Fight for Ireland?

My understanding is thst they're not being given a choice in the matter. We're thinking how brave they are to volunteer but its not really voluntary if its also mandatory. They're doing their best. I think the Irish would do their best too.

I think it would be no harm to make basic military training a normal thing in ireland. If you don't even know how to use a weapon or basic military movements or how to behave in combat, then you could at least do things like transport, carry supplies and other basic tasks. A small bit of training would be very useful.

I've fired hunting rifels and shotguns a few times. Not sure how much use I could possibly be to frontline troops. Then again, if things become desperate enough they might just give you gun and tell you to point it at the enemy and shoot.

hahahaha, we re done with our fighting, we can thank our ancestors for that, we ve evolved into a more mature nation....

tis hard to fight the might of the fire sectors....

I was watching a thing on John Wayne of all people last night, and he ducked service in ww2 when a load of other stars of even higher fame such as Clark Gable enlisted. Then you see the Klitcho brothers of Ukraine signing up to fight, Shevchenko too and you can't help but admire these men. Proper men, i'd rather be a clark gable than a John wayne anyday, or a Michael Collins than a snivelling Dev

I'm too damn old for that crap, but I'm also too damn old to run scared. Give me an M4A1 carbine with an ACOG and I'll give 'em hell. Who are we fighting again??

Dying for an ideal is one thing, dying for a word on passport.....?

Is argue people are living in their knees as it is.

The men were men and the women and children were scared shitless.

Honestly? If it were Ireland instead of Ukraine right now? ... give me a gun. I would not be fighting for Ireland, I would not be fighting for Micheál Martin or who ever. I would be doing so to try and protect those who I love and care about. We fight together to protect those we love.

What about yourself?

I'd love to know where he hides his thirteenth share of the loot from Erebor....

Like yerself the concept of Ireland is sort of lost to me these days. In terms of fighting, there's no point in killing soldiers that come from the poorer classes, head to the invaders home country and start a schools and hospitals bombing campaign, much more effective.

As someone who spent years playing the games in dojos like yerself be wary of a false sense of security.

Hmmm. You are asking a lot of questions. You do realise that I see you are trying to lead me down a path, right? It is a clever technique. But I shall bite.

I have known quite a number of lads who tried to come off as hard but when faced with a confrontation do the exact opposite of what they said they would. That's life. Talk versus reality. One thing I can guarantee you is that there is more people who say they WOULD, than those who WILL. As for myself? I'm just a normal random man. Then again, i don't walk with a swagger or act like how I could give Connor McGregor a run for his money.

But enough about me for a second, lets talk about you. For a man who asks a lot of questions you certainly give vague answers - i mean "do what I have to do" - what does that mean? There's been plenty of men over the years who said that and "fought" - while hiding behind a tree while their so called comrades did the fighting.

I know you (think you) are building up to something. So just say it.

Ive asked 2 questions. It probably feels like the questions are piling up because you haven't directly answers either one.

The first is whether you're different from the recent generations you (and @fryup) said are soft.

The second was a specific question responding to your saying you would fight for your loved ones, not the government.

I'll answer your question, sorry if i didnt give enough detail in my first answer. I'd fight if it became necessary (like an invasion). If it became mandatory, like it is in Ukraine, then I wouldn't have a choice in the matter. I've no military training so I've no idea what job I'd be told to do.

Now, would you try to answer those 2 questions I asked you?

Edit: I don't know what path you think I'm trying to lead you down or what point you think I'm teying to make. I'm trying to understand the 2 of the points you've made, namely thst the current generation is soft (does that include you or not) and I'd like to know more about your idea of separating the government from the people you love. So If asked by the government to fight, but for other people then the specific peoppe you know, what would you do?

@ El_Duderino - Yes i think the current generation (generally speaking) is soft - look back to the first half of the 20th century most men were in manual labour, i.e. construction, factories, trades - Plumbing Welding, Mechanics etc and women worked in laundries, factories, and as cleaners, cooks etc - ask any millennial would they like to do those types of jobs and they'll scoff at you - no its off to College for them😑 now maybe the current generation in Ukraine are made of sterner stuff i don't know, but i'm talking about Ireland.

now to answer your question am i any different? honest answer - no, i'm a soft arse and yes i would soil myself if i saw a Russian battalion coming my direction

and if WWIII breaks out (god forbid) and someone calls to my door looking for my conscription? - i'd tell em its not my quarrel, arrest me if you must 😑 i'd chip in the catering division or maybe first aid but on the battlefield i'd be a hindrance

Very few people in ireland have military training. Depending how this conflict goes, it might be no harm to offer basic training to everyone.

Your parents generation think your generation is soft, your grandparents thought your parents generation was soft. The ww2 generations parents thought they were soft and their grandparents thought they were a joke. That's just something old people say about young people. Don't worry about it being true. Not everyone signed up in the ww2 generation but we remember them as being tough. Not everyone in your generation would sign up either, but the normal proportion would sign up when asked or mandated to do so.

This craic of always punching down at the young people bugs me. But you don't have to buy into it.

Of course plenty of people do manual labour these days. And lots of young people do other physical things like sports. But I took the laundry to mean normal paid employment in laundries rather than the slave laundries like the Magdaline laundries. Hard work, I'm sure, but I would have thought there were laundries back in olden times that were worked by normal, free people.

I really don't think you're taking it seriously. And I wonder if you've ever been to a third world country. People die of appendicitis in some countries. Our health service has some areas for serious improvement but the notion that were a third world country is misinformed.

As for whether we have something to fight for: even if you don't care for our nation, we have our family, friends and culture, but you could fight for yourself and your own desire to stay alive. Would fighting for your own life not motivate you?

where did i say no-one between 1977-95????....well where???

i was referring to the war generations of WWI and WWII .... you're the one talking cr@p why don't you read posts properly ffs!🙄

and as for laundries - i wasn't referring to the magdeline laundries, there were loads of industrial commercial laundries around at the time that employed women so stop trying to twist what i said you idiot!

Granted you can read different lists and get different placings, but generally we are well up there, must be doing something right.

re:millennial that's in the States over here it refers to someone born at the turn of the millennium

as for Laundries whether they were Magdalen or not is beside the point i was making -> which was people of the war generations (WWI & II) were a lot tougher than people of today as they were more inclined to be in blue collar manual labour (and lived in harsher conditions) in short life was much harder then than now (imo)

I will fight the aliens if they invade us. Just need to watch Independence Day first.

Why would I fight for a country that I'll never be able to own a home in, and can't afford to have kids in? i mean what exactly do I have to protect?

I would be sad to leave, sure. I would really miss the amazing options for life here in Ireland: rural muck savagery with a job in Aldi seen as a promising career trajectory, or a box room for 1500 a month in one of our cities, or maybe something in between, like a damp semi-d that the landlord hasnt fixed a thing in since 2003 in an estate overrun by teenage scrotes in sweatpants.

Only thing I care about here is my dog and she is scared of loud noises, so I'd take her, a bag of food for her, a bag of spuds for me, my dead grandfather's shotgun and head for the hills, or preferably get us on a boat or plane.

And most people here would not fight. Don't kid yourself thinking otherwise. You ever try standing up to your employer about something unfair they were doing? something everyone of your colleagues is upset about? Try it, and you'll see just how much bravery and unity there really is in this country. You'll be on your own, they won't want to know. The Irish don't back themselves any more, the fighting Irish is only a thing when they're full in pubs.

I'm too broke and exhausted to be arsed fighting, and every government since I've been an adult has screwed me more and more, from bringing back college fees to forcing me to do unpaid internships for the dole when there was no jobs, and now letting rents run riot because 'one man's rent is another man's income.' while owning a house is just a pipe dream.

I would hope to escape and maybe end up in a country where the most harmful drug in society isn't celebrated and encouraged and seen as normal and the least harmful can land you in jail. Hopefully there would be some other Irish people there because the people are the best thing about this country by a long stretch, and twould be shame if they were all so silly to stay here thinking they have a chance with our joke of an army. You can't even get in to see a dentist or get a driving test for months here, how long would it take us to mount a defense against a military power, forget about it mate.

Would I fight to defend my home, my country from warmongers, yes I would but I know others in this country wouldn’t be arsed, every army has to hold the line to advance, you’d be left up **** creek without a paddle in Ireland as they run to sit high on the fence post that is indifferent neutrality.