What do you love most about Ireland?

an langer

What do you love most about Ireland?

I have to say the mountains, amazing coastline and the characters you come across to name a few :-)

Colmustard

The scenery is beautiful, I have lived in other countries but what always brought me back was my family. That is what I love about Ireland.

juan.kerr

The begrudgery and negativity...oh wait....

an langer

family and good friends definitely!

Rasmus

The fields, mountains, old ruins and the butter. I also really like the weather everyone seems to hate - rainy, dreary and a bit misty. We are so lucky to have a temperate climate with little to no surprises.

dharma200

people with rabbit like teeth... love them, they are everywhere

JohnMarston

Red Lemonade

Mr Trade In

Coddle and Stew.

iDave

GAA

Duggy747

TK Red Lemonade and Hang Sammiches

Balmed Out

Scenery, nightlife, culture, openness, friendliness, people in general care about others around them

Shenshen

I know I'm not going to meet with a lot of understanding for this, but...

The weather.

I love it. I really, really do.
I grew up in Germany, with summers of around 35+, and winters of 20-. For most of the year, I was either constantly dehydrated, sweating and unable to sleep, or cold and afraid to set foot outside for slipping on ice.

Here, there is no summer or winter, Ireland simply offers constant spring or autumn weather, and it suits me down to the ground.

Of course that's not the only thing I like, I also adore the landscapes, the coastlines, I love how colourful a lot of the houses are, I like the people, and even though there are a lot of things that still seem very strange to me I just love the place. But mostly the weather.

an langer

love the weather too, nothing like a good walk along the coast on a windy misty rainey day, freshens you up, great stuff :-)

NegativeCreep

Definitely the Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, the ring of Kerry and the cliffs of Moher. All incredibly unique and beautiful places to visit in Ireland. Why any tourists go to Dublin is beyond me!

maddragon

Galway

Sleepy

Guinness and the pub culture in the small bars that haven't changed for the last 50 years.

Peetrik

No natural predators, the lack of poisonous insects, snakes etc, no earthquakes/volcanoes.
I like the colour, green everywhere you look once you get out of the cities. I like our weather, all my happy memories (b-days, paddy's day, summers) it's been rainy, I associate it with happiness and contentment.
I like our culture, we're quite easy going compared to plenty of other cultures. I love our sense of humour.

Kev_2012

Banter and humour.

You can say whatever you want amongst friends and not be accused of being anything because it's for the laugh.

The quality of pints.

I love how everyone is into sport that I like (rugby and soccer).

Obviously family and friends, they go without saying.

The fact that it is socially acceptable to go out and get langers drunk for a weekend without being questioned.

Duff

I love how the weather never fails to disappoint me.

Also, the craic you can have and not be frowned upon compared to some other countries.

dirtyghettokid

sense of humour, hands down

followed by the scenery and the breakfasts. can't forget the aul cup of tea (lyons!) as well

Colmustard

Loch Hyne near Skibberine.

http://www.celticruralretreats.com/lough-hyne-cottage/lough-hyne-view.JPG
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AL6Mcag9HdA/TefI7xnSYjI/AAAAAAAAAcE/8AsMBrIywDE/s1600/Lough_Hyne%2BOverview.jpg
http://descubreirlanda.com/FI_Images/product/30065_Lough-Hyne.jpg

Lumbo

NegativeCreep wrote: »

Definitely the Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, the ring of Kerry and the cliffs of Moher. All incredibly unique and beautiful places to visit in Ireland. Why any tourists go to Dublin is beyond me!

The airport?

humbert

Laid back attitude. Desire to enjoy life more than become successful. That has it's downsides but having seen the other extreme it's definitely preferable.

trodsky

The weather
The people
The countless prospects
The health service
The low tax system and the benefits
Cheap child care

NegativeCreep

Lumbo wrote: »

The airport?

That's about the only reason

Ash_M

Taytos.

Colmustard

The pub scene is still great here, but dying a death of late, Dollymount, a nature reserve in the heart of a busy city with a view of the ships coming in and other people just enjoying the beach and its activities.

I hate the way they allow cars up on the beach, my only crib about it.

juan.kerr

The culchie vs jackeen 'wit'. As seen above. Hilarious.

BraziliaNZ

trodsky wrote: »

The weather
The people
The countless prospects
The health service
The low tax system and the benefits
Cheap child care

I hope to God you're trying to be funny

fakearms123

It is definitely the sense of humour. Even if you look to the famous, "serious" actors we have produced like Brendan Gleeson, Michael Fassbender, Liam Neeson, etc, they all have a great sense of humour even for the roles they are known for.

I think it is the fact that Irish people have the capacity to laugh at themselves. If you can't do that once every so often life can be very dull.

Crooked Jack

I just came back from a 17 day trip around the country, pretty much did the whole coast from Derry back round to Donegal and despite all our problems we have a lot to love.
The scenery, the people, the food, the craic. you dont really see it in your day to day life but if you get out and explore Ireland you'll soon see we're pretty lucky.

NegativeCreep

Also, I think Rathlin Island deserves a mention. On a sunny day that place is a haven!

Colmustard

Crooked Jack wrote: »

I just came back from a 17 day trip around the country, pretty much did the whole coast from Derry back round to Donegal and despite all our problems we have a lot to love.
The scenery, the people, the food, the craic. you dont really see it in your day to day life but if you get out and explore Ireland you'll soon see we're pretty lucky.

Agreed except for the food, Irish food is bland apart form our breakfast. I just think we don't have a cuisine, I was talking to a French girl who lives and studies here. She asked why do the Irish not eat fish. I really don't know I answered, fish seems an adventure for most us Irish.

I don't really eat it, the odd donegal catch or cod and chips is about as far as I would go.

Vita nova

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

sense of humour, hands down

followed by the scenery and the breakfasts. can't forget the aul cup of tea (lyons!) as well

Lyon's tea is British (owned by Unilever and is imported from Manchester)... don't know why some people see it as quintessentially Irish.

CruelCoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

The begrudgery and negativity...oh wait....

"Well for some" etc etc.

Shenshen

Colmustard wrote: »

Agreed except for the food, Irish food is bland apart form our breakfast. I just think we don't have a cuisine, I was talking to a French girl who lives and studies here. She asked why do the Irish not eat fish. I really don't know I answered, fish seems an adventure for most us Irish.

I don't really eat it, the odd donegal catch or cod and chips is about as far as I would go.

I've wondered about that, too.
Not so much the blandness of it, after all Central European food isn't the spiciest on the planet, but when I came here a few years back, the variety available was very repetetive.
It's getting better, though, people are getting into taste rather than just food, and I do think that 10/20 years from now Ireland will have a distinctive cuisine. It just takes a little time to develop.

Shenshen

Vita nova wrote: »

Lyon's tea is British (owned by Unilever and is imported from Manchester)... don't know why some people see it as quintessentially Irish.

Cause it's part of Irish culture and life?
At the end of the day, the tea isn't grown in the UK, either, it's imported from India, Africa, whereever. But the way it became part of everyday life makes it something very Irish indeed I think.

Crooked Jack

Colmustard wrote: »

Agreed except for the food, Irish food is bland apart form our breakfast. I just think we don't have a cuisine, I was talking to a French girl who lives and studies here. She asked why do the Irish not eat fish. I really don't know I answered, fish seems an adventure for most us Irish.

I don't really eat it, the odd donegal catch or cod and chips is about as far as I would go.

cant speak for the rest of the country but i dont eat fish cause it makes me want to boke

BillyMitchel

Our honest politicians

*ahem*

bronte

The craic! The scenery is amazing too especially if the weather is good.

Vita nova

Shenshen wrote: »

Cause it's part of Irish culture and life?
At the end of the day, the tea isn't grown in the UK, either, it's imported from India, Africa, whereever. But the way it became part of everyday life makes it something very Irish indeed I think.

Gimme a break! I'm well aware it isn't grown in the UK but it is selected blended and packed there.

Johnnio13

defo the characters you meet. The craic you can have with people and the Irish sense of humour.

Ilyana

I like that you can talk to a total stranger from any part of the country and there's a good chance they'll know someone you know. The flipside of that is small-town nosiness, but it is nice to know you might find a common link with someone, no matter what part of the country they're from.

Green Mile

Craic,
I love Craic

MaxSteele

The fact we're probably one of the safest, least volatile countries.

No extreme climate, natural disasters, heavy handed police force or military. No immigrant ghettos, racial/political tension and our general laid back attitude to life.

No real international crime syndicates other than a few pikey families from Limerick and the heads out in Crumlin and Drimnagh. Compare these negative factors to the rest of the world and we have it fairly lucky.

Tom_Cruise

The weather,especially the cold winters.

Cork city,i think its a great place,nice and compact.

The way every single town or county has a different accent

stek

As an emigrant living along way away, I realize now I love and miss more than anything, a good conversation with a close circle of friends over a creamy pint in a dirty oul lads bar.

Fromthetrees

The over priced and low quality cocaine.

Archeron

Another vote for the weather, I think its perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. I'd love to see a few more blue skies than we've gotten this year, but sure you cant have everything.

I also love the built heritage, the castles, mansions, abbeys, churchs and ruins. Anytime I have friends over from outside Ireland, I love to show them around and they are always amazed at how you cant travel more than a few miles before coming across some building with a great history behind it.

gara

Our sense of humour and how it's given us the wittiest, funniest slang terms in the world -only in Ireland could you tell someone you'd 'ate the arse off a nun through a convent gate' without anyone batting an eyelid!

OurLadyofKnock

Excellent airports with cheap flights.