Originally Posted by lopez
Slightly moving away from the topic but the question is simple. Is an Irishman that supports England opponents a 'bigot' and a non-English Briton that does likewise 'just having a bit o' crack.'
NI a country? :D :D :D :rolleyes: If you say so. I believe there are people that look like Pierluigi Colina on Mars. The US a country? Didn't it fight and achieve its independence in the eighteenth century, although if it waited 180 years more it would have got it without a single shot? As for culture, touchy or what Lux, did you think that I was suggesting you wore the hi-vi and bowler yourself? Poor stereotyping there too.
For someone that tries to play down the differences between Irish and British culture by suggesting that Irish is a dead language and Ireland is a 'cultural province of the UK' you seem keen on boosting up the differences between the four 'home' 'nations (sic)'. My opinion on cultural terms is that NI is Irish or British. What do I see in the Aldergrove gift shop? The same kitsch I see in Cork airport. Where's the bears with the sash and lembeg drum? Scotland has a language, highland games, poets speaking in a hybrid of English and Scottish, and a history predating its own union with England. Wales has an indigenous language spoken by a substantial minority. This doesn't suggest that they are nation-states and the US isn't, but it does suggest that they have a clearer identity than NI. Name me one thing that differs NI culture from either the rest of Ireland or Britain that doesn't involve the Dutch homosexual's victory over his father-in-law? Hmm? Ulster-Scots? Colin Bateman? Ulster fry? The Cruithin? Johnny Adair's tattoos?
So the USA is the only multi-state nation in the world?
As for this 'Irish constituent in Britain' feeling, that's what I have. I'd describe yourself more as a 'British constituent in Ireland', except one that vetos the majority's right to self-determination. Anyway whatever makes you happy. It's just the changing wallpaper of your life amuses me. Using your 'Britishness' one minute, then falling on your 'Irishness' the next, different passports for different occasions, then your 'Ulsterness' or 'Northern-Irishness' when the other two have failed in an argument suggests someone with an identity crisis in denial, not someone with the mono-cultural identity they claim to hold.