Are Irish People Racist? [Archive]

eoinh

02/03/2004, 11:58 AM

Not just to people of different cultures and creeds but also towards Eastern Europeans and anybody with a different accent.
The more i listen to people talk in Ireland about "THEM" and the way we will be swamped is frightening.

And all this from a country with a huge emigrant population

As one foreigner said in an article today in the IT about attitudes to them " i love ireland but i hate the f ucking irish".

max power

02/03/2004, 12:33 PM

i hate everybody equally...and i'm not afraid to admit it.....

Macy

02/03/2004, 12:43 PM

Definitely, although maybe ignorant as much as racist. Having said that, there are plenty of people that try to be so PC that they're pathetically patronising...

liamon

02/03/2004, 12:50 PM

We're incredibly racist.
And I don't think an explanation of "sure, we don't know any better" makes it ok.
Ignorance is not an excuse. :mad:

Macy

02/03/2004, 1:02 PM

Originally posted by liamon
Ignorance is not an excuse.
Never said it was.... Ignorance is just as bad as Racism.

Dodge

02/03/2004, 1:18 PM

Its not active rascism, its just lazy, ignorent rascism.

the 12 th man

02/03/2004, 1:54 PM

i think that we are the same as every other country now in that we have our share of racist people mixed in with non racists.
there was a time back in the begosh and begorrah days when
we were deemed to be the friendliest people in the world.
but now im afraid we are just the same (in our attitude to non nationals) as everywhere else.i think though that we are no worse either.
this is the way of the world.

tiktok

02/03/2004, 2:47 PM

Yeah, we're very racist.

Unless you come from abroad to one of our hotels, money filling your pockets, then we break out the attractive Irish brogue and give you the Cead Mile Failte's.

It's one of the things about this country that disgusts me. Most of it is based on ignorance though, so with a little education it's a situation we could improve. At the rate we're going though, the future looks bleak.

lopez

02/03/2004, 3:10 PM

No. We have a large minority of racists, but the majority are certainly sophisticated enough to see the benefits of immigration (you can see this within this forum). Back in 1998 a Dublin street got behind a black family continually harassed by local Gards and petitioned this to stop. This is a sign of a mature society: Not a racist one.

BTW, my MA thesis was on black immigration into Ireland. Free attachments available for any intellectuals interested (PM me). Duncan Gardner recommends it (I think???).

liam88

02/03/2004, 3:10 PM

On the positive side a survey recently published in the newspaper said the 7 out of 10 people in Ireland are not opposed to Britain-I'm sure it was much higher in the past.
We still probably are the most friendly people in the world and internationally we're not off in wars and things.
Like it's been said though-everywhere has i's share of racists :( but I don't think "Irish" as a whole are :)

liamon

02/03/2004, 3:33 PM

Originally posted by lopez
No. We have a large minority of racists, ...... attachments available for any intellectuals interested

A large minority of racists makes us a racist nation.

And I have very little time for people who consider themselves to be "intellectuals". Damned Arts graduates.

Originally posted by Macy
Never said it was.... Ignorance is just as bad as Racism.
I appreciate that you also do not approve of ignorant behaviour. However, you and Davros belittled the charge of racism by explaining that it was just ignorance. THat's why I felt the need to argue the point.

Macy

02/03/2004, 3:54 PM

Originally posted by liamon
I appreciate that you also do not approve of ignorant behaviour. However, you and Davros belittled the charge of racism by explaining that it was just ignorance. THat's why I felt the need to argue the point.
Don't think I belittled anything - ignorance is a cause of racism. Tackle the ignorance with education, and you'll go a long way to reducing racism.

Peadar

02/03/2004, 5:21 PM

Is it not racist to say that "Irish people are racist."?
There are people on this island who are racist, just as there are in every part of the globe. Education is the only way to remedy such issues as racisim and I feel that as more and more children, with origins from outside Ireland, join our schools we'll find attitudes changing. In general I don't think that there's a lot of hate in Ireland and people are very adaptive.
The tabloids love to blow racism out of proportion in order to sell their rags.

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 5:36 PM

Hi Guys, my first post here... didn't intent to JOIN the board but saw this discussion and thought of dropping a line.

As a [bleedin] foreigner living in Dublin, I must admit that I have never been subjected to any active act of racism in the 3 years that I've been livin here. I don't really think that I can call Irish people RACIST. Very very few people are actively racist here. However there's a certain degree of Xenophobia here, which is actually quite understandable to me! As someone mentioned in this post, one of the reasons is that unlike many other European countries, Ireland had never had a colonising past. Therefore there was far less number of foreigners coming here and contributing to the economy in comparison to, say, France or England. In those countries people are USED TO seeing foreigners and they know that they're not gonna take away their jobs or women! :) In Ireland majority of people simply aren't used to that and start freakin out when they see foreigners coming here... Also, in fairness Ireland can be categorized as a neuvue rich country (no offence meant, just a fact!) and people aren't used to this amount of wealth. Probably in the back of their mind they still don't feel safe enough and think that all these foreigners are gonna bring ireland back to the misery that it was up to 90s!

Well that was my 2 cents hope I haven't offended anyone.

PS : Anyone knows where can I play indoor soccer in the southside of the city?!? That's why I can here!! :)

eoinh

02/03/2004, 5:44 PM

what part of Iran are you from?

Up esteghlal! ;)

�anna

02/03/2004, 5:48 PM

I don't think its so much clearly definable racism in the way it is in other countries. In general Irish people are very parochial, and there's a lot of NIMBYism going on here- I think its not a hatred of foreigners, such as a "they're grand as long as they don't bother me" attitude, which unfortunately allows a small minority of blatant racists to exploit the situation.

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 5:49 PM

Originally posted by eoinh
what part of Iran are you from?

Up esteghlal! ;)

:)

Tehran.

And forget about Esteghlal!!! Persepolis forever!

How come u know abut then though?!

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 5:50 PM

Originally posted by �anna
I don't think its so much clearly definable racism in the way it is in other countries. In general Irish people are very parochial, and there's a lot of NIMBYism going on here- I think its not a hatred of foreigners, such as a "they're grand as long as they don't bother me" attitude, which unfortunately allows a small minority of blatant racists to exploit the situation.

Now that's PROBABLY what I was trying to say as well, if only I knew what NIMBYism means :)

eoinh

02/03/2004, 5:56 PM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
:)

Tehran.

And forget about Esteghlal!!! Persepolis forever!

How come u know abut then though?!

Thats from years of reading world soccer:D Esteghlal and Pirouzi are the two iranian teams i know.

BTW have you seen that film "TEN" set in Tehran. Not a bad film.

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 6:00 PM

Originally posted by eoinh
Thats from years of reading world soccer:D Esteghlal and Pirouzi are the two iranian teams i know.

BTW have you seen that film "TEN" set in Tehran. Not a bad film.

Yes you're right. Pirouzi is more commonly known as Persepolis though, people's name is persepolis, Islamic Republic's name is ugly pirouzi :)

Yes I have seen TEN indeed! It's a very good film I think.

I was going to see it in Irish Film Centre here. Didn't manage to get there till the last day. They were showing it on screen 1 and they were showing "last days in dublin" on screen 2. And they were both on their last show. And guess which one was sold out!! Don't tell me the Irish are Racist then :) I had to watch it on DVD!

eoinh

02/03/2004, 6:08 PM

shes the nicest looking taxi driver ive ever seen.

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 6:10 PM

Originally posted by eoinh
shes the nicest looking taxi driver ive ever seen.

She was VERY hot alright!
where did u see it though? It's not a mainstream film!

eoinh

02/03/2004, 6:26 PM

I bought it !

What did you think of the election results? Its a pity so many of the candidates werent allowed to stand.

lopez

02/03/2004, 6:29 PM

Originally posted by liamon
A large minority of racists makes us a racist nation.
Wrong!!!:rolleyes:

Originally posted by liamon
And I have very little time for people who consider themselves to be "intellectuals".
Some would say that technically I'm not an intellectual as I'm a train driver. Besides I've got little time myself to spare.:p

Originally posted by persianpaddy
Hi Guys, my first post here...
Top first post PP2 (PP1 being Plastic Paddy). Wasn't it George Bernard Shaw that said sometimes you need someone to look at the house from the outside to get a better view? Or something like that. I've been to Tehran myself for the WC qualifier. Loved the food (obviously missed the cervezas too). Sadly would have liked to have seen more of the country.

Originally posted by eoinh
BTW have you seen that film "TEN" set in Tehran. Not a bad film.
You mean that THAT film with Bo Derek was set in Tehran??!!:eek: :eek:

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 6:34 PM

Originally posted by eoinh
I bought it !

What did you think of the election results? Its a pity so many of the candidates werent allowed to stand.

Oh man you've out-cultured me :) I only rented it from Laser here

Ah well elections is a complicated issue altogether. The people were going to boycott the election regardless, believe it or not. Even if all the so-called reformists would be approved, the participation wouldn't be much higher. The reason for that is the total disappointment of middle-class people with the reforms from within the system. After all they elected a reformist president and a reformist parliament in the past few years but they were unable to do any good, mainly due to their own uselessness and the fact that ultimately the reformists are part of the regime and prefer the survival of the regime to any other radical change. So the middle class, the students and other urban "index" castes were totally disillusioned by the reformists any way and even disliked them as much as the hardliners.
On the other hand hardliners needed a big NUMBER of participants to prove the the world and mainly to EU that look, we're THE MAN in iran and you can only talk to us and deal with us. Apparently Europe doesn't have any problem with that, same as the fact that they didn't really have any problem with Saddam! Human Rights?! come on :) So finally, they managed to rig the election and despite the fact that in best case not more than 30% of eligible people voted, they announced a 50+% turnout and the lovely EU human right loving nice ppl will continue supporting them and on and on and on.... I can rant on about this forever mate, don't get me started :)

persianpaddy

02/03/2004, 6:39 PM

PS : Gotta scoot off now, playing football tonight! will reply tomorrow
PS 2: thanks Liamon! And down with Intellectuals ;)

�anna

02/03/2004, 7:49 PM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
Now that's PROBABLY what I was trying to say as well, if only I knew what NIMBYism means :)
NIMBY stands for Not In My Back Yard, i.e. people not having a problem with something as long as it happens elsewhere. Very common in this country unfortunatley

lopez

02/03/2004, 8:43 PM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
PS 2: thanks Liamon! And down with Intellectuals ;)
Boooooooooo!!!!! ;)

the 12 th man

03/03/2004, 7:04 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
PS : Gotta scoot off now, playing football tonight! will reply tomorrow
;)

just wondering pp2 ,do you and your mates play soccer on sunday morning in bushy park, terenure????.

lopez

03/03/2004, 8:48 AM

Originally posted by davros
You need to be re-educated.........

Intellectuals ,er well of the 'pseudo-'variety,eg.our mutual friend(s?)=Bad!

Er,train drivers(Exc.when on strike!)=Good?
BBQ season soon upon us, starting next week. BTW, seen DG on your travels? He hasn't gone to ground after being caught out in his 'we bin all abusive material on ourweeminds' rant?:D

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 9:12 AM

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 9:14 AM

Originally posted by the 12 th man
just wondering pp2 ,do you and your mates play soccer on sunday morning in bushy park, terenure????.

Noooway! Not me! I am in the church every sunday! football?!

(church of PersianPadditarians, that is :) )

the 12 th man

03/03/2004, 9:36 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
Noooway! Not me! I am in the church every sunday! football?!

(church of PersianPadditarians, that is :) )

its just that i saw a group of lads playing there a few sundays ago
and someone said that they were a group of iranian lads that
play soccer on sunday morning.

by the way ,i might try and find about a bit more about your church (persianpadditarians) as i am also a man of the cloth myself.(well i am in a bit of trouble with the hierarchy at the moment but i think i have it sorted):D

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 9:40 AM

Originally posted by the 12 th man
by the way ,i might try and find about a bit more about your church (persianpadditarians) as i am also a man of the cloth myself

Ohhhh no! They're after me!!! They're gonna burn me alive! :)

Originally posted by the 12 th man
its just that i saw a group of lads playing there a few sundays ago
and someone said that they were a group of iranian lads that
play soccer on sunday morning.

Thanks I might check them out. Though I live in Killiney, not that close to terrenure!

lopez

03/03/2004, 9:45 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
Yeah man you got it right :

FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD!
I sense another intellectual here? Four legs good, two legs better! ;)

Originally posted by the 12 th man
by the way ,i might try and find about a bit more about your church (persianpadditarians) as i am also a man of the cloth myself.(well i am in a bit of trouble with the hierarchy at the moment but i think i have it sorted):D
Yeah! He's been hosting bar mitzvahs with Sinead O'Connor. :D

the 12 th man

03/03/2004, 9:56 AM

Originally posted by lopez

Yeah! He's been hosting bar mitzvahs with Sinead O'Connor. :D

ok lopez its time for me to come clean as they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

i was caught frying a pork chop in a mosque!!!!

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by the 12 th man
ok lopez its time for me to come clean as they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

i was caught frying a pork chop in a mosque!!!!

oh I'm so insulted now! You infidel pigdogs! Pork and Mosque in one sentence!!!!! tz tz tz :D

Mind you, that's probably one of my biggest fantasies : barbequeing pork chops in a mosque and washing it down with some nice Red wine and then a .... shall I say more?!

Peadar

03/03/2004, 10:11 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
barbequeing pork chops in a mosque and washing it down with some nice Red wine and then a ...

Rasher sambo?

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by Peadar
Rasher sambo?

Is that the farthest your imagination goes?! :P

Well you got the sambo bit right.........

lopez

03/03/2004, 10:13 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
oh I'm so insulted now! You infidel pigdogs! Pork and Mosque in one sentence!!!!! tz tz tz :D

Mind you, that's probably one of my biggest fantasies : barbequeing pork chops in a mosque and washing it down with some nice Red wine and then a .... shall I say more?!
Mine is wearing suspenders and stockings while performing mass and holy communion. :eek:

Peadar

03/03/2004, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
Is that the farthest your imagination goes?! :P

Places of worship always make me hungry.

When I was in Egypt I had, beef ham and turkey ham.
What's the story with that then?
It's not a patch on the real stuff.
KFC (Kentucky Fried Camal) does roaring trade over there.

the 12 th man

03/03/2004, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy

Mind you, that's probably one of my biggest fantasies : barbequeing pork chops in a mosque and washing it down with some nice Red wine and then a .... shall I say more?!

a definite simsons fan:rolleyes:

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 10:21 AM

Originally posted by the 12 th man
a definite simsons fan:rolleyes:

yeah, must be your spiritual power.... !

persianpaddy

03/03/2004, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by lopez
Mine is wearing suspenders and stockings while performing mass and holy communion. :eek:

good thing about islam is that you can wear suspenders and stockings in the mosque

Under the chador, that is!

lopez

03/03/2004, 10:41 AM

Originally posted by persianpaddy
good thing about islam is that you can wear suspenders and stockings in the mosque

Under the chador, that is!
See. There isn't much difference between the major religions. Same thing happens in the RC church (and not forgetting the CofI/CofE). :D

liamon

03/03/2004, 12:49 PM

Originally posted by persianpaddy

PS 2: thanks Liamon! And down with Intellectuals ;)

What am I being thanked for? :confused:

Anyway, to summarise the initial few posts..."we're not racist, we're xenophobic."

Maybe it's my poor grasp of the english language, but isn't that really the same thing? Just for a laugh, type "xenophobic" into MS Word and then use the synonym option......."racist" pops up.

I guess the difference is that our racist/xenophobic attitudes to foreigners doesn't manifest itself in outright violence. However, the underlying attitude is what disturbs me. The mistrust of "outsiders" is really strong in Irish people.