't. A look at the comment section on the journal will show that. And these are irish people. What chance has a foreign national got of knowing they are entering a different country?

Stripey Cat wrote: »

Funny that you can be born there and still qualify for an Irish passport, isn't it?

Not really funny. Your problem is that you see no difference between being Irish and living in the Republic. You can be Irish and be born in the north, It doesn't change the fact that it is a different country though.

dlofnep wrote: »

It's not really. Nationalists will see it as furthering distancing the north and south symbolically. You only view it as stupid because you're incapable of empathy. I can perfectly understand why they don't want partition to be paraded and highlighted at every opportunity.

We quite happily live where the borderline doesn't exist in any visible sense. Ireland is a complex island, where many see it as a single nation and in many instances it's treated as such. The Olympics for example has 2 boxers from Belfast who are in medal contention for 'Ireland', an all-island sporting team. To pretend that the north and south are like any other two neighbouring countries would be a lazy analysis of an extremely storied history.

It's simply not an issue of road signs, and the intention by the Unionist parties is to intentionally provoke the nationalist community, rather than for any practical purposes. They know very well that the Nationalist community views their home as Ireland, and not 'Northern Ireland'. Listen in on any of Stormont's proceedings and you'll get to see the bigger picture behind some of these decisions.

It's practical and necessary signage. If a person chooses to get upset over them then they are feeding the trolls so to speak.

Varied

MrStuffins wrote: »

How are they ignoring them exactly?

No consultation, no engagement with both communities.

Nichololas wrote: »

It's a sign showing entry into a different political and economic zone.. But of course lets let opinion, religion and affronted nationalism trump practicality, pragmatism and common ****ing sense.

Again, common ****ing sense would have prevailed had they thought about BOTH communities, it offends people both sides of the border.

the_syco wrote: »

Do they accept euro in their shops?

Not that it makes a blind bit of difference and the fact that it is a stupid ****ing question notwithstanding, yes a lot of shops do accept euro.

Defiler Of The Coffin

MagicSean wrote: »

It's practical and necessary signage. If a person chooses to get upset over them then they are feeding the trolls so to speak.

It isn't necessary at all, people got on fine without these signs for decades, why the sudden need now?

Varied

FanadMan wrote: »

Well, seeing as when I've told some people that I'm from County Donegal they seem to think that I'm from the North :rolleyes:

Lmao. How dare they put you in the "lesser Irish" category.:rolleyes:

hooradiation

They'd be better off replacing them with signs that read "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate"

Lyaiera

Personally, I'm offended by the "Welcome to Kerry" signs you see when leaving Cork. Do you really want to be reminded that you have to leave the proud Marxist Republic of Cork?

Defiler Of The Coffin

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

If they want to be Iriah and live in Ireland they should move out of th eUnited Kingdom.Otherwise, relax, enjoy life and stop worrying about bloody geography.

Good lord, you'd swear the Good Friday Agreement never happened at all. Such a condescending attitude towards the Irish in the North. They're every bit as Irish as people from the republic, no question.

MagicSean

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

It isn't necessary at all, people got on fine without these signs for decades, why the sudden need now?

I explained that need in the first part of the post you quoted. Just because something wasn't done before it doesn't mean it wasn't needed.

SaoriseBiker

the_syco wrote: »

Do they accept euro in their shops?

Pedantic point but under EU law it is legal currency even in the streling area and has to be accepted.

Chuck Stone

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

If they want to be Iriah and live in Ireland they should move out of th eUnited Kingdom.Otherwise, relax, enjoy life and stop worrying about bloody geography.

It's a pity shining lights like you weren't around in the late 60's with such sage advice and great plans and then we wouldn't have had the troubles.

Your inane rambling only shows how clueless you are about the issue.

Defiler Of The Coffin

MagicSean wrote: »

I explained that need in the first part of the post you quoted. Just because something wasn't done before it doesn't mean it wasn't needed.

No you didn't.

MagicSean wrote: »

But it isn't just about the different speed limits. There's many differences. Currency, immigration policy, road traffic legislation, criminal legislation. While you may know which of the six counties are in Northern Ireland there are many that don't. A look at the comment section on the journal will show that. And these are irish people. What chance has a foreign national got of knowing they are entering a different country?

Them signs don't say anything about what you've mentioned do they?

cocoshovel

This is absolutely ridiculous. I cant beleive some people are against signs notifying people that they are entering a different country. Its the same all over the world, and its the same even with Irish counties. Anybody who has a problem with this clearly has the mindset of a primary school child and is in complete denial. How pathetic.
Religion should have nothing to do with this but of course you have assholes who bring it in regardless.

Varied

cocoshovel wrote: »

This is absolutely ridiculous. I cant beleive some people are against signs notifying people that they are entering a different country. Its the same all over the world, and its the same even with Irish counties. Anybody who has a problem with this clearly has the mindset of a primary school child and is in complete denial. How pathetic.
Religion should have nothing to do with this but of course you have assholes who bring it in regardless.

You also have assholes claiming its all about religion, but such is life.

SaoriseBiker

MagicSean wrote: »

http://www.thejournal.ie/welcome-to-northern-ireland-sign-548794-Aug2012/

Personally I don't see the problem with informing people they are entering a different country with different laws and currency.

I once went out with a girl from Blacklion so I know Blacklion and Belcoo very well You'd almost think it was just the one town/village with a wee stream in the middle, I think people are missing the elephant in the room by ignoring the stupidity of having an international border stuck there at all as well as other villages and towns around the border.

Guy:Incognito

Chuck Stone wrote: »

It's a pity shining lights like you weren't around in the late 60's with such sage advice and great plans and then we wouldn't have had the troubles.

Your inane rambling only shows how clueless you are about the issue.

Do they or do they not live int he United Kingdom?

Unless the UK decide in the next while they want shot of the economic black hole that is the north, thats not going to change, Killing people or living your life filled with hate and trying to one up the other side is not going change it.

People need to just move on and live their lives.

But sure you just go ahead and fling an insult or two if it makes you feel better.

SaoriseBiker

cocoshovel wrote: »

This is absolutely ridiculous. I cant beleive some people are against signs notifying people that they are entering a different country. Its the same all over the world, and its the same even with Irish counties. Anybody who has a problem with this clearly has the mindset of a primary school child and is in complete denial. How pathetic.
Religion should have nothing to do with this but of course you have assholes who bring it in regardless.

If signs were saying Kerry and Cork were "part of the UK", I think most of the people of Kerry and Cork mightn't be too happy either Maybe to please people like yourself Dun Laoghaire should be changed back to Kingstown and Cobh to Queenstown ?

Guy:Incognito

Defiler Of The Coffin wrote: »

Them signs don't say anything about what you've mentioned do they?

The signs going from Germany to Switzerland dont list every difference between the coundtries either but knowing that you've just changed countries allows you to use any knowledge you already have and combine it with the ability to fnd out new information if you want.
God forbid we let peopel know where they are.

Where To

The only problem with those signs is they aren't 100ft high and flashing neon.
The poor tourists up here haven't a notion what country they are in half the time.

SaoriseBiker

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Do they or do they not live int he United Kingdom?

Occupied counties.

Unless the UK decide in the next while they want shot of the economic black hole that is the north, thats not going to change, Killing people or living your life filled with hate and trying to one up the other side is not going change it.

People need to just move on and live their lives.

But sure you just go ahead and fling an insult or two if it makes you feel better.

I'd think you'd find the UK did it's fair share of killing people or living their live's filled with hate - and on both sides of the border for that matter.

Nodin

MagicSean wrote: »

I explained that need in the first part of the post you quoted. Just because something wasn't done before it doesn't mean it wasn't needed.

And just because its being done now doesn't mean its required either.

Sunnyisland

As the six counties in Ireland is still ::disputed:: territory,And with many many people against the border being there in the first place, the easiest and more peaceful way of doing this was to just welcome you into the named county you where entering,But that be to easy up here.

Guy:Incognito

SaoriseBiker wrote: »

If signs were saying Kerry and Cork were "part of the UK", I think most of the people of Kerry and Cork mightn't be too happy either Maybe to please people like yourself Dun Laoghaire should be changed back to Kingstown and Cobh to Queenstown ?

Kerry and Cork are not part of the UK though so those signs would be wrong . Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland whether people are Catholic or Protestant, whatever their political outlook and regardless or what they want to believe.

Anyway, it's not like the signs say "Welcome to Northern Ireland, part of the UK, you may now bow to the Queen"