Why are the Irish generally superficial?

jam_mac_jam

Maybe try meetup groups or other groups that aren't so alcohol based. Or get involved in sports clubs or things like that. There is an Irish speaking cafe near kildare street and i am sure there are groups that teach Irish that are different.

There are plenty of things that are not centred on the pub but to me it sounds like you are not looking for them. Have you tried going hiking or walking groups?

partyguinness

Look, the OP has discovered to his disgust that we do not speak Irish as our native first language ergo we are superficial and empty with no hope of redemption.

May as well just all commit Hari Kari and be done with it.

Xertz

If you're not into pubs, definitely consider doing something that isn't involved with them:

Meetup Groups - very large numbers of them in the cities and even rural areas will have a few.

Community groups - if you're in a city for example there'll probably be things like a local community garden somewhere, loads of community theatre, community radio/tv (in some of the bigger cities and towns).
Get involved with local festivals - very few places don't have any and they're usually crying out for volunteers and can be extremely good fun.
Do an evening course in something sociable.

Join a sports club - pretty much every sport I can think of is around from gentle country walks, hiking, rowing, GAA, soccer, rugby, basketball, tennis ... list goes on and on.

If you're into politics maybe join a political party? They're actually generally very open to continental members, at least all of the main stream ones anyway.

The best way of making friends here tends to be to go do something with people and find people you actually get on with.

You're unlikely to encounter your future best buds over a pint in a pub - that's usually where you go AFTER you've met them.

My only advice on Ireland is 'muck in' and get involved with stuff. It's not a hands off kind of place. If you're living here, you are not an outsider looking in.

Go Home Paddy Cat!!

Has anyone not seen the post earlier on in the humanities forum from someone who moved over a year ago, having a pop at Irish people? That thread was locked earlier today then this pops up after. This has to be another wind up!

partyguinness

Xertz wrote: »

You're unlikely to encounter your future best buds over a pint in a pub - that's usually where you go AFTER you've met them.

After all, the pub is the place for superficial light hearted nonsense talk not discussing the latest shock to global oil prices.

Xertz

partyguinness wrote: »

After all, the pub is the place for superficial light hearted nonsense talk not discussing the latest shock to global oil prices.

It depends on the pub. There are a few around that are more highbrow than your average university staff room.

SozBbz

machaseh wrote: »

But it makes your identity super superficial and empty. Hence the point of my OP.

No it doesn't.

Who are you to tell someone their identity is superficial. You're the one who sounds ignorant.

Posts like that make you a rude arseh0le.

buried

partyguinness wrote: »

Look, the OP has discovered to his disgust that we do not speak Irish as our native first language ergo we are superficial and empty with no hope of redemption.

May as well just all commit Hari Kari and be done with it.

Ima do it the ancient Irish way and throw myself into a bog after I immolate myself, that'll show em

Yurt2

A lot of Dutch I've met have been terrible bores and very headstrong with opinions even when they're talking absolute rope. Plenty of them are fairly provincial in their outlook as well. Have met some fantastic Dutch also of course.

They're culture to me also is a weird hybrid of English and German (unsurprising given where the country is located) and isn't one I'd be particularly drawn to. But, good luck to them, congratulations on the cheese.

swarlb

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before... but far from blaming the Brits for all our problems. We should actually be blaming The Dutch.
If William of Orange had minded his own business... we might never have been in the situation we find ourselves these days.... and indeed we might all be speaking Irish to boot !

Lillyfae

Bambi wrote: »

Yeah, we've no real interest in music.

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

Have a listen to “De jeugd van tegenwoordig”. Geweldig craic.

Lillyfae

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.

Agree with everything except your point on the food. I’ve been in Holland/ Brabant for 12+ years, am integrated and GOD ALMIGHTY I miss Irish food.

dd973

There's a weird preoccupation with 'Homo's' in the Netherlands, it's used a lot pejoratively, far more so than over here or the UK.

buried

If any of ye here actual think this gadge is Dutch after they typing out words on here such as "gob$hite" & "I love me aul fish and chips" then ye are doomed.
This gadge is about as Dutch as a Samurai sword

Lillyfae

aaronc182 wrote: »

To be fair if you went on a dutch forum and said Im here because i cant get a job back home but Ireland has better people,music,places,food,transport,cleanliness and is just all round better I'm sure there be some Ireland bashing there

I doubt that. The Dutch are well able for it., in fact they would probably agree with a lot of things if warranted. They love a group whinge.

Alun

Lillyfae wrote: »

They love a group whinge.

Agree, the Dutch are world champions at whingeing.

Cilldara_2000

I particularly liked the idea that anyone who doesn't eat out or drink topshelf whiskey is an unsophisticated boor. That's more than a bit snobby.

MayoAreMagic

Alun wrote: »

Agree, the Dutch are world champions at whingeing.

We are well up there ourselves to be fair...
Used to not be the case. We have undoubtedly changed as a nation of people over time. The americans hated us invading their country initially, but grew to like the irish because they didnt moan (despite a lot of properly shoddy treatment), turned up for for work, rowed in and integrated. They deserve credit for that and we have reaped the rewards of their labours big time.
I wonder how the irish of today would do in similar circumstances. The spike in compensation claims upon our arrival might darken the mood a bit, Id imagine... We arent quite the likeable folk we once were, to my mind anyway.
While we can quibble over some of the terms used here by our dutch visitor, it is also a chance to view ourselves through the eyes of another. What does it matter if plenty dutch have faults too, that doesnt change our situation so it isnt relevant.
Walk around any city in ireland. People are getting more self obsessed and shallow by the day. Extreme-preen gobsh*tes with ridiculously whitened teeth, hair transplants, quiffs from the heavens, plastered in tattoos and no socks is now the norm. Surely someone saying that things are 'a bit superficial' is in fact underselling the thing remarkably.

MayoAreMagic

Cilldara_2000 wrote: »

I particularly liked the idea that anyone who doesn't eat out or drink topshelf whiskey is an unsophisticated boor. That's more than a bit snobby.

More down to a difference in attitude I think tbh. We drink to get drunk. We are warned from a young age not to mix drinks also. We dont really go out to eat before drinking so we see it as as expensive extra.
People from germany/holland etc tend to drink with their food more than we do, and we tend to view that as just being a more expensive way of getting drunk...

Calhoun

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.

You know that whole saying that if your the smartest guy in the group your in the wrong group, I think this applies here.

As for the Irish language I suppose its hard for someone from a country who engaged in colonization of others on the impact that it might have on the country under occupation.

You might be best going back home and engaging with your cultural and mental equals.

The J Stands for Jay

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.

There's new born babies in Belfast living through British occupation right now.

buried

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

More down to a difference in attitude I think tbh. We drink to get drunk. We are warned from a young age not to mix drinks also. We dont really go out to eat before drinking so we see it as as expensive extra.
People from germany/holland etc tend to drink with their food more than we do, and we tend to view that as just being a more expensive way of getting drunk...

A policy was introduced to allow the same sort of drink/food culture in restaurants cafes here the same as those countries you have mention but the Vintner federation lobby cried like demented Banshee's to make sure it wasn't ever going to happen. The majority of Irish people were all for it but the greedy hoors in a lobby group including a group of publican/politicians within it stopped it. That is not indicative of the general Irish mindset. Its the established vested interests that have the power and money to make sure it doesn't happen, not the general Irish people themselves.

I'm only a bit ficial..

rdwight

KaneToad wrote: »

I think you're hanging out with the wrong people OP.

1 in 5 adults in Ireland don't drink any alcohol
1.7 million people can speak Irish
20,500 people speak Irish daily, outside of education
65,000 students in full-time education through Irish language
The Abbey Theatre was the first state sponsored theatre in the English speaking world

1.7 million people can speak Irish. Of whom 1.21% chose to speak it daily

Who are we kidding?

Always Tired

There's plenty of art and culture in Dublin. For a small country we've contribited hugely to literature for example.

as for the people being superficial it's just the trade off, the Irish are very friendly up front but dont expect to make a mate for life out of any of them you meet as an adult.

The rule of the Catholic church meant you never revealed your true self, as you would surely be condemned to burn in hell for it.

Calhoun

buried wrote: »

You live in Dublin OP yeah? But where you working at? Some global multinational corporation or something like that? Your own work environment is probably clouding your whole mindset on the issue.
I mean, If you were working in one of the thousands of the Gaelscoil's you'd probably think every single person spoke the native language.

The OP seems to be working in one of the isolated business parks near loughlinstown. More than likely its a technical role because the market right now is crying out for people who can do that, there is allot of mobility in the role.

So I would agree with the assessment of the work environment clouding the mindset.

KaneToad

rdwight wrote: »

1.7 million people can speak Irish. Of whom 1.21% chose to speak it daily

Who are we kidding?

It's not that difficult to comprehend. (And I'm not talking about the language). I am one of the 1.7 million who can speak the language but have very limited opportunity to do so - therefore I wouldn't use it on a daily basis. I'm in a very common cohort.

Paul_Hacket

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.

I see.

So your culture is totally superior to ours? Name a single famous Dutch writer. How many Nobel prizes for literature has the Netherlands won? Answer: none. We've won four.

Ireland is a country with one quarter the population of the Netherlands. We have a massive presence on the global stage relative to our tiny size when it comes to film making, music, literature, the theatre, famous actors, etc. etc.

I am a huge fan of film. Apart from Paul Verhoeven I cannot think of a single Dutch film maker who has made any substantive impression on the art. And Verhoeven left Holland to work in the US in the mid 1980s.

I will admit that Dutch infrastructure is superior to ours. I have no idea what this has to do with "superficiality" though (the supposed point of your thread). Y

If I had to think of the single event that Holland is best known for in the modern era it would be the fact that your peace keeping forces facilitated the slaughter of 8,000 Bosnians at Srebrenica in 1995. The only genocide committed in post WW2 Europe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre#2002:_Dutch_government_report

Your post is a hilarious self-fail.

ILoveYourVibes

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.

Your pop music is dire. I am sorry I am certain there is much about the netherlands that is better than Ireland. Except not the music.

YOUR MUSIC IS TERRIBLE! DEAR GOD! NAME A WELL KNOWN DUTCH POP BAND ?? FOLK MUSICIAN ?? CLASSICAL MUSICIAN?

Yeah i can't think of any either.

Your traditional dancing is terrible. And its no where near the standard of ours. We have professional level dancers in Irish dancing. In the Netherlands its all amateurish and pretty bad.

We speak English because we were colonized. You speak Dutch because you colonized everyone else.

Do you have any traditional sports? If they are as slow and as boring as soccer ....you don't beat hurling.

We have contributed a lot to the world of folk music and hugely to the world of pop music.

We have amazing writers. We have our own style of dance sport and music.

ILoveYourVibes

Always Tired wrote: »

There's plenty of art and culture in Dublin. For a small country we've contribited hugely to literature for example.

as for the people being superficial it's just the trade off, the Irish are very friendly up front but dont expect to make a mate for life out of any of them you meet as an adult.

The rule of the Catholic church meant you never revealed your true self, as you would surely be condemned to burn in hell for it.

We don't value the arts enough TBH. Its not a solely Irish trait though.