The Irish

Anyone else watching Derry Girls now that it’s back? (Or is it worth a thread now that it’s on Netflix & Americans are watching it?) Loved the blackboard: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1AHLEtX4AEuBXN.jpg

I might be stretching to its limits my ability to be that prick, but it did seem to me that the 'dignified and appropriate' was her head skipping a line, like "these deaths were an exception to the vast majority of our brave boys which etc etc". But the "not crimes" should get her sacked anyway.

In a way (not really) it's good to have as something to point at for "This is why Europe and specifically RoI feel they need a structure to make sure that the UK actually finishes its homework on NI"

the question of how to safeguard unionism is key

Yeah, I'd been saying (possibly on ILX, but I can't find it), that some kind of truth & reconciliation committee would seem necessary. It's be an interesting test of Ireland's view of itself. I talked to a friend who's lived in Portrush for a few years (and has family in the North), and he said that he would not expect this to work at all - that when it comes to closed-loop worldviews, the average DUP voter makes a Fox News viewer look like a wide-eyed gap student.

tbh i'm so much more sympathetic to, say, Arlene Foster, whose resentments seem somewhat justified by traumatic formative experiences like her father being taken out of their house and shot when she was a child than to Theresa May whose seething resentment of immigrants seems entirely fostered by having grown up sealed off from people of colour and from disadvantaged backgrounds. There are lots of people in Northern Ireland who grew up witnessing some heinous shit and in comparison the collective temper-tantrum of so many priveliged middle class brexit voters who lived through the most generous period of the welfare state seems a very false equivalence for the media to draw, and is never really registered in media discussions of the DUP-Tory marriage of convenience.

That Gavin Williamson statement is just repulsive, I’m still angry about it.

It’s just so disgusting, I thought I’d been angry about this but the stuff coming from the British government about this is sick making.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2019/0314/1036367-blood-sunday-reaction/

In a statement following the decision by Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service to charge one former British soldier with the murder of civilians on Bloody Sunday in 1972, the Ministry said the British government will urgently reform the system for dealing with legacy issues.

The UK’s Defence Secretary said the individual affected by the ruling will be offered full legal support.

Gavin Williamson confirmed the Ministry of Defence would support 'soldier F' and pay the legal costs.

its gut wrenching and sickening

when david cameron looks like a fuckin statesman in comparison then youve slunk low

Indeed.

Corbyn said that Cameron apologising for Bloody Sunday was basically the only worthwhile thing he ever did & he wasn’t wrong.

"Our serving and former personnel cannot live in constant fear of prosecution."

Can too, and should.

would there be a case for objection to their article 50 extension ta fuck

I’m with the mural!
https://extramuralactivity.com/2017/12/09/use-the-veto-leo/

just realised this ISN'T an anthony thread

I'm inured to it tbh, I can't really take it personally when they're as angry about Our Heroic Boys being called to account for shite in Iraq or Afghanistan.

When my parents went to Ireland with my grandfather who hadn't been there in 25 years he took them to his favorite pub. When they went in a guy at the bar said "oh god he's back"

— captain glasses (@online_shawn) March 17, 2019

smdh at ppl who doubt this

One side of the family of publicans & can confirm otm

*is!

(An actual American guy I met a few years ago.)

Me: Your first name is 'Royal'? You would definitely be bullied in school in Ireland with a name like that. What's your surname?

Him: pic.twitter.com/lI8d326Oxj

— Cian McCarthy (@cianfmccarthy) March 20, 2019

Lots of crossover content today!

disgusted to see the paras shooting at a picture of jeremy corbyn instead of carrying out their real duty, killing innocent people around the world

— Patrick (@PrayForPatrick) April 3, 2019

Just reading about this smear test fiasco. Horrendous stuff altogether. Why hasn’t Harris resigned?

Also, these stats are shocking!

Worth remembering. pic.twitter.com/M2oUmMWplt

— Declan Gaffney (@djmgaffneyw4) April 3, 2019

How do you not know if youve been to a country or not?

that's the "what's an Ireland?" option

shiiiit man i could tell u stories

is there a train tho or no?

"dunno if i've ever been to an island..."

Giving the benefit of the doubt, people might have been unsure if they went when v young. The other side is a question I get at least once a month - “are you from Northern or Southern Ireland?”

I've never been to ireland but as i am a catholic from glasgow I'm the most irish person in the world

xxp no train, and also pls ctrl+ f your name in the British politics thread for more crossover nonsense

tbf I get that one from plenty of Irish people xposts

I went out briefly with a Catholic from Glasgow and this is almost true, I think Liverpudlians might have ye beat.

I'd like to see a pie chart of how many English people have been to Scotland tbh.

Are you from a border county NN? Also, Irish who call it “Southern Ireland” are obvs soupers & not to be trusted.

well, they don't say Southern Ireland, but they do say, "is Donegal in the North?"

tbf I get that one from plenty of Irish people

I've several times had "So you're from Ulster then", from people from RoI.

A misunderstood county! I think the role of Donegal as a scourge of generations of students in the lower three provinces is probably under discussed, plus ye are pretty remote and the train doesn’t go there.

I think the role of Donegal as a scourge of generations of students in the lower three provinces is probably under discussed

oh no, that's the one thing they do know about it

I mean, that’s more than most people know about my neck of the woods. At least ye have the incomprehensible Gaeilge, Enya, and a coastline.

I used to go to my grans in Kerry every year. Fucking most incredibly beautiful beaches and mountains and my first experiences of pub lock ins till 3am - I still dream about the place.

Did you see Fungi?

Kerry is great but I legit haven’t been in at least 15 years. Went to the races there a few times and obviously out on the ocean.

Did you see Fungi?

usually when we got back home again t' slum in Yorkshire!

I’m just trying to imagine a hybrid of a Healy-Rae style Kerry accent and a strong Yorkshire accent and it is...difficult.

a great uncle of mine was at some distant relative's wedding in donegal, in whatever our ancestral town or village was, i heard this yarn about 2am at a family gathering so it's a little foggy.

he told an overly-long (for the little action in the yarn), whiskey-soaked anecdote about leaving the reception to go trudging around the cemetery in the rain to try and find the graves of ancestors. no Harleys anywhere, until he gets to the last stone ... and it's not Harley either.

"Maybe the family didn't use the name Harley then? Might have been an anglicisation used after they moved to Glasgow." I piped up.

"..."

have been to every country in the isles except Scotland tbh

monster!

i'd like to go back to ireland tbh

xp i know right?

purely thru bad luck, my ex had plenty of Glasgow-based relatives

Shitloads of English people have never been to Scotland or, if they have, it's to Edinburgh.

I liked Glasgow far more than Edinburgh and everyone always looks at me like I’m crazy when I say that.

My dad tells a great story about drinking in some pub in Edinburgh, which turned out to be a Hearts pub, and being forced to sing The Sash before escaping. Feel like you wouldn’t get such niceties in Glasgow.

doing a two-week trip around the Highlands at the end of the month. Can't wait

(I have been to Glasgow and Edinburgh)

tbf if you live in London, Paris is nearer, as is Dublin.

I used to think Ireland was more futurist than England cos they drunk milk from triangular tetra pak cartons in Tralee rather than them old glass bottles that stray dogs piss against on't estate in Deighton. I need to go back there before I die, but only really got relatives in Dublin now. My dad's family remnants won't talk to me cos I snubbed his funeral - but no big loss - they are all complete cunts!

I liked Glasgow far more than Edinburgh and everyone always looks at me like I’m crazy when I say that.

Most people prefer Glasgow ime.