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I know a Frenchman who has lived in Edinburgh for years. Great bloke, can't understand a word he says though.
Was his acquired Scottish accent causing the issue? :hihi:

 

Oddly, I've never had any problem understanding Scots, even those of the thicker-accented variety. Over in Ireland, it did take me a few months to come to terms with thick Cork accents, though. You haven't heard a thick Irish accent until you've heard one o'dem - "hujhidkolsaerdmkkllrddprpe, roight?!?" :D

 

I still remember, very vividly, my first ever call from a client in Cork, and the onset of panic as I could only understand one or two words out of each sentence! Reminded me of my early years in nightclubs over here :D

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PS - the Irish don't have "something against the French", they have something against anyone who's not Irish (actual or by ancestry) :D

 

That is without doubt the single most inaccurate and stupidly all embracing nonsense that I have heard on this forum. Which is saying something!

 

As someone who has lived in Ireland, attended two schools there and visits every single year, I could not come up with a more inaccurate description of the Irish. They are without doubt amongst the friendliest people you could meet anywhere, and one of the few people in my experience that have a good word to say about the English.

 

I'm talking about the Republic of Ireland here, I have only been to the UK six counties once, and whilst I had no problem I don't consider it long enough to make a judgement either way.

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That is without doubt the single most inaccurate and stupidly all embracing nonsense that I have heard on this forum. Which is saying something!

<rah-rah-rah>

I'm certainly glad to learn that your sense of humour bypass operation was a success :thumbsup:

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I'm certainly glad to learn that your sense of humour bypass operation was a success :thumbsup:

 

Sense of humour? If that is what passes for humour in your mind then there's no wonder the Irish don't like you.

 

They do tend to enjoy a good laugh, you're not funny though. No amount of :D :D will make a comment funny if there is no humour involved in the words, understand?

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Sense of humour? If that is what passes for humour in your mind then there's no wonder the Irish don't like you.

 

They do tend to enjoy a good laugh, you're not funny though. No amount of :D :D will make a comment funny if there is no humour involved in the words, understand?

Can I have a bit more condescending to go with that? And a flake :P

 

The Irish liked me just fine (and they still do, asking me to come back every now and then, 5 years on), it was just the odd feeble-minded nationalist or ten, with a chip the size of an aircraft crarrier on their shoulders, who didn't. Nor, for that matter, my English Mrs, my Kiwi and Aussie colleagues and my French and Polish friends.

 

Cop on, mjw47 :roll:

Edited by L00b

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Can I have a bit more condescending to go with that? And a flake :P

 

The Irish liked me just fine (and they still do, asking me to come back every now and then, 5 years on), it was just the odd feeble-minded nationalist or ten, with a chip the size of an aircraft crarrier on their shoulders, who didn't. Nor, for that matter, my English Mrs, my Kiwi and Aussie colleagues and my French and Polish friends.

 

Cop on, mjw47 :roll:

 

Amazing, I have been traveling to Ireland for over 66 years, have lived there and attended a national school and finished my education at a college there.

 

Additionally, over the years I have had numerous English and Welsh friends accompany me and stay for two weeks or more at a time.

 

My cousins and their friends in Ireland are Rugby fans and have formed a close personal friendship with a number of like minded French fans. They visit each others homes and play friendlies against each other in both countries.

This has been going on since the 80s.

 

And yet none of the above has ever experienced any of the animosity which you claim to have encountered.

 

How do you explain that? Could it be that it was your personality, or lack thereof ,which caused the reaction?

 

Maybe you should look in the mirror? Perhaps you have an obnoxious irritating character which causes people to take a dislike to you?

 

Perhaps you're the one who needs to cop on? :)

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The only problem I ever had in Ireland was in a rural pub when a ****** up farmer accused me of being a homosexual from Dublin. I'm not even Irish.

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Good question.

 

Marine mineral rights are based on something called an Exclusive economic Zone (EEZ) which stretches 200 miles from the coast or until it meets an EEZ of another country. For oil and gas purposes the North Sea is carved up in that way.

 

And the oil rights allocated to the UK and not Scotland.

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Amazing

<rah-rah-rah>

Glad you find it so.

 

mw47, I've lived in Ireland too, in Dublin to be precise, 2004-2008.

 

We enjoyed our stay in that country very much, I was lucky to meet and work (and continue to this day to do work-) with some of the finest legal minds in my area of speciality, as well as meet some of the finest friends we still have to this day.

 

Yet it was not the bed of roses you seem to want to be painting, and, having rolled my stone about Europe for over 20 years by that time (having lived in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the UK and Ireland) regretfully it turned out to be the only country where I have ever been made to feel openly unwelcome on xenophobic grounds. And I had it sweet, thankfully I'm not Eastern European!

 

It was my wife's first emigration experience as well, and regretfully not as positive as mine was (when you have to interact with state services and the health system, what with a newborn infant and all, apperantly it's not the done thing to have just one kid by intent...and really not the done thing not have her baptized...just anecdotes, but there are a lot more where these came from, and I could go on and on, but as you know Ireland so well, I'm sure I don't need to).

 

I did not let these (thankfully few) occasions marr the experience overall, but by the same token -this being a public Forum with the clear purpose of sharing experiences and opinions, and whatnot- I will share such experiences and opinions at times I deem opportune, such as how and where this discussion evolved over the past few posts, and in the form I choose to express them.

 

My "PS" above was in jest, clearly intended to be taken as such and the reason why I added a grin smiley. If you didn't find it funny and it happened to raise your blood pressure...tough. Don't expect an apology, and feel free to keep up the one-sided p***ing contest :)

Edited by L00b

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The only problem I ever had in Ireland was in a rural pub when a ****** up farmer accused me of being a homosexual from Dublin. I'm not even Irish.

 

Yeah that can happen. :) In the same way that there's a north south divide over here there's a Dublin v country and Dublin v Cork thing going on there.

 

Anyone from towns and villages outside Dublin are 'culchies' to Dubliners and Dubs are 'jackeens' to to everyone else.

 

In fairness it's normally done tongue in cheek but occasionally can be a little stronger, particularly when the D4 privately educated, slightly up themselves Dubs are involved.

 

There's nothing your ordinary Irish person likes more than pricking someones pomposity. :)

 

---------- Post added 17-02-2014 at 14:43 ----------

 

Glad you find it so.

 

mw47, I've lived in Ireland too, in Dublin to be precise, 2004-2008.

 

We enjoyed our stay in that country very much, I was lucky to meet and work (and continue to this day to do work-) with some of the finest legal minds in my area of speciality, as well as meet some of the finest friends we still have to this day.

 

Yet it was not the bed of roses you seem to want to be painting, and, having rolled my stone about Europe for over 20 years by that time (having lived in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the UK and Ireland) regretfully it turned out to be the only country where I have ever been made to feel openly unwelcome on xenophobic grounds.

 

It was my wife's first emigration experience as well, and regretfully not as positive as mine was (when you have to interact with state services and the health system, what with a newborn infant and all, apperantly it's not the done thing to have just one kid by intent...and really not the done thing not have her baptized...just anecdotes, but there are a lot more where these came from, and I could go on and on, but as you know Ireland so well, I'm sure I don't need to).

 

I did not let these (thankfully few) occasions marr the experience overall, but by the same token -this being a public Forum with the clear purpose of sharing experiences and opinions, and whatnot- I will share such experiences and opinions at times I deem opportune, such as how and where this discussion evolved over the past few posts, and in the form I choose to express them.

 

My "PS" above was in jest, clearly intended to be taken as such and the reason why I added a grin smiley. If you didn't find it funny and it happened to raise your blood pressure, well, I can't help that -as I said, cop on- and by the same token, don't expect an apology, but feel free to keep up the one-sided p***ing contest :)

 

Fair enough, sorry that was your experience, however mine has been the exact opposite and I really do find that amazing.

 

Maybe you encountered such a problem because you were in Dublin? Whilst I have stayed in Dublin many times it isn't a place I could give an opinion as to what it's like to live there.

 

My experience of Ireland has been mainly in County Clare, and as I said I have never experienced anything but kindness.

 

Lot of leg pulling went on and still does ,but as I give as good as I take and it's invariable meant as a joke I find it amusing.

 

Perhaps if you were involved in the legal profession you spent too much time with those D4s I referred to in my previous post? :)

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Fair enough, sorry that was your experience, however mine has been the exact opposite and I really do find that amazing.

 

Maybe you encountered such a problem because you were in Dublin? Whilst I have stayed in Dublin many times it isn't a place I could give an opinion as to what it's like to live there.

 

My experience of Ireland has been mainly in County Clare, and as I said I have never experienced anything but kindness.

 

Lot of leg pulling went on and still does ,but as I give as good as I take and it's invariable meant as a joke I find it amusing.

 

Perhaps if you were involved in the legal profession you spent too much time with those D4s I referred to in my previous post? :)

I worked in D8, though most colleagues were not D8 or D4 types, but (recall a bit hazy) ex-Mayo, ex-Kilkenny, ex-Cork, North of the Liffey and "imports" like me. All of them good people. As were the D16 neighbours and various friends made over the years, including D4s and Tallaght ones ;)

 

The only 'bad problems' my wife and I ever had, of the sort I recounted, were-

 

(i) invariably, by people I would ordinarily designate as "thick" (looked and sounded as such, even though I am loathe to stereotype...but they were quite disparate in age and apparent wealth) and

 

(ii) invariably, unprovoked (but for the abuser having overheard us and our manifestly non-Irish accents, and just launching into a xenophobic tirade on any possible pretext - miscellaneously: emptying the trolley too slowly, daring to ask for directions, having to ask which form of payment is accepted, daring to open the car door next to them in a car park <...> :rolleyes:).

 

That was instances of verbal abuse, and the stuff which -unsurprisingly- grated the most. But there was a lot more 'stuff' though (like the bit above about having a single child, not catholic etc.) which was not xenophobic as such, but more a clash of respective cultures and values sometimes "falling into" xenophobism. It's not that big a gap between xenophobism and outright ignorance. All in all though, the sum total of all this over enough time was the clear feeling that we were not exactly welcome, but tolerated, and it was a feeling shared by many a non-Irish friend.

 

Never outside of Dublin, and at the time (each time) I just put it down to "capital city living" and the odd types such places will always attract, and also a fair bit of "threatened insularism" as the place was just a global magnet for all types (including Romas which Brits are getting all heat-up about atm) in the dying years of the Celtic Tiger.

 

Hard to put into exact words, but -by the same token- exactly what WeX's earlier post above reminded me of.

Edited by L00b

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