
Originally Posted by
chalice
I had originally declared a 6 month sabbatical in the lounge the other night but it would be rude not to respond to a thread I'd started. So I'm back to dither a while longer.
When I referred to Ireland, I meant the island as a single entity, not 2 slices of the same apple.
However, it is fair to differentiate. Boab's comment was accurate to a degree but, in my experience, and to extend the simile beyond it's wit, a Northerner is about as welcome as gastroenteritis in a spacesuit. Belfast and Dublin brogues vary vastly and I've seen some southern eyebrows raised when I've ordered a Guinness in the Temple Bar area with my staccato tongue. I think we're bored with hating the English now. At least we understand what they're saying and they are, for the most part, incredibly sensitive and respectful when they descend on our capitals for their stag parties and what have you.
It's mostly Eastern Europeans who bear the brunt of our ire. It's not called Ire-land for nothing. Pocket-communities have begun to form where before there was just exclusively catholics or protestants. Column inches which once contained the knee-cappings of our wayward youths, now contain arson attacks on Poles. As Mr Adams famously threatened; "They haven't gone away, you know", they've just re-directed their ignorance.
I have noticed the same sort of trend in Glasgow.
Indeed on Sauchiehall street it is now rare to see a vendor of The Big Issue who would appear to hail from these parts.
Is it too simple to suggest that it is a direct function of certain countries joining the EU, resulting in freedom of movement and employment leading to economic migration.
A friend was walking along the same Sauchiehall Street when he was approached by two men in their mid twenties. In stilted English (with what he thought to be an Eastern European accent) he was asked if he knew the way to the Benefits Office, as they had just arrived. True Story.
The ignorant will always be amongst us. They will nurture their own to that way of living. They will collectively direct their bile in one direction or another. It is, I fear, human nature.
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