Why are the Irish generally superficial?

El Weirdo

machaseh wrote: »

Ah yes thats also something. Why do Irish people obsess about their past all of the time? Anything wrong in the country, 'ah its the damn brits'. Never taking their own responsibility.

Have you lived through british occupation? Most likely not ulness you're actually a 90 year old which I highly doubt. Many peoples have been oppressed in the past, and yes it's a shame but it's not an excuse for the irish to not take responsibility for their own country in my opinion.

machaseh wrote: »

By the way we are as fond of Germans as yous are of Brits. For very obvious reasons......

Right.

Dyr

machaseh wrote: »

There also seems to be a general lack of interest in culture, such as the arts or music.

Yeah, we've no real interest in music.

Remind me what bands came out of Holland, Golden Earring and 2 unlimited. Get upourra dat

Fr_Dougal

machaseh wrote: »

Not really. I think we should kick the Brits out of Ireland as well as out of the EU to teach them a lesson.

On second thoughts, you may well have reached your own level.

WrenBoy

Thanks for putting up with us Machaseh, your patience is very much appreciated.
Also I was told before about Black Pete by friend from your neck of the woods, whats your opinion on that ?

KaneToad

machaseh wrote: »

1,7 million people can read Irish texts, say sláinte and tiocfaidh ár lá and understand some basic conversations, but can 1,7 million hold fluent conversations in Irish and write irish texts? I highly highly doubt that.

If 1,7 million people truly had fluent irish, I would have met more than exactly one (1) Irish person who spoke fluent Irish. And she is from Donegal so yes of course she speaks it. Or I must indeed have been extraordinarily unlucky or living in an alternate universe.

No one ever said that 1.7 million have fluent Irish.

Do you mind me asking how old you are? You appear to be a bit naive in confusing the habits of people you met with those of an entire nation. Your sample group, in your posts, seems to consist of people you meet in the pub.

partyguinness

I have a Dutch brother in law and my sister lives in the Netherlands. His grandmother who is still alive and I have met lived through Nazi occupation and came damn close to starving to death.

He loves Ireland and finds it far more fun and easygoing- in fact he is the one dragging us out to the pub when he is over visiting. Loves stout, trad music and the better 'craic'. He has even tried his hand at learning Irish.

Now, this guy is highly articulate and well educated. Works for the Dutch government and travels around the world advising developing nations on economic matters.

As I live in the UK he cannot understand why the Brits voted for Brexit. We chat about it as his English colleagues haven't got a clue and refuse to engage primarily because they don't care.

Now OP, you want to meet superficial people with no interest in anything outside a 500 yard radius of their home- live in England. That is not gratuitous 'Brit Bashing'- I live here and my in laws are all English.

beans

machaseh wrote: »

Ah yes thats also something. Why do Irish people obsess about their past all of the time? Anything wrong in the country, 'ah its the damn brits'. Never taking their own responsibility.

Like the Dutch constantly giving out about how the Germans stole their bikes?

partyguinness

Maybe OP the issue is you?

circadian

machaseh wrote: »

Once I was having a couple pints with me mates in the pub. Some absolutely leathered girl comes up to us and starts chatting. 'Where are you from?' So I say ' the Netherlands'

Your one pulls out a 20 from her bra and shouts 'AH GRAND CAN I BUY SOME GREEN OFF YA !'

I'm pretty certain this never happened.

Isn't this the second "Why are all the Irish arseholes?" type thread today?

jimmycrackcorm

jimgoose wrote: »

Shouldn't you have your finger in a dyke somewhere?

I'm guessing the OP isn't a lesbian

machaseh

partyguinness wrote: »

I have a Dutch brother in law and my sister lives in the Netherlands. His grandmother who is still alive and I have met lived through Nazi occupation and came damn close to starving to death.

He loves Ireland and finds it far more fun and easygoing- in fact he is the one dragging us out to the pub when he is over visiting. Loves stout, trad music and the better 'craic'. He has even tried his hand at learning Irish.

Now, this guy is highly articulate and well educated. Works for the Dutch government and travels around the world advising developing nations on economic matters.

As I live in the UK he cannot understand why the Brits voted for Brexit. We chat about it as his English colleagues haven't got a clue and refuse to engage primarily because they don't care.

Now OP, you want to meet superficial people with no interest in anything outside a 500 yard radius of their home- live in England. That is not gratuitous 'Brit Bashing'- I live here and my in laws are all English.

I have tried to learn Irish multiple times and I do understand a bit of it and know some phrases. But at the end of the day, it is incredibly demotivating to try and learn a language that basically nobody speaks in Dublin.

I have never heard anybody speak Irish on the streets in Dublin. If you talk about the irish language with most irish people they don't know much about it, or they don't care.

As for the English being even worse in this respect than the Irish - could be. I have never lived in the UK nor do I plan to. It is not an excuse to say 'yeah maybe we're bad but look at those other guys who are worse'.

machaseh

beans wrote: »

Like the Dutch constantly giving out about how the Germans stole their bikes?

While we might indeed have issues with Germany for obvious reasons, nobody would EVER blame whatever is wrong in the Netherlands (which is much less than in Ireland by the way) on the Germans. We built and managed our own nation for the majority of history, and while WWII might have set us back somewhat that is generally not the focus of complains nor would we ever use it as an excuse. In fact, the netherlands handled the German occupation very pragmatically. Once war was declared it was very apparent from the start that such a tiny nation could never even begin to stand a chance to such a big and powerful neighbour.

El Weirdo

machaseh wrote: »

While we might indeed have issues with Germany for obvious reasons, nobody would EVER blame whatever is wrong in the Netherlands (which is much less than in Ireland by the way) on the Germans. We built and managed our own nation for the majority of history, and while WWII might have set us back somewhat that is generally not the focus of complains nor would we ever use it as an excuse. In fact, the netherlands handled the German occupation very pragmatically. Once war was declared it was very apparent from the start that such a tiny nation could never even begin to stand a chance to such a big and powerful neighbour.

Any examples of what exactly we blame the Brits for?

Feisar

I used to live in The Netherlands, firstly the Dutch as sound. I don't understand how people can say they are no craic!?!

There seems to be more focus on life outside work, ya couldn't get the hoors to work on for an hour at all! Dead right though in fairness to them. Also there seems to be a focus on the locality, town halls etc. And each wee village has a fair during the Summer which is great craic. General drinking and merriment but family focused at the same time.

Mad_maxx

machaseh wrote: »

So as a background I moved over here from Holland a bit more than 2 years ago. What I have noticed a lot with Irish people is a prevailing sense of superficiality, and I wonder why this is so. I'll explain this a bit more below.

For example, the go-to activity for Irish people would be to go out drinking at the pub. Now there's nothing wrong with that, in the Netherlands we like our pints too. But in the pub you already start noticing the prevailing cultural superficiality of many Irish folks as compared to the Netherlands.

For example, eating out to get a proper meal before going to the pub seems to be uncommon. Whenever I'd propose something like that it'd be like 'nah im broke'. Even if it's been payday. It seems like Irish people just want to spend their money on alcohol rather than on a total, more enjoyable experience. I'm not saying they never get food, but it'd be more something like a cheapo pizza in the pub, maybe some chips, or perhaps some (bad quality) kebab or go to the chipper afterwards rather than do something nice in the food department.

The choice of drink is also generally not interesting, most Irish people would go for the coors light, Heineken (which by the way is considered the worst 'standard' beer in the Netherlands, yes I know it's from our country), and more importantly most would stick to only one type of beer for the night. Some lads with a bit more money would , fair play to them, go for the more expensive whiskeys but that's more of an exception than the rule.

The conversations is where the superficiality prevails though. Most irish people that I met have little if any knowledge of the Irish language, for example. Politics generally seems to be an absolutely taboo subject, while it would be normal for us to talk about that back home. They all seem to vote for FF/FG just because their parents did without thinking twice of it.

There also seems to be a general lack of interest in culture, such as the arts or music.

I wonder why Irish people are so superficial. Or is this just a Dublin thing? I just feel as if people back home are a lot more interesting in many aspects.

We are a deeply conformist people who hate not being on the same side as " the crowd"

Individualism isn't a strong national trait

partyguinness

machaseh wrote: »

I have tried to learn Irish multiple times and I do understand a bit of it and know some phrases. But at the end of the day, it is incredibly demotivating to try and learn a language that basically nobody speaks in Dublin.

I have never heard anybody speak Irish on the streets in Dublin. If you talk about the irish language with most irish people they don't know much about it, or they don't care.

As for the English being even worse in this respect than the Irish - could be. I have never lived in the UK nor do I plan to. It is not an excuse to say 'yeah maybe we're bad but look at those other guys who are worse'.

I am not saying we are bad at all or agreeing with you! It's of course your opinion based on your personal experience. I lived in the US as well and I met a lot of superficial people. Bottom line is you meet all sorts.

Have you moved around the country away from Dublin from any length of time?

Dublin is ultimately a city with a transient population and expecting deep and meaningful interactive experiences with the natives might be a bit optimistic- like all cities. Non Dublin Irish people would probably agree with you.

Your Face

Trolling level = Dutch.

KaneToad

machaseh wrote: »

...nobody would EVER blame whatever is wrong in the Netherlands (which is much less than in Ireland by the way)...

This is the crux of your issue. Netherlands is "better" than Ireland. Yet you still choose to come and live in an inferior country. Strange.

creditcarder

Not really a big fan of netherlands people tbh. I find them a little bit of a country club.

machaseh

KaneToad wrote: »

This is the crux of your issue. Netherlands is "better" than Ireland. Yet you still choose to come and live in an inferior country. Strange.

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

bullpost

Mad_maxx wrote: »

We are a deeply conformist people who hate not being on the same side as " the crowd"

Individualism isn't a strong national trait

Thats good though - right?

We're already ahead of the game:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/16/the-age-of-the-individual-must-end-tom-oliver-the-self-delusion

machaseh

El Weirdo wrote: »

Any examples of what exactly we blame the Brits for?

Uhm every single thing for example?

Bad public transportation - BECAUSE OF THE BRITS NOT INVESTING

Superficial population that keeps voting for the same FF/FG gobsh1tes over and over again - BECAUSE OF THE BRITS

Bad healthcare - BRITS

Housing crisis - BRITS.

It's always the brits. Never taking their own responsibility...

creditcarder

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

I'm going to disagree on the food and culture in fairness. As someone who has lived abroad for most of their adult life, I'd really stop complaining and just enjoy your time here.

jimgoose

machaseh wrote: »

Uhm every single thing for example?

Bad public transportation - BECAUSE OF THE BRITS NOT INVESTING

Superficial population that keeps voting for the same FF/FG gobsh1tes over and over again - BECAUSE OF THE BRITS

Bad healthcare - BRITS

Housing crisis - BRITS.

It's always the brits. Never taking their own responsibility...

Umm, maybe those weird pod-people you hang around with blame "THE BRITS" for that stuff, but no-one else does. Those are all our own-goals. :pac:

jam_mac_jam

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

You have too many people and not a very nice countryside. Its too flat and boring. I don't think the people of any country are better then another so I am not going to argue there. The only nice food you have is from other countries. I don't think either country has that argument. Irish food is not great but Dutch food is worse then German.

You personally are very rude. Maybe that's a cultural thing.

machaseh

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

You have too many people and not a very nice countryside. Its too flat and boring. I don't think the people of any country are better then another so I am not going to argue there. The only nice food you have is from other countries. I don't think either country has that argument. Irish food is not great but Dutch food is worse then German.

You personally are very rude. Maybe that's a cultural thing.

Indeed our countryside is more flat and boring than the Irish countryside. But there is no public transportation in the Irish countryside, and I am not able to drive a car due to a medical condition, so I can't enjoy the (indeed lovely) Irish countryside anyway.

And may I ask what is rude about my post?

Feisar

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

The food? Are you mad?!!

Fr_Dougal

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

Sounds like you’re homesick.

Ireland is ranked #4 of Best Places to live, the Netherlands is #10.

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/best-countries-to-live-in/

SozBbz

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

The reason why I had to descend to the rainy island is because my job has its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. That's just the way it is. While of course I could move back and find a job in the Netherlands, I make a point of not job hopping all the time and try to stay here for a few more years as it looks a bit better on my CV. Otherwise I'd have already been on my way back.

This has to be a troll.

The food in the Netherlands is better? Deep fried and available from vending machines? Everything covered in mayonnaise? YUM.

How about those bland red things you grow in pollytunnels and call "tomatos".... DELISH.

The Netherlands is a small, flat, overpopulated country that has to use intensive farming practices to grow anything.

Ireland has a natural farming climate and much of whats grown here relies on nothing more than crop rotation and a bit of fertiliser. We've some of the best meat and dairy in the world.

I've been to the Netherlands and the food was at best fine without being special. Way too much focus on the deep fat firer for my personal taste.

As for your people and culture being better? Oh come on. Dutch people are renowned for being rude and your "culture" is former colonial power turned purveyors of sex.

Dyr

machaseh wrote: »

Indeed. Virtually everything in the Netherlands is better than Ireland. Our food, our people, our culture, our infrastructure, the tidiness of the public space, our legalized cannabis system. Virtually anything.

Don't forget your **** music