Why don't Irish people befriend foreigners?

I wouldn't say this is a uniquely Irish thing. From talking to people I know who've lived in Nordic countries, Finns, Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians are also very hard to befriend - they tend to make their friends early in life and don't instinctively seek new ones. In fact Scandinavian countries are often ranked as some of the toughest places in the world to integrate into because of that social attitude. I suspect it's probably a trait you'll find across most of Northern Europe (as opposed to the south where people are generally more open).

But one thing that makes Ireland different is that we are approachable on the surface - we're comfortable with small talk and chatting with strangers. That can make us look warm, especially for small interactions, but it's usually skin-deep. We also tend to be very indirect people - we would consider it more important to be polite than to be completely honest for fear of upsetting people. But people from other countries are often way more straightforward and would regard the Irish attitude as insincere.

To be honest one of the strangest things I've noticed about Irish people is that we can actually be very sensitive to criticism (again linked to that indirectness). You can see it on this thread. We often like to hold up "slagging" and our self-deprecating sense of humour but loads of people here seem to react very strongly to criticism or questions about Ireland, especially from foreigners. Add in the overblown reaction every time someone in the British media mistakenly calls an Irish person "British" by accident. It can be a bit over the top to be honest.

Hi OP,

I am glad that you like it here and have a fondness for the tin whistle. To answer your question I think it could be cultural differences, a person’s personality (intro/extrovert) and if they want a social circle. Also, do they feel like you want a friendship or to just know them to say ‘hello’ to.

In my experience (as an Irish woman) non-Irish people either return to their home countries (and don’t keep contact) or others just use you (for information/help) and then ignore you. It could be my bad judgement in people too, as I don’t have much luck with Irish people either. Basically, treat people how they treat you. I wish you could have witnessed 90s Ireland, where no one had much of anything and you could knock on a neighbours door for some sugar until you got to the shop.

Edit: Just to add maybe online gaming might be a way to meet people.

Probably well covered. It's not the people but our environment (mostly).

Relatively small country and people tend to move around a lot less so people make school or college friends and keep them. Even if they move to a different city (usually Dublin) they will have friends there from "home" or can head home regularly. There is no nessessity.

When living in Dublin I found it frustrating at times that the aquantances I did have there would head home regularly on weekends and always long weekends. That's the time to turn aquantances into friends. If Ireland was larger going home for the weekend wouldn't be possible for most.

I lived abroad for years and made loads of friends from that country. However many of them didn't grow up or go to school in the city we lived in. This ment that they didn't have family priorities at the weekend or school friends around (maybe a couple who also moved there). So we spend lots of long weekend, Easter and even Christmas together some years. I suspect it would be rare for Irish friends to spend Christmas Day together in Ireland.

As others have said, the suburb living also has a factor, this is even more prominent outside of Dublin where most drive. An after work drink doesn't happen after a busy day etc.