What have the Brits ever done for us?

Dirty Dingus McGee

davmol wrote: »

I find it funny that the same IRA knuckle draggers blame the brits for everything.

the same lads that wear Man Utd,liverpool,chelsea jerseys and fight fellow Irishmen for supporting opposite teams.The same lads that watch corri,eastenders and go to Liverpool for stags weekends and cant get enough of English birds.

I remember some lads on the radio lambasting the BBC for lack of coverage of Ireland in the Olympics when our own national broadcaster had a full day of Ireland coverage but typical knobend wanted to blame the brits when we are not part of Britain so why should they cover the Irish teams.

Also,if there was a rogue plane coming towards Ireland full of explosives or on a Kamikaze tour to plough into the middle of Oconnell street,who would it be we call??The RAF,as we cannot even defend ourselves.
We are such a weak country that we are totally dependant on their airforce.

They also gave us Jobs,Plenty of Jobs.Hoards of Irish have headed for the UK to be builders,to work in Finance in the City and generally do very well for themselves.

I would say the Brits have done a good deal for Ireland but we will never admit it and always be the first to Blame the Brits for anyting we can.

Some people are still stuck in the 60'/70's.Time to move on ,

I don't think that actually happens a lot though.A few posters on the internet isn't representative of the whole country

I didn't hear the UK being blamed for water charges, bailing out the banks and all the other things people complain about in this country.

But if it makes you feel superior because apparently your great for not blaming Britain for these things then fair enough.

jmayo

Everlong1 wrote: »

The Beatles, The Stones, The Smiths, The Police, Kate Bush.

You should have finished with The The rather than Kate bush.

FrancieBrady wrote: »

How to lose an empire and still think you are a world leader when in fact you are a world power's gofor.
And Marmite, don't forget the Marmite.

They had an Empire and we were part of it.
Worse still we helped them build it.
WTF does that make us.


The harbours, railways and canals were all build under British rule.
We closed them down or allowed them fall into disrepair.

We couldn't build a decent road until we got infrastructure funds from EU.

The only major thing we added was Ard na Crusha and electricification.

And the really sad state of affairs is that a big chunk of our capital city and North Wicklow is reliant on a water infrastructure put in during Victoria's reign. :mad:

railer201

chip butties

FrancieBrady

jmayo wrote: »

You should have finished with The The rather than Kate bush.



They had an Empire and we were part of it.
Worse still we helped them build it.
WTF does that make us.


The harbours, railways and canals were all build under British rule.
We closed them down or allowed them fall into disrepair.

We couldn't build a decent road until we got infrastructure funds from EU.

The only major thing we added was Ard na Crusha and electricification.

And the really sad state of affairs is that a big chunk of our capital city and North Wicklow is reliant on a water infrastructure put in during Victoria's reign. :mad:

Oh dear, we have a live one!

BoatMad

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Ah now, they just built them as an easy way to land their invasion armies.

they came long before any piers !

whisky_galore

Most of Irish Water's pipework...

BoatMad

whisky_galore wrote: »

Most of Irish Water's pipework...

its was good when we put it in the ground guv ,. honest

5rtytry56

and set up the reservoirs for Dublin City.

FrancieBrady

All the infrastructure stuff you people are going on about was not a 'gift' to the Irish, it was the stuff countries do when they expect to have a future in a place.
The British expected to be still here to enjoy what they got us to build but 100 years ago a few men and women started something that changed that.

Fratton Fred

riffmongous wrote: »

the Irish were Catholic

Another thing the Brits did for you :pac:

Didas

dd972 wrote: »

Worth remembering is that we were Brits at the time, in the same way that the Scots are Brits now, even though a growing proportion of them don't want to be anymore. The authorities in London at the time probably didn't consider us to be anymore different or foreign as Lancastrian mill workers.

It was actually completely the opposite.

"The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson, that calamity must not be too much mitigated.
…The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people."

Charles Trevelyan, Head of Administration for Famine relief, 1840s

LordSutch

FrancieBrady wrote: »

All the infrastructure stuff you people are going on about was not a 'gift' to the Irish, it was the stuff countries do when they expect to have a future in a place.
The British expected to be still here to enjoy what they got us to build but 100 years ago a few men and women started something that changed that.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101847063&postcount=98

riffmongous

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Another thing the Brits did for you :pac:

Ha, careful now or that will go down as another thing to blame them for :P

FrancieBrady

LordSutch wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101847063&postcount=98

The majority of us were quite happy to take on our independence. It wouldn't have happened otherwise.
We were never British although some like to pretend they are to this day. In fairness the British always seen us as separate and other too and would recognise the 'pretenders' as Irish regardless of the act.

A Little Pony

FrancieBrady wrote: »

LordSutch wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101847063&postcount=98

The majority of us were quite happy to take on our independence. It wouldn't have happened otherwise.
We were never British although some like to pretend they are to this day. In fairness the British always seen us as separate and other too and would recognise the 'pretenders' as Irish regardless of the act.

To deny the reality of over a million people in NI as British is staggering frankly.

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

To deny the reality of over a million people in NI as British is staggering frankly.

'British' is a construct. People born on this island are Irish first, they are welcome to take on any construct they want. I know a guy who thinks he's a Martian betimes.

A Little Pony

FrancieBrady wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

To deny the reality of over a million people in NI as British is staggering frankly.

'British' is a construct. People born on this island are Irish first, they are welcome to take on any construct they want. I know a guy who thinks he's a Martian betimes.

British is a nationality, it has been for hundreds of years. To just say British people don't exist in Northern Ireland is to say Irish people don't exist in Dublin, utter rubbish.

pauliebdub

Mr. FoggPatches wrote: »

Apart from giving us a legal system, a system of government, their language, a place for bail skippers to disappear, fish and chips and Helena Bonham Carter's backside, what have the Brits ever done for us?

Dublin's beautiful Georgian architecture. Modern construction horrors that litter the city will remind you of what the whole city would look like according to Fianna Fail tastes.

dd972

Everlong1 wrote: »

The Beatles, The Stones, The Smiths, The Police, Kate Bush.

The Smiths, ahem, I think you'll need to do some research, born and raised in England yes, but that's about it.

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

British is a nationality, it has been for hundreds of years. To just say British people don't exist in Northern Ireland is to say Irish people don't exist in Dublin, utter rubbish.

Nope, England, Scotland and Wales are nationalities. That is why they can become independent if they wish.

Irish people do identify with the British brand or construct, they are still Irish though.

A Little Pony

FrancieBrady wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

British is a nationality, it has been for hundreds of years. To just say British people don't exist in Northern Ireland is to say Irish people don't exist in Dublin, utter rubbish.

Nope, England, Scotland and Wales are nationalities. That is why they can become independent if they wish.

Irish people do identify with the British brand or construct, they are still Irish though.

No that is NOT why they can be independent (although only one of those could in reality). Our citizenship is protected in law as shown in the Good Friday Agreement, our identity protected in the Good Friday Agreement. You might not like British people living on this Island but nothing you can do about it.

buried

It gave us 'Burial', in all fairness lads

and Chris Morris

in all fairness

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

No that is NOT why they can be independent (although only one of those could in reality). Our citizenship is protected in law as shown in the Good Friday Agreement, our identity protected in the Good Friday Agreement. You might not like British people living on this Island but nothing you can do about it.

No problem with people who identify with the British brand.
But it isn't a nationality. Welsh is a nationality.
If you are having a problem with this see what Ian Paisley had to say on the subject.

A Little Pony

FrancieBrady wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

No that is NOT why they can be independent (although only one of those could in reality). Our citizenship is protected in law as shown in the Good Friday Agreement, our identity protected in the Good Friday Agreement. You might not like British people living on this Island but nothing you can do about it.

No problem with people who identify with the British brand.
But it isn't a nationality. Welsh is a nationality.
If you are having  a problem with this see what Ian Paisley had to say on the subject.

(vi) recognise the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland.

Protected in law like I said, a people with a different nationality to you. Deal with it.

Junkyard Tom

A Little Pony wrote: »

Protected in law like I said, a people with a different nationality to you. Deal with it.

Unionists are the most unBritish of 'British' people. The British people of Britain are a tolerant bunch, on the whole, and see ye as an anachronistic embarrassment.

They'd throw you under the bus in a heartbeat given half the chance.

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

Protected in law like I said, a people with a different nationality to you. Deal with it.

I know somebody who identifies as Martian, his 'nationality' is Irish though, which is a real place BTW.
Britain is an idea, a construct, not a nation or nationality, and if England Wales and Scotland decide to go it alone, the idea/construct will disappear.

A Little Pony

FrancieBrady wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

Protected in law like I said, a people with a different nationality to you. Deal with it.

I know somebody who identifies as Martian, his 'nationality' is Irish though, which is a real place BTW.
Britain is an idea, a construct, not a nation or nationality, and if England Wales and Scotland decide to go it alone, the idea/construct will disappear.

You obviously don't know history that well. The name of Britain is very old, deriving as far back as the time of Rome. The concept of Britons is not just some political concept, it is a group of people who reside on on these Islands. What you struggle to understand about that is beyond me.

Go read the writings of Tacitus on Britons, you seem to be mixing up the political Union with the nationality of British people who reside in the British isles. I don't even think I need to go into the background of Unionists and the history as I am sure you are well aware of it.

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

You obviously don't know history that well. The name of Britain is very old, deriving as far back as the time of Rome. The concept of Britons is not just some political concept, it is a group of people who reside on on these Islands. What you struggle to understand about that is beyond me.

Go read the writings of Tacitus on Britons, you seem to be mixing up the political Union with the nationality of British people who reside in the British isles. I don't even think I need to go into the background of Unionists and the history as I am sure you are well aware of it.

Where is the 'nation' of Britain?
Using the 'British Isles' as a signifier of nationhood died 100 years ago this year.
If the UK breaks up, there will be no British idea or construct. There will still be English Irish Welsh and Scottish nationalities though.

Tsipras

A Little Pony wrote: »

FrancieBrady wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

Protected in law like I said, a people with a different nationality to you. Deal with it.

I know somebody who identifies as Martian, his 'nationality' is Irish though, which is a real place BTW.
Britain is an idea, a construct, not a nation or nationality, and if England Wales and Scotland decide to go it alone, the idea/construct will disappear.

You obviously don't know history that well. The name of Britain is very old, deriving as far back as the time of Rome. The concept of Britons is not just some political concept, it is a group of people who reside on on these Islands. What you struggle to understand about that is beyond me.

Go read the writings of Tacitus on Britons, you seem to be mixing up the political Union with the nationality of British people who reside in the British isles. I don't even think I need to go into the background of Unionists and the history as I am sure you are well aware of it.

This is a nice Myth - But absolute sh**te.. The Brits did exactly what the next rulers of the world would do, -US case - destroy lots of countries if they can make a few dollars for Wall Street(more death the better) - it was always the same, rich people saying we were broke then giving millions to to rich people

Junkyard Tom

The British did practically nothing for the Irish that wasn't in their self-interest. You don't build an empire by going around giving people stuff.

Junkyard Tom

Beasty wrote: »

They also introduced the concept of yellow and red cards, without which who knows what may have become of this site....

And the good referees endeavour to let the game flow while the bad ones, who enjoy their 'power', get a kick out of handing out cards...

BabyE

Did someone say the British authorities didn't see the Irish as different? Talk about judging the past through a modern lens.

But arguably a lot of us owe their presence here to our existence. Of course any change in history would have probably led to us not being here, but my grandparents all had English surnames, and I bet most people in the pale have English ancestry. Any numbers done on this? Do they know how many of us are of English descent? We always have this image of the British presence in Ireland being confined to a small number of landed gentry but many poor peasants were enticed to come here to colonise the lands in order to Anglicize the country.

dd972

I'm sure there's proud Scots, Welsh and English (especially the first two) who hate being identified as 'Brits', an English mate of mine solely sees himself as so, and is vehemently anti-monarchist and left-wing.

It's odd how Irish people think they've the monopoly on nationalist republicanism and self-determination.

BabyE

BabyE wrote: »

Did someone say the British authorities didn't see the Irish as different? Talk about judging the past through a modern lens.

But arguably a lot of us owe their presence here to our existence. Of course any change in history would have probably led to us not being here, but my grandparents all had English surnames, and I bet vast swathes of peoplee in the pale have English ancestry. Any numbers done on this? Do they know how many of us are of English descent? We always have this image of the British presence in Ireland being confined to a small number of landed gentry but many poor peasants were enticed to come here to colonise the lands in order to Anglicize the country.
It doesn't seem that interesting nowadays because we speak their language, close proximity and the homogeneous nature of Irish identity, we could have easily have a divide between people like my ancestors and the 'natives' like they do in the north.

No idea on this btw, I could be way off the mark. Comparing the two, I'd wager the biggest difference between N.I and Ireland is that the north received a higher, more concentrated migration whereas English settlers arrived in trickles into Ireland which in turn prevented the rise of parallel cultures springing up in the south.

TireeTerror

They saved Ireland from the Nazis because they were far too weak and cowardly to fight. The Irish are ****e bags in general who try and portray an image of being great fighters.

The British also brought some civility to the inbred country bumpkins inhabiting these shores.

Mod: Banned.

Junkyard Tom

TireeTerror wrote: »

The Irish are ****e bags ... inbred country bumpkins

You've kinda Nazi-ish views. The British should thank the Soviet Union they aren't speaking German.

FrancieBrady

TireeTerror wrote: »

They saved Ireland from the Nazis because they were far too weak and cowardly to fight. The Irish are ****e bags in general who try and portray an image of being great fighters.

The British also brought some civility to the inbred country bumpkins inhabiting these shores.

Is that you Trevelyan?

A Little Pony

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

TireeTerror wrote: »

The Irish are ****e bags ... inbred country bumpkins

You've kinda Nazi-ish views. The British should thank the Soviet Union they aren't speaking German.

Without another front opened up by Britain and the US on June 6th 1944, Nazi Germany would have had a much better chance of fighting the Soviet Union. Once the Allies landed on Normandy, the war was over. Ireland should be thankful for the RAF protecting it.

Dirty Dingus McGee

A Little Pony wrote: »

Without another front opened up by Britain and the US on June 6th 1944, Nazi Germany would have had a much better chance of fighting the Soviet Union. Once the Allies landed on Normandy, the war was over. Ireland should be thankful for the RAF protecting it.

Who knows if the Nazis did invade Ireland all we'd have ended up with is a great infrastructure, greater efficiency from our workers , been able to speak German,Oktoberfest,decent suasages etc etc.really them not invading was massive lost oppurtunity for us.

A Little Pony

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

A Little Pony wrote: »

Without another front opened up by Britain and the US on June 6th 1944, Nazi Germany would have had a much better chance of fighting the Soviet Union. Once the Allies landed on Normandy, the war was over. Ireland should be thankful for the RAF protecting it.

Who knows if the Nazis did invade Ireland all we'd have ended up with is a great infrastructure, greater efficiency from our workers , been able to speak German,Oktoberfest,decent suasages etc etc.really them not invading was massive lost oppurtunity for us.

lol Yes, and no free press or elections, or freedom of speech. The RAF was Ireland's finest hour.

Cortina_MK_IV

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Who knows if the Nazis did invade Ireland all we'd have ended up with is a great infrastructure, greater efficiency from our workers , been able to speak German,Oktoberfest,decent suasages etc etc.really them not invading was massive lost oppurtunity for us.

Yeah but we would have had sh!te stand-up comedians... Oh hang on a minute!

FrancieBrady

A Little Pony wrote: »

The RAF was Ireland's finest hour.

Some awful minutes for Dresden and Cologne though.
But that's war/conflict I suppose.

flazio

Decent television.

Yamanoto

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

The British people of Britain are a tolerant bunch, on the whole, and see ye as an anachronistic embarrassment.

Newsflash - tolerant & decent Irish folk view IRA fanboys like yourself with much the same disdain.

end of the road

Yamanoto wrote: »

Newsflash - tolerant & decent Irish folk view IRA fanboys like yourself with much the same disdain.

by "IRA fanboys" you mean realists. the NI issue wasn't going to be solved without bloodshed, britain made sure of that.

FrancieBrady

Yamanoto wrote: »

Newsflash - tolerant & decent Irish folk view IRA fanboys like yourself with much the same disdain.

Is there a difference in essence between IRA fanboys and RAF fanboys, given both have committed mistakes/atrocities they regret?
Not that Dresden and Cologne were mistakes mind you, nor the calculated massacres in other colonies etc.

TireeTerror

They also let you keep the Southern part of the Island of Ireland. They could've just kept it all if they wanted to.

jimmy blevins

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

Enforcers of the toxic sectarian anti-Irish legacy that remains to this day most evident in northern Protestants.

And in a close second boards.ie account holders. ;-)

Cortina_MK_IV

TireeTerror wrote: »

They also let you keep the Southern part of the Island of Ireland. They could've just kept it all if they wanted to.

Naaa, they couldn't have really.

FrancieBrady

TireeTerror wrote: »

They also let you keep the Southern part of the Island of Ireland. They could've just kept it all if they wanted to.

We are meant to be grateful they stopped killing us to hold on to it? The hat doffing inferiority complex raises it's head again. :rolleyes: