What are your views on Multiculturalism in Ireland? - Threadbanned User List in OP

I got locked in similar room with 20 other white people. I had no visa, but by quirke of fate no visa for Irish was required. The police just rounded up every white person crossing(this was Zimbabwe at the peak of land confiscation), and they were systematically robbing every Rhodesian, American or Brit of all their portable wealth. Strangely enough the senior officer let me go without taking anyhting after saying, " you are Irish, you hate British too"

The interesting thing is that while here in Ireland people jump at the chance to accuse/insult/decry priests of all types and the catholic church... much of the great reputation that Irish people have abroad comes from the priests and missionaries. Not all, but a significant part of the good reputations come from them.

When you go abroad (apart from the western nations), and talk to people about what they know about Ireland and Irish people, few of them have any personal experience of Irish people... and what they learn from history/geography tends to be rather vague, and full of misconceptions. Stereotypes abound. Most remarks tend to focus on the stereotypes of drinking, or our boy bands or Riverdance, but the general perception is of Ireland as a religious country, without divorce, and traditional minded. Obviously, that's changed considerably.

Our reputation abroad will decline for a variety of reasons. The first being that many Irish who do travel behave more like the English and don't do the reputation of Irish people many favors, with an emphasis on drinking and fighting. Which is fine in cultures where such things are common (Russia being a good example there). Then, there's the simple exposure to modern Irish people as opposed to the Irish who used to travel/work abroad. The mannerisms of Irish people and the manner of their interactions are shifting. Instead of missionaries, we have a few generations of expats, and they tend to represent the best of Irish behavior abroad, settling down, and integrating quite well with their preferred environments.

In non-western countries, I think we have a lot to be grateful for the Irish priests, brothers and nuns that went abroad because they presented a wonderful impression of caring, open, friendly behavior... and that's what stayed within the stereotype. We don't really have that as much anymore.

Besides, politically, Ireland has involved itself internationally, and news reports are going to shape peoples perceptions of us... whereas in the past, when the stereotypes were formed, Ireland was mostly a very quiet, small nation. That's changed.

I've had a lot of very good experiences happen, simply because I was Irish. I've been mugged, and then, gotten away from being severely beaten because I was Irish. I've had police in a variety of nations, let me out of small problems, because I was Irish (and no, there were no references to hating the British). I can list dozens upon dozens of positive results due to being Irish... but I can also point to a range of negative experiences too.

I think we have to realise that Ireland, and Irish people have greater presence now than they did before, and that's going to alter the favorable stereotypes that have hung around for ages.

Ahh.. honestly, I've never encountered such an association. Maybe Ireland was.. as you say... but I've never heard that from any foreigner, in Asia or Africa.

And TBF, the end of colonialism came about through the efforts of the Americans after WW2.. increasing pressure by American governments on the British or French, to release nations as it was incompatible with their vision of democracy and freedom (while also decreasing the opposition those Imperial powers had against American influence economically, and diplomatically).

If African or.Asian countries had a.large amount of.Irish people living there, I would.imagine they would look for police from those.nationalities.

Makes sense. The more diverse the Garda, the better.

Ahh well, Americans have always been very good at saying one thing, while hiding various opposite behaviors behind their backs. Even today, after all that has gone by (and been revealed), Westerners still prefer to focus on the good related to US foreign affairs (while extending those fake standards to other nations), than truly consider the bad. Hollywood has made an incredibly strong impact on most Western conditioning. The British did something similar, although not quite to the same degree, but it's noticeable nonetheless.

As for people being too shy... yeah.. no. In my experience, roll out the local cuisine with copious amounts of the local spirits, and you get every opinion under the sun (along with a lot of lectures on history), especially if you're in any kind of rural area, although city outskirts were often the same.

Still, TBH in my experience, few people knew much about Ireland, most thinking we were still part of Britain.

How exactly are these people trapped? Sinn Fein at it again, always playing the victim card for any special interest group they can find.

Refugees are from war torn countries.

Asylum can be claimed on many different grounds.