r/northernireland • u/Advanced_Swan_8714 • Jan 21 '24
Do southerners view us as equally Irish? Political
I am a nationalist from the north of Ireland and I identify exclusively as Irish - I do not even hold a UK passport.
I have always been strong in my Irish identity but recently I’ve made friends with some southerners, all from the rich and Fine Gael voting parts of the south-side; D4 basically. A few weeks ago an Italian person met us in a group and asked if we are all from Ireland and one of them said ‘three of us are irish and he (me) is from Northern Ireland’
Idk why, but it really really really got to me. I understand as a matter of geography that this is true, I am from one of the six counties. But why differentiate? As I am from the catholic community, I grew up with almost all of the same cultural experiences that anyone in the 26 counties did. I watch RTE news rather than BBC, I have a keen interest in the politics of the south, most of my family speak Irish (I’m taking classes), most of my favourite celebrities are from the south etc and I’m a fan of the hurling and rugby teams. To me I really have the ‘mind’ of a southerner in that many of my cultural references are linked to the 26 counties.
So imagine my shock when I hear people from the south viewing us as insufficiently Irish or different in some way. The way I see it; I’m ‘Northern’ in the same sense that someone from Liverpool is a bit different to someone from London, despite them both being English.
I truly feel that I have more in common with someone from Kilkenny or Kerry than a British loyalist who is culturally British and has an entirely different experience to me.
Do you agree? What do you think of this? Sorry for the length of this post. I just find it a bit upsetting when you have an identity and it’s sometimes stepped on by people who are meant to be your fellow citizens.
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u/whirlingdervish911 Jan 23 '24
I've just returned to the North after a rather sour six years in Cork and Dublin. It was rather eye opening as well as a bit depressing. Not only did I feel very much like a foreigner (with special status), I also felt the same way did many years ago when I went to Uni in London, i.e... like a poor neighbour. I was treated mostly with respect, but often with suspicion because of my accent and more often with the same curiosity one gives to a slightly dangerous and rare animal. Someone I had already worked with for a few months asked me what part of Scotland I was from and was shocked when I told her I was Irish. I think the 6 counties are very much forgotten in much of the 26 and that makes me sad.
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u/North-Resolution-6 Jan 23 '24
Southerner here, Donegal, I see us all as equal. Dubs only care about Dubs. I would say mostly all other places will say your equals.
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u/TomLondra Jan 23 '24
Donegal is in the farthest north part of Ireland. It isn't in the south at all at all.
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u/North-Resolution-6 Jan 23 '24
Haha thats true and its funny to read, your 100 percent right.
Edit : Spelling & adding "Ah sure ya know what I mean like" Funny me trying to speak for the south, I am almost as directionally north as you can get
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u/Ulysses1978ii Jan 23 '24
Did you tell them you identify as Irish? That's you covered.
Surely they're just saying this to get a rise out of you? What does it matter what others say anyway? You know who you are. Sound's like a them problem.
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u/exbankeruk Jan 23 '24
legally you are still British citizenship wise, i am not talking about identity legally anyone born in NI is a British citizen under the British nationality act 1981
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u/TomLondra Jan 23 '24
Anyone born in NI is a British citizen has dual citizenship and is also an Irish citizen. I should know because that's what I am and I have the 2 passports.
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u/exbankeruk Jan 23 '24
no its not automatic, you get it when you apply for the Passport, I have worked in the past in the HMPO and you do not get Irish citizenship automatically in NI, Ireland as in the ROI cannot grant people born in another sovereign nations territory citizenship, does not matter if it is Northern Ireland or Iceland or France, that is why it is framed as an entitlement, so someone like you or me born in NI is automatically a British citizen , however we have the entitlement to Irish nationality which you obvious has taken up so when you applied for your Irish passport the government in Dublin recognised you as an Irish citizen from birth that is how works, you do not get it automatically it is there if you want it, i have full knowledge of both British and Irish nationality law and Irish law does not automatically give everyone in NI citizenship, you got to choose it for yourself, this is to enable respect for those who do not want it, the reason why we automatically get British nationality is because we cannot be born stateless no matter who you identify, the UK would break international law if it allowed people born in a part of its nation territory to be born stateless to later "choose" their citizenship, and the good Friday agreement do not alter this , the GFA talks about Identity which is separate from citizenship, in this case i refer you to the Irish nationality and citizenship act 2004 and the British nationality act section 1 1981
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 23 '24
Yes but of course I can pay £350 to rescind my citizenship
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u/exbankeruk Jan 23 '24
yes of course you can, but why do that , I am a unionist i have a Irish passport and a UK passport, the Irish passport is practical to have why not get a UK passport as it is practical ?
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 23 '24
If I have an Irish one, what need would I have for a UK way? Especially because I have no relation to the UK lol
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u/exbankeruk Jan 24 '24
You live in the UK therefore you have a relationship with it It's practical to have both
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u/ProfessionalKind6761 Armagh Jan 23 '24
I think it depends how far south you go. Go far south enough and a lot of people will presume all nordies are loyalist Protestants. While I may be from the free state I’m from a border county so it’s pretty easy for me to recognise that many people from areas such as Crossmaglen, Keady etc etc are more Irish then someone from Blackrock in Dublin
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Jan 22 '24 edited Jan 22 '24
People from D4 are stuck up wannable West Brits who live in a complete different bubble to the rest of the island. Ive met many people from the North and from South Dublin in my time and ive always felt i had more in common and more of an affinity for Northerners. Some of the most insufferable cunts i have ever come across in my life have been from D4.
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u/No-Zookeepergame7613 Jan 22 '24
Just because you were born on one side of an imaginary line on this island doesn’t make you any more or less Irish. You don’t need some dubs to validate your identity. I’ve had the same shit happen to me and it does feel shit. You don’t need their validation they doesn’t understand.
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u/joey-t95 Jan 22 '24
Sorry you felt hurt by that remark, I’m sure your new mates didn’t mean anything by it. You’re not one of the occupiers of the north so it’s really not an issue. You’re Irish, your family is Catholic and that will always be the case, just like there are still some unionists left behind in the south after Ireland was partitioned all them years ago… they’ve had to live in an Irish Ireland ☘️ some of them have British passports because their families have ties to Britain. I’m from the republic by the way, and our view is that everybody in the north is Irish even though the unionist community are technically Scottish imports 🤷🏻♂️
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u/cuequestions321 Jan 22 '24
>I watch RTE news rather than BBC, I have a keen interest in the politics of the south, most of my family speak Irish (I’m taking classes), most of my favourite celebrities are from the south etc and I’m a fan of the hurling and rugby teams. To me I really have the ‘mind’ of a southerner in that many of my cultural references are linked to the 26 counties
If a Frenchman watches RTE, has an interest in Irish politics, is taking Irish language classes and is a fan of the rugby and hurling, is he Irish? ...lol. What about a man from Britain?
I get your overarching point, but nationality and identity are more than just "i'm a fan of/ interested in this". The fact you want to claim so strongly to be Irish, but you don't even speak Irish, says more than words alone to me
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 22 '24
Outside of the Gaeltacht regions; speaking Irish remains a small minority of people so I’m not alone in not speaking it - although I started classes for it 3 weeks ago now!
So what’s your point - I’m not Irish because I’m not one of the 37,000 people in the 6 counties that speaks Irish lol
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u/cuequestions321 Jan 23 '24
I never said that you weren't Irish. I said that your idea of what makes you Irish is.. confused at best, lol.
I'm English, born in England. If I watch Al Jazeera News instead of BBC, and don't have an interest in British politics, and my favourite celebs are Pakistani, and I don't follow the English football team or the snooker... does that mean I'm not English? I don't have the "mind of an Englishman" as you say, or the "cultural references" but I'm still English. If I'm an English person of Pakistani descent, my cultural references and experience will all be Pakistani, again, does that mean you wouldn't consider me English?
What makes me English, and what makes an Irish person Irish is more than simply shared experiences or interests. I have all those shared Pakistani experiences, yet I would never claim to be Pakistani
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 23 '24
Out of curiosity - what about me makes me Irish? Is it literally just that I’m from the island that makes me Irish?
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u/cuequestions321 Jan 23 '24
Perhaps, yeah. Honestly my first reaction would be to say it is mainly about where you are born and spend your time, but then, I think of the people on those islands of Gibraltar and the Falkalnds who are half the world away from England, and not born on English soil, but still consider themselves English and even went to war over that fact.
At the end of the day, National identify is so complicated. It might sound stupid, but to an extent, if you have a reasonable claim to a place, your national identity is kind of... whatever you choose it to be? You could choose to be a unionist and identify as a UK citizen rather than Irish, or you could choose to be Irish and identify as Irish. If I really wanted to, I could claim to be Pakistani, I could get a passport tomorrow. Thinking its quite simply one or the other isn't the right mindset in my opinion
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 23 '24
I was just using those cultural examples as reference points, not an exhaustive list of what makes me Irish.
I’m Irish because I simply am - I was born on the island of Ireland and I am Irish
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u/ProsperoFalls Jan 22 '24
So this is a bit of a wild one for me to answer (Half Irish, Da's from Dublin, raised in North England) but me and him have had quite long arguments about this.
Basically he lived in London during the Troubles and felt that Northern Nationalists gave southerners a bad name, he doesn't really care about reunification and dislikes northerners in general, regardless of inclination. His family however tens to be quite fervent SF types and are big on Nationalist politics, they seem to love and appreciate Northern Nationalists. My guess would be that it's mostly insecure people who feel the need to belittle the Irishness of others (like my poor old da), but you're as Irish as anyone else.
I however am a posh bastard, which is a real shame because I love Ireland about as much as I love the North (of England) but fate has made my bed. Just have to hope I end up cool enough for the Irish on my hypothetical wiki page to call me "Anglo-Irish."
Womp womp.
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u/_conordiamond_ Jan 22 '24
They do not - the GFA has been a common reference in my daily parlance. It’s media brainwashing again - most people just aren’t bothered picking up a book.
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u/Embarrassed_Crow_551 Jan 22 '24
Wait till the Border Poll and the resulting civil war. Then you will really get to know how Irish you are.
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 22 '24
What are you implying by this? Can you elaborate a bit
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u/Embarrassed_Crow_551 Jan 22 '24
The paramilitaries have not gone away. Should the British government call a border poll, the Unionist politicians will call for a boycott on the basis that the poll is the means by which ‘their’ country will be destroyed. That will mean the border poll will register an overwhelming vote in favour of a United Ireland but only 50% of the Ulster population will have voted. The British government will immediately recognise the poll as valid and will withdraw all British security forces from the province. The Unionists will then declare the poll illegal and threaten the Irish Army or Garda with violence should either cross the border to enforce the poll. And to reinforce the message car bombs will explode on O’Connell Street and North Main Street. Need I go on. Massive intimidation of the Republican/ Catholic population in NI. Population movement. Just look what happened in the Balkans after the fall of Yugoslavia. The motto of the story, especially for Sinn Fein is ‘be careful what you wish for’.
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 22 '24
Wow - I’m sorry you went to all that effort to write such a long winded and thoughtless dystopian fan fiction…
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u/redstarduggan Belfast Jan 22 '24
Right I can explain. Border poll happens, narrow majority in NI for remaining in the UK, ROI votes at same time for NI. Vote is broken down by province for RTE, showing Leinster pro UI, Munster and Connaught pro 'fuck aff nordies'. The 3 lost counties are with Leinster.
Munster decide they've had enough of this dublin centric bullshit and raise a citizen army to stage a coup. After some deliberating, Connaught side with Munster and they start marching on Dublin. A joint Connaught and Munster force moves north to secure Donegal but stumble upon the Orange Order having their yearly ice cream in Rossnowlagh. Shots are fired, traybake stores are raided, the beacons are lit and Donegal calls for aid.
Enraged, the peoples of Northern Ireland and the North of Ireland join together to liberate the West of the North of Ireland, basing themselves in a city in the west of the north of Northern Ireland. Further groups make their way south to relieve the now beseiged Dublin from the barbarian hordes.
Long story short, Leinster rejoins the UK, along with the rest of Ulster and the new capital of the Confederate provinces of Ireland is in the now wrecked Galway. Everyone's a winner, except the EU who have to massively fund a rebuilding program.
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u/Hungry-Western9191 Jan 22 '24
If I didn't know if someone from NI was nationalist or unionist or didn't attach to either viewpoint I'd probably say the same, s you say it's accurate.
Doesn't mean I think anyone from NI who feels that way is less Irish than I am.
Mind you, I'd also feel that someone on the other side should be given the courtesy to claim to be purely British, although having lived in Britain for a while, they will have exactly the same issue you had here.
The answer is people should be ble to be both things without it hurting the other any more than being a gaa player means you can't also play football.
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u/GraemeMark Ballymena Jan 22 '24
We don’t belong anywhere friends; my sis lives in England and has been told to f**k off back home to her own country. My mate was on a visit in Dublin and was told “we view you all as a bunch of Brits up there.” Wherever we go, there’ll be people doubting our identity on both sides. I suspect the division goes way back before 1921 as well.
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u/Maleficent-Yellow695 Jan 22 '24
I'm half Dutch, half English, working on a project in Dublin. Even I don't feel a foreigner here, although people do think I'm English. We have quite a few people 'from the North' here. In my perception everyone here is Irish, although you do have a different accent. I avoid using the term UK, as I realise that might hit a nerve with some northerners. And yes, there's idiots everywhere, and I'm sure to get some abuse, sooner or later. Seeing the arson attacks on hotels for immigrants is quite telling.
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u/contradicktarian32 Jan 22 '24
Pay no heed. D4 scum are West Brits through and through. You're infinitely more Irish than anyone from that area, trust me. If you want to meet real fellow Irish people you should avoid dubs entirely and make friends with people from Munster instead.
Also on board for an Ulster/Munster alliance to invade Dublin and drive those fuckers into the English channel where they belong.
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u/exiled_everywhere Jan 22 '24
Identity is a slippery thing – you have to remember that people all over the world are born to parents from different backgrounds, etc., which means others will question their identity. Unfortunately, people will try and use arbitrary markers to pin down our identities. With no ill will in the world, you've even done it yourself when you mention being from the "catholic community" and listing your Irish characteristics –– a person's faith, or lack of, should have no bearing on their nationality; a person's interest in hurling, or lack of interest, is really nothing to do with their Irishness. I grew up in the north and have simply come to terms with the fact that I was raised in a contested land with a unique, complex history. My Irish nationality, however, is a birthright, is confirmed by my passport, and I have no insecurities about it, no matter what others say.
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u/ambientguitar Jan 22 '24
WTAF? Martin Mc Guiness said it., "Derry is as Irish as Cork". Sin é! I lived in Dublin D2 they have a stinking attitude some of them are arrogant pricks!
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u/Shodandan Jan 22 '24
As a southerner I'm genuinely shocked at some of the replies.
Everyone where I'm from absolutely views people from the north as Irish. Well, those from the nationalist side anyway. You do still have most people here who view unionists as not Irish.
I've spent loads of time throughout my life popping up to Antrim mostly and I've never once thought anyone was anything but Irish.
I'm actually flabbergasted that anyone would think differently.
Dont mind anyone that questions your Irishness. Thats the stupidest notion I ever heard.
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u/JJMcCorley Jan 22 '24
Honestly, I wouldn't be friends with any West-Brit shites like that in the first place, what do they know about being Irish?
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u/hairyhog21 Jan 22 '24
You should have interjected saying "you're irish? I always thought you were a west Brit"
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u/Superspark76 Jan 22 '24
You may not like it or want to believe it isn't true but Northern Ireland is a British country and its residents are British.
I know this is a trigger for a lot of the people living here but we pay taxes to the British government and are ruled by British government.
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 22 '24
I’m aware that our island is partitioned. I didn’t fall asleep in 1920.
I’m talking about identity rather than government. Also, only a third of people in the 6 counties identify as British now.
Additionally, the generational divide on the question of unity is stark so in our lifetime we will be fully United and ruled from Dublin anyway, so it’s not really an issue
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u/Superspark76 Jan 31 '24
I know a lot of people think they want a united Ireland but it is a very short sighted view, a lot of companies and jobs currently in northern Ireland cannot exist in Ireland as they have different rules and laws, will lead to more unemployment and poverty.
Mortgage companies will be forced to call immediate payments for their debts and banks will close bank accounts as they are only available to UK residents, this again will lead to problems and could trigger a massive recession in NI which Ireland cannot afford to support.
Even later in life, the UK government is not going to issue pensions to non residents who haven't paid all their stamps and the Irish government will not issue pensions to people who haven't paid in enough.
The idea of a united Ireland is a purely romantic notion and not a well thought out one.
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u/Mossykong Belfast Jan 22 '24
When I moved to Kildare from Belfast in 2001, and I got pretty much bullied from the first day. Kids would make fun of me because I didn't laminate my copybooks and there was a rumor made up (we were all like 8-9 years old in second class) that I was apparently in the IRA/British Spy or whatever the feck they were on about.
I eventually lost my accent but that wasn't because of my surroundings. That was going to happen anyway, but it was because I knew if I kept my thick Belfast accent, I was going to keep getting bullied.
My ma on the other hand, always felt, given it was the Celtic Tiger era, that southern people were spoiled and were always showing off their new car, new properties, and new flashy bollocks despite putting it all on credit and variable loans. Took her 10 years to really say she enjoyed living there but I think part of it was the humbling nature of the great recession for people to finally wise up and stop being such cunts about "what I have."
In all my time in the south of Ireland, I always felt different and not equally Irish. I now live abroad in Taiwan, and nobody gives a fuck. All Irish (even unionist friends!) and all have the same pop culture, upbringing, mind-sets and craic. Took me going 10,000 KM to really feel Irish, not south of the border.
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u/Ronaldinhio Jan 22 '24
Former Southern colleagues all thought I was British because I was from the North. V surprised by my being offended by this. Thought they soothed things by saying you’re not like up up there now are ye
In GB they think we’re Paddys problem is many Southerners don’t
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u/blues_trees Jan 22 '24
As a ‘Southerner’ yes I’d consider you equally Irish and I’d consider you more Irish than a D4 head
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u/jd2244 Dungannon Jan 22 '24
Having recently moved to Canada for a year, I’ve had Irish folks the same age as me (mid-20’s) who’ve spent the last 10-15 years of their life in Canada turn and call me British or “not really Irish” as I’m from Tyrone. Funny that the people who don’t even have the accent anymore seem to feel the strongest about who is and isn’t Irish. Canadians on the other hand often don’t tend to understand the difference between the north and south and call everyone Irish regardless.
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u/TomLondra Jan 22 '24
It's simple. If you were born on the island of Ireland, you're Irish - whether you like it or not.
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u/DraigDu Jan 22 '24
National identity is often weird. Is it about where you're born, who your parents / grandparents / great-grandparents are, who you marry, where you live the longest, what your Ancestry DNA test says, which passport you hold, how you 'feel'?
If I were to answer all those questions I would get a dozen different overlapping answers, so I'm sticking with the answer to the last one.
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u/travel_chick Jan 22 '24
I live in Canada but originally from Derry. I have always been asked where in Ireland I’m from and I say Derry in the north and I would get some questions. I once had a girl from cork ask me what passport I got my working visa on and I said irish in which she replied that she didn’t agree that I was allowed an irish passport… baffles me.
It has actually got worse too. in the last year three people has asked me am I from the main Ireland or the other part. It really hit a nerve. One guy even went on to say he asked the same question to another person from the north and they got really offended.. well then don’t ask the question again.
Most of my friends are British and one time a friend said “I thought you got your irish citizenship through your parents as they were born in Ireland and you Northern Ireland.” I corrected her but saying I was born in Ireland and she said no you were born in Northern Ireland. It really annoyed me that’s how a lot of people view people from the 6 counties in the north.
I will admit I am not the most knowledgeable about irish history but i know the basics and have been actively trying to educate myself on the whole thing, but there is so much to it.
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u/Bitter_Birthday7363 Jan 22 '24
I get identifying as Irish however I can understand why he might of said Northern Ireland and the rest are from Ireland as they are separate countries with separate currencies, economies, education systems etc. also people are not mind readers you can’t expect everyone to know how you prefer to be identified/uoir heritage etc
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u/emerald_dodger Jan 22 '24
Honestly I think it depends. Considering how much pain and suffering there’s been around identity in Northern Ireland if someone told me they’re from there I wouldn’t assume they identified as Irish or British. I see Northern Irish as its own identity and what that means to someone is their business. I’d assume nothing, treat them exactly the same as everyone else and if they ever felt like expanding on what “Northern Irish” meant to them I’d gladly listen. I’m sorry you felt othered, if you identify as Irish then you absolutely are.
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u/Absoluteseens Jan 22 '24
This is really interesting. Tbh I feel "Irish" . I live here , an imaginary border doesn't stop you being Irish s Ffs
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u/redditman3030 Jan 22 '24
We are all Irish on this island. Don’t view it as some blessing southerners have to give you as that would imply they somehow have more right to Irishness than you do. The fact that they differentiate makes them partitionist and this much less Irish than a true Irish republican from the north. Fortunately most young people don’t feel that way which is why Sinn Fein is the most popular party among 18-34 year olds.
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u/Dylanduke199513 Jan 22 '24
I do anyway. I had an argument with my previous boss and a work colleague about it because they said your notion of what it is to be “Irish” was different from ours - away from the troubles and issues in the north.
However, if that’s accepted to be the case, neither Michael Collins nor DeValera nor any of the rebels from the time the UK took over Ireland up until possibly even 1937 were Irish.
So anyway, yes I’d personally see ye all as Irish - save for the ones that don’t want to be.
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u/StockAdeptness9452 Jan 21 '24
Cork man here, I think your as Irish as I am, but when I was younger I might have thought a little differently, I just didn’t know.
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u/niknak_paddywhack Jan 21 '24
I find the further south I go, the harder the border seems to get and the less they seem to view us as Irish. Lived in Cork for four years there and I was shocked at the cluelessness and how invisible the north is to loads of them. I was regularly called English - not British, (which, although I would dispute it, I would at least understand their logic), ENGLISH - I remember having to explain “you understand, to go to England I would have to get on an aeroplane and fly across a sea?” They expressed confusion that I had an Irish passport, argued with me that there’s no way I learned Irish in school and even now if they venture north to visit me, the closest they’ll come is Letterkenny because they’re “nervous about the bombs”. I actually thought they were doing it to wind me up at first.
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u/another-crankyoldman Jan 21 '24
You answered your own question when you said the people you were referring to in the South were Fine Gael supporters. Where do you think Southern loyalists went after independence. They found a home in Fine Gael. As someone else said of someone else, they have not gone away. They would still support our going back into being part of the UK. They would like to be in the commonwealth They still have an elegance to and interest in the UK monarchy. When they describe you as British it is with a sense of envy. Like the unionists in the north they still live in a fantasy world where Britannia rules the world and they think they are part of it.
Sad "daoine le Dia", no point arguing with them, just let them live with their delusions.
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u/Gullible-Function649 Jan 21 '24
I’ve been hearing this crap for decades. When a southie tells me I’m not Irish I remind them they bought their ‘Irishness’ by selling us out in the first place.
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u/DublinDapper Jan 21 '24
After so many years Northern Ireland is a distinct place in of itself.
That's one of the realities of partition unfortunately
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u/BiggestFlower Jan 21 '24
In Angela’s Ashes the author recounts how his (southern) mother’s family were extremely suspicious of his (northern) dad, and they were suspicious because he was northern. That was in the 1930s. So it’s nothing new.
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u/NoPromotion8246 Jan 21 '24
Welcome to -"Northern Ireland syndrome". You can be the most top prod and the British will view you as irish and the most most Irish gaa celebrity and they will say your British. Bout time we join the irish sea boarder with the land boarder, make our own fleg- elect a balanced equal government and force Ireland and Britain to pay for fucking everything
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 21 '24
Tiocfiadh your da
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u/NoPromotion8246 Apr 29 '24
Had to translate the "chucky my da" bit - so, are you saying - YOU "will come in my da" or what ? Do you know him? Do you plan to wine and dine him? Will this be a consensual act? Do you normally have sex with pensioners? have you a thing for 1980's u.d.a. mustaches?Will we get to meet you at family gatherings? Is dad fuckery considered more british or irish? - personally I'd still say ur irish mates don't want a surprise dad fucker about and I'm pretty sure up the road won't want to claim a northern irish, irish dad dicker either? On another unrelated subject- any other groups or demographics that won't acknowledge you?
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u/TheHistoryCritic Jan 21 '24
What does being Irish even mean? I haven't hurled in 40 years, the only Irish I remember is the words to Amhran Na Bhfiann, and I cringe with hard-left Shinner nationalism.
As far as being Irish versus Northern Irish, it's a simple distinction for me, I view Irish people as being those who believe they're Irish and can back it up by knowing things about Ireland that an Irish American or other expat wouldn't know. As far as that goes, it doesn't matter if you live in the 26, the 6 or elsewhere, you're Irish. If you believe in Unionism, it gets more complicated. Geographically, you're Irish, you're from the Island of Ireland. But you don't feel Irish, you feel British, even though Ireland is not part of Britain, and most people from Great Britain believe in giving Ireland back to the Irish.
But when you're talking to people from elsewhere, they are very aware of the distinction because it's all they really know. They know Ireland is as divided into two nations as is Korea or Congo. Therefore, it's logical for someone who doesn't know the complexities to focus on the simple line in the sand that they learned about in school.
Here's the ultimate test: The song Grace.
If it fills you with pride and tears, you're Irish.
If it fills you with rage, you're British.
If you never heard of it, or you think it's a Rod Stewart song, you're not Irish, even if you have a tricolor and an Irish wolfhound in your place in the Boston suburbia.
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u/Pistola23 Jan 21 '24
I have always supported the Republic of Ireland in football. I remember going to a game where they lifted their only trophy in their history afaik, Carling Nations Cup for those interested. After the game I was in a Burger King speaking to a guy in the queue, I said something to the extent of "wow what a great game to have been at". He asked me why I was at the game, and went on to say that it wasn't my team.
I think there are people who hold that view and I have felt it more from Dublin than anywhere else. I work within the music industry and the exclusion and ridicule of Irish North of the border would shock you. Look at the Irish Music Award Nominations over the last few years, no Northern acts anywhere. I listened to RTE the other night and two journalists ripped apart a young artist from the North despite glowing reviews elsewhere.
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u/Pinders23 Jan 21 '24
My great grandmother immigrated to the US from County Antrim in 1920. Always said she was Irish. She was Protestant (Presbyterian). Interestingly, my DNA test clearly shows she was mostly of Scottish descent. Genetics, geography and politics are not the same as cultural identification.
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u/DrDreMYI Jan 21 '24
None of what I say below is political in any way, so please don’t read that into it.
Being from Northern Ireland, as I am, means we fall between places. I’ve lived in Scotland for over 20 years, and spent many years working in and with people from an England.
I see myself more Irish/Scottish now, than British. But I’m totally grand with having a monarch, for example.
However, many people I know in NI feel uber-British, and would argue hard to keep it. I can say with absolutely certainty that the majority of folk in England I’ve come across see people in NI as being ‘apart’, in the same way people from Scotland are (I can’t speak for the lovely folk in Wales as I’ve never spoken with anyone from there about it). It’s an odd thing, the feeling of people in NI as British, in my experience, is largely not reciprocated.
And people I’ve worked with in the South of Ireland definitely have not seen me as Irish.
I should say, I’ve never come across any malice in any of this, other than within NI where people fight for what amounts to a local perception of their identify.
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u/corkbai1234 Jan 21 '24
Im from Cork and everybody I know would regard you as Irish.
Doesn't matter what side of the divide your on we would regard you as Irish.
If you want to identify as British that's absolutely fine it's your choice with whatever you feel comfortable with but if your born on the Island of Ireland then you are Irish.
It's strictly geographical not political as far as I'm concerned.
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u/sunroofdownintherain Derry Jan 21 '24
Some of the southerners I’ve met are through and through west brits, most of the Irish up north you’ll find are even more patriotic than people from the south.
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u/draymorgan Jan 21 '24
From England but grew up in Cork. You are considered a lot more Irish by Irish people than you are British by English people
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u/shimonach Jan 21 '24
I’m from Cork and I see people up north as different in the same way as I see people from Kerry as different.
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Jan 21 '24
Your identity is not contingent upon the permission of others. There is no such thing as "authentic".
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u/Im_sleepy_rn_123 Jan 21 '24
I suppose you technically are northern Irish, but if your friends knew you don’t view yourself that way they shouldn’t have said that.
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u/Longjumpingpea1916 Jan 21 '24
Fuck them man, if you're Irish you're Irish, doesn't matter what someone calls ya. Of course goes without saying yeah I wouldn't see you as anything but Irish
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u/ciderman80 Jan 21 '24
Yeah met a guy from Dublin while on holiday in Wales and said I'm Irish (I have English accent after moving at 10yo). Explained where I was from eventually said prod background. And he was like, "so your Scottish really?"
Yeah mate, hardly even visited Scotland but you got me!
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u/Separate_Job_3573 Jan 21 '24
Some don't. I certainly do.
I think the friends of mine that don't tend to not have thought much about it. I've challenged it once or twice when it's pretty extreme ignorance - I once had a friend tell me he was rooting against Tyrone in the all ireland final because of Brexit (????)
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u/slu87 Jan 21 '24
I think everyone born on the island of Ireland and by that I mean all of Ulster are irish,they can identify as what they want and that's cool but they are still Irish
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u/Virtual_Honeydew_842 Jan 21 '24
D4 heads are west Brits, they are more British than the Unionists.
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u/Senior-Watercress643 Jan 21 '24
I lived in Canada for a couple years and most of my friends housemates etc, where from all ger the island. My friends would call me Irish but some friends of theirs would refer me to as northern, actually my closest friend at the time who was actually Italian but raised in Ireland, Italian name, Irish accent, mentioned I was northern and that's why I sound different when introducing me to some Canadians, I know exactly how you feel.
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u/Party-Maintenance-83 Jan 21 '24
I think a lot of people in the republic are a bit wary when they hear our northern accents in case we turn out to be fleg waving prods spouting about being british. Not that those types of british ever venture across the border much if at all.
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u/paddythebaker Jan 21 '24
Identity is complicated, and largely self determined. Whether you speak Irish, play hurling, grew up in the country or a city, grew up Catholic or “Catholic” or Jewish or whatever, are from the Northern most point or the southern most, have Irish lineage or your folks are blow ins, we’re all Irish. Don’t be fretting, Irishness isn’t performative and there is no scale.
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u/JX121 Jan 21 '24
I would say that's more a D4 thing, something about South dubs and ambivalence to partition is unique I find. A northerner also living in the south I've never had anyone dispute my Irishness or question it.
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u/Virtual_Honeydew_842 Jan 21 '24
I'd go as far as arguing that South Dubs will be the ones voting to maintain partition: as there's many jobs in (1) the civic society cemented talking about how desperate it is across the border, (2) they are rolling old money from Brit cuckness forward which needs taxed to fund the end of partition, (3) it maintains status quo.
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u/crdctr Jan 21 '24
Everyone in the world views us as Irish, apart from the Irish here that view themselves as British.
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u/North_Scene Jan 21 '24
you're separated by a geo-political border - yes, people see you as 'northern irish', it's fine, you seem like a sound cunt -- all that matters
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Jan 21 '24
I'm a "southerner."
You're Irish. 100%.
The problem here is southside, Fine Gael types.
Basically, Irish tories.
Find new mates.
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u/Wada94 Jan 21 '24
NI isn't a part of Ireland. It is on an island called Ireland but it is a separate country to Ireland.
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 21 '24
How does this address what I’m saying?
So if Ireland unified tomorrow would everyone from the 6 counties automatically become Irish even though they weren’t the day before?
Irish identity has been established as extending to people in all 32 counties - read the paragraph on the second page of every Irish passport x
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u/Wada94 Jan 21 '24
Yes because then it would be one country.
I know you can be Irish and live in NI. But NI itself is a separate country to Ireland.
I'm not saying you aren't Irish.
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u/noAhB__ ROI Jan 21 '24
I'm a southerner. If you say you're Irish, you're Irish. We have slightly different cultures as much as I have a different culture from someone from Connacht (I'm from Leinster), that's it. Might make fun of yous some time, but you're a good Irish fella. You're not southern, but that doesn't mean you're not Irish. We play rugby in the same team, right?
Now, of course, people who feel British or people holding UK passports, I feel like they're kinda different. Of course I do, feel little connection to them, but folks like you? Nah, lad, you're just one of us, don't think twice about it, people in D4 can be fucking pricks (come to D11 for the best people 😉).
Good luck living amongst loyalists (just kidding. Kind of...).
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u/zeromalarki Jan 21 '24
Some do, some don't. Some see us as a bit mental. When I lived in Dublin and I ever felt threatened by potential muggers or guys looking to intimidate me in bars or whatever, I'd play up the Belfast accent. Despite me being a wee middle-class Methody wanker who'd be keen to avoid having a criminal record, the Belfast accent was often enough to make aggressive fellas reconsider their course of action.
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u/Old-Sock-816 Jan 21 '24
Ulster was always an epicentre of Irish culture. The great clans of Ulster, Cuchullain and the Red Branch knights, the Annals of the 4 masters and much more attests to that and the Flight of the Earls, Plantations, Gerrymandering or anything else hasn’t changed that. My main contact with people from the North is via Gaelic football which obviously is a very distinct activity. But whether it’s walking into a GAA ground in Omagh, Ballinascreen or Belfast or meeting someone in a bar in Boston or Melbourne or London, I’ve always considered people from the 6 counties to be Irish. And have a hell of a lot more in common with most of them than quite a lot of people who live in the South. The irony is that even hardcore loyalists consider themselves Irish. David Ervine once mentioned it in an interview and it was something that really stuck with me as I had never been aware of it before then.
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u/PlasticsSuckUTFR Jan 21 '24
I dont give a fuck if they do, I am just as Irish as some jockey in Kildare or some turf flinger from Cork.
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u/Upstairs_Decision125 Jan 21 '24
If you have a question for southerners, I'm just wondering why you asked this in r/northernireland and not r/Ireland??
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 21 '24
As evidenced by the comments; many southern people did respond so I received the answers I requested just fine.
Also many southerners view this thread as they view the north as a part of their country so I don’t see why me posting it here would be an issue
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u/Upstairs_Decision125 Jan 21 '24
I received the answers I requested just fine.
That's good. Just thought you would have more chance of better return on the other sub.
Also many southerners view this thread as they view the north as a part of their country so I don’t see why me posting it here would be an issue
Maybe they do, but again just thought r/Ireland would give you the best chance of return from southerners. Seems like r/northernireland by definition seems the second best place to ask that's all.
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u/TheFecklessRogue Jan 21 '24
Your 'friend' sounds like a f**kin c**t and egit. Obviously you're Irish. you tell that p***k to watch himself cause he'll put himself in all sorts of bother talking like that and him from D4; the least Irish part of the island.
Even those unionists are technically Irish even if they like to think of themselves as brits which is just incomprehensible to me, but then much of their behavior is that way.
You sound like a young lad so let me tell you this; As you get older and time goes on you will understand what it is to be an Irish man, a good or a bad one, for example; listening to feckin muppets like that will make you less of one and firing sick pucks over the bar more of one.
You get what I mean?
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u/dnorg Jan 21 '24
For all the blather about unification, it won't happen (and will not work) until people in the south (of which I am one) undestand that union jack waving DUP ding-dongs are as Irish as anyone else. It might even help if the DUP twigged to that themselves. Irish culture cannot be a homogenous monolithic slab of crap. Everyone in the country deserves better than that.
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u/ImAnOldChunkOfCoal Jan 21 '24
Can only say for my own thoughts that I would view you as 100% Irish, however you do live in a different country from me, that's just how it is regardless of how Irish you feel. It's a lot easier to specify someone is from the North rather than making an assumption that people from the North don't mind being referred to as being from Ireland, generally speaking. Wouldn't pay too much attention to it. If anything I'd say your friend was trying to not be offensive in any way, rather than the opposite.
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u/NeedleworkerIcy2553 Jan 21 '24
I’ve had experiences when ‘over the border’ of comments/ remarks that infer i am some how less Irish, it’s always very bizarre to me, I speak Irish and have roots in GAA, I think if those who feel that way could see the rural club pitches in the north on any given Sunday morning from spring on hiving with young and old, try and tell them they’re less Irish, I’ve just watched Glen Maghera Watty Grahams co Doire lift All Ireland cup, less than no one!
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u/WorkshopOfTelescopes Newtownabbey Jan 21 '24
Who cares man?
I'm not insecure enough in my Irishness for the opinions of some Southerners to get to me lol, some will and some won't.
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u/IndependentJust1887 Jan 21 '24
If I'm on holiday abroad I'll say I'm Irish from Ireland but if I'm in the rest of the UK or go down south I'll say I'm from Northern Ireland lol
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u/KanePilkington Jan 21 '24
I'm a southerner and really don't care.
I think my attitude would be the prevailing one, across the country.
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u/redstarduggan Belfast Jan 21 '24
In my experience some do, most don't. There is an undercurrent of a fairly narrow understanding of what 'being irish' is about. It's almost stereotypical, but not always in a negative way.
If there ever is a United Ireland some people are in for a right old culture shock.
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u/Speedodoyle Jan 21 '24
I’m from the south, and I watched bbc growing up, follow English football teams, don’t follow gaa, can’t speak Irish and have no interest in learning, listen to US hip hop, and like European food.
Politically, I have no interest in the troubles, Sinn fein, or anything happening up there. I am far more interested in class struggles.
I wonder how many 30 something people from Northern Ireland would say the same.
We are different, due to the geographic coincidences of our births.
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u/NewryIsShite Newry Jan 21 '24
Amongst those born post Good Friday Agreement I think you'd be surprised how many people have literally the exact same attitudes and characteristics
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u/freudsaidiwasfine Jan 21 '24
Your identity is exactly that - Yours. You don’t need to prove it anyone else. If someone doesn’t see you as that that is their problem.
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u/eggsbenedict17 Jan 21 '24
Are you sure they were trying to offend you?
They probably consider you Irish but you are from the north, I wouldn't say they think it's a big deal pointing that out tbh
In my opinion people from the north often feel the need to "prove" their Irishness a bit more than those from the South, I wouldn't say they meant any harm by it, especially if they are your pals
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u/TheIronCompany Jan 21 '24
We're different of course. A different culture, dialect, currency/economy, way of living in general. A different way of thinking because of our position within a different country. Our politics is different locally and in general - our Prime Minister and Head of State are radically different as is our local government/politician/political landscape. These sort of differences sum into something fundamentally different than two co-existing southerners would have.
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u/LouthGremlinV1 ROI Jan 21 '24
Yeah but you're generalising aren't you? I'm from Co.Louth, when I was in Jonesborough the other day I was taken wholly aback when my friend said "you'd almost think you were still in the republic" because the peoples accents were that almost of my own county. I have never been able to view NI as foreign or different in the many times I've travelled there, and I struggle to see what's so different about our cultures? Ireland as is, is already so extremely similar to Great Britain. the only element of protestant Irish culture that most in the republic cannot wrap their heads around is the 12th (for obvious reasons) and even that exists within the republic itself, I've known people from an orange order lodge in co.Dublin, oo marches in Donegal and Monaghan etc.
We are different. Of course we are. All 4 provinces of Ireland and most counties are different to one another. But outside of the obvious political divisions, we are quite the same. I'm from the crossroads of where north meets south, Leinster becomes Ulster. And there isn't a soul here who would ever consider someone in NI as anything other than Irish. Everyday people of both of our countries have so much in common after all.
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u/WARZONE-GT86 Jan 21 '24
As a northerner who believes in one, new Ireland - In my experience no. I used to compete over Ireland (uni) and the d4 heads wondered why I was there and not competing for Britain. I've had more expletives said by southern natives than any die hard loyalist
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u/Bobs77788 Jan 21 '24
You are 100% Irish, there's no doubt about it. However, I find it pretty frustrating that pretty much anyone I've come across from the north (nationalist, unionist or otherwise) refers to me as being from the south. I'm from Dublin which is in the east. People from Cork are from the south. It does my head in to be referred to as a 'southerner' by those from the north. More ridiculous still is when people from Donegal are considered as being from the south.
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u/Janie_Mac Jan 21 '24
In terms of our constitution you are as Irish as we are, your irishness is protected. I tend to go with the flow, you identify as Irish, that's grand, you identify as British or both that's grand too.
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u/RGR_SC4306 Jan 21 '24
Honestly, you can identify as Irish, but your are from northern Ireland, so not from Eire. Most ppl from the south dont get the bullshit tribal politics etc that we cant seem to bury. You seem to have learnt this lesson. Like it matters where you are from, its where you are going.
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u/Ah_here_like Jan 21 '24
No one in Ireland says Éire, have only seen Americans say it when referring to things like this.
Éire means the island anyway which the poster is from and what is on the front cover of their passport.
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u/ConnolysMoustache Ireland Jan 21 '24 edited Jan 21 '24
I’m a southern lurker on this sub.
If you say you’re Irish, you’re Irish
If you say you’re British, then grand if you say so.
If you say you’re northern Irish, you’re northern Irish.
It’s really that simple, the beauty of the GFA is that ye can be whatever ye want, Irish or otherwise.
In my personal opinion, anyone living on an island called Ireland is by extension Irish but I’d presume that view is a lot more controversial up north than here.
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u/redditredditson Jan 21 '24
I'm from the south and unless it's an attempt at banter you are right to take exception to it, and you need to make it clear next time it happens. You don't have to be confrontational or defensive, this would probably go against you anyway ("yous are always angry about something"), but certainly educate and put manners on them them because they need it.
There's layers to this phenomenon that are interesting to me, particularly considering the demographics you mentioned. Middle class fine gaelers can be particularly guilty of this. They do it as a way to distance themselves from the troubles and the provos etc, which they feel sullies Ireland, and look down on not only republican/nationalist northerners who have different views, but also southerners who share them.
They flatter themselves that they are the respectable face of Ireland and Irishness, moderate and cosmopolitan, in contrast to what they characterise as the fanatical nationalism of those who care about the north as part of Ireland. Its ironic then in doing so they propagate an exclusive vision of Irishness by excluding our northern compatriots, especially given these same people are often the stereotypical PC radlib who is only too happy to say a recent immigrant is as irish as they are. I'm highlighting this not to diminish immigrants, but to demonstrate their hypocrisy.
It's also ironic they do this considering many, particularly the elite, will proudly boast of their republican heritage from the war of independence. Physical force Republicanism was OK for me, but not for thee.
I've definitely ribbed northerners about it, but it's always clearly in good fun, and when it isn't well received, I'll be conciliatory about it. I see it as the same as any other playful regional abuse, culchie vs townie, county vs county, dubs are jackeens, boggers are mucksavages etc. There's no hard and far rules as to whether someone is being malicious or taking liberties, you kind of just feel it out, and if you're the one taking the piss, be prepared to accept if it lands wrong, especially if you don't know someone well.
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u/Haunting_Sector_710 Jan 21 '24
"Southerners", that's a problem right thereemote:free_emotes_pack:disapproval
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u/Formal-Lifeguard- Jan 21 '24
TIL Northern Irish can hold both UK and Irish passports, that’s cool.
(I’m half foreign and have to register as British before I can get that passport, despite having been born and lived my whole life in Scotland.)
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u/nezzman Jan 21 '24
Not to be rude in any way at all, I totally respect everyone’s views, myself, I don’t care about catholic and protestants.
But why, when you live in the UK, and I assume born here, do you consider yourself Irish? I really hope this doesn’t sound rude, just genuinely wonder.
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u/LouthGremlinV1 ROI Jan 21 '24
I was born in the early 2000s. All 4 of my great grandparents dob range from 1904 - 1920. Born within the UK of GB & I. All 4 of my grandparents were born before 1949 and therefore British subjects at birth.
I fail to see how that would make any of them less Irish? Did someone living in Dalkey only become Irish on 06/12/22? Before that we were what, "British"? Nonsense
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Jan 21 '24
Next time you use the NHS be grateful that you're in one of the 6 counties that voted to be a part of the UK.
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u/great-atuan Jan 21 '24
Speaking as a southerner. Yes of course you're Irish. You are, of course, a bit different because of the different circumstances up in the north but as you note no different than someone from liverpool is a bit different to someone from London. The differences in your circumstance do nothing to dilute your identity nor should they. Identity is fundamentally a subjective thing so peoples opinion may differ but if you don't count as Irish then I don't really know who would
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u/Disastrous-Use-6176 Jan 21 '24
I’m from the north, not catholic but have an Irish and British passport and no issues calling myself Irish, I was born and live in Ireland and therefore to me it’s only logical calling myself such. However I have run into some and I will stress a limited amount of people, that have been rude to me once I spoke to them and especially after disclosing my family’s Presbyterian background. I find it a real shame as it makes you feel other, like this island or heritage can’t be yours because you don’t fit their narrow homogenous ideal.
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u/dark_winger Jan 21 '24
Donegal person here. Have a lot of family in Leinster and Munster and some of them have very different views to Northern Ireland and people from there than I would have. Some have never even set foot in it. I would feel a similar vibe to Derry and Tyrone than Kildare or Cork.
I think most people from the "South" consider Northern Ireland and its people Irish but do so with a kind of they are a different breed up there tyoe of attitude.
You mention growing up in a Catholic area and speaking Irish, honestly these things matter very little anymore with huge parts of the Irish population. The language is seeing a revival but there is a long way to go. As for the religion, I think that ship has sailed. Not having a go, just explaining why that may not be relevant to someone from the 26
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Jan 21 '24 edited Jan 21 '24
I think most people north and south have some degree of partitionist mindset, even if they don’t want to. When the island and the nation are both called Ireland its easy to conflate the two. Especially for someone who isn’t from the north and hasn’t thought about it much. We go down there with a different accent and a different life experience and yeah sometimes they do see us as not being the same kind of Irish as them.
But ultimately it doesn’t matter what people south of the border think about us and our Irishness. The island was split into two administrative areas, neither of which was ever more Irish than the other. Their acceptance or approval of us is as irrelevant as our acceptance of them. You don’t need to have the brain of a southerner. You’re from the north. You have nothing to prove to them.
BTW maybe I’m misreading OPs post but are you saying that you feel more similar to southerners than you do unionists from here? I really fully disagree & I’m sorry but I honestly find that fucking weird.
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u/WalkerBotMan Jan 21 '24
Everyone in NI has an identity crisis. The nationalists worry they are not really Irish. The loyalists worry they are not really British. That makes them over sensitive, sometimes unduly. Your D4 friends maybe thought they were being polite. Dublin is a bubble, full of people who don’t know the first thing about the rest of Ireland - just like London and England. You’re as Irish as you feel. Being unsure of yourself is very Irish.
Maybe there’s only one or two people in a Gaeltacht somewhere who are certain they are truly Irish! The rest of us, not so much. It’s a fast changing world.
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u/cherryosrs Jan 21 '24
If you’re from the ‘north of Ireland’ then you live in Ireland, not Northern Ireland
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 21 '24
I’m from Belfast
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u/cherryosrs Jan 21 '24
So you’re from Northern Ireland then.
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u/NewryIsShite Newry Jan 21 '24
It's almost as if terminology is contested in a divided societies.....
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u/cherryosrs Jan 21 '24
It’s almost as though geography and borders don’t exist…
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u/NewryIsShite Newry Jan 21 '24
To bring peace to this place, the first article in the GFA surrounds the status of this jurisdiction. Without that, there wouldn't have been an Agreement.
People can use the term Northern Ireland or the north of Ireland. If we are to move on, we have to accept the terminology of both nationalists and unionists within the borders of this jurisdiction as equally legitimate because this is the most contested territory in Western Europe. Diversity of opinion doesn't have to be something you get so worked up about amigo.
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u/Unlucky-Leopard Jan 21 '24
I am from a posh part of south Dublin (unfortunately) and have always seen Northern Irish people as Irish, but I would never be so quick to label someone without knowing their full story - I worked with a girl many years ago from Portrush who once corrected me when I referred to her as Irish and she told me she was northern Irish, but I've since made friends from Belfast who consider themselves Irish. It's a complicated issue, I would now try to be more educated and not assume how someone feels which is probably largely to do with their upbringing and background! It was ignorant of your friend to speak for you, let him be ignorant ✌🏼
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u/forzaregista Belfast Jan 21 '24
You sound quite young and immature to be honest lad. Nothing about your views is particularly unique or anything but just something about the way you present them. Wouldn’t worry about it.
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u/Advanced_Swan_8714 Jan 21 '24
Can you elaborate
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u/forzaregista Belfast Jan 21 '24
Suppose the whole notion of being bothered by the opinion of a few West Brits. And being shocked these people exist. Not being rude. Its just you seem a bit naive. These sorts are nothing new.
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Jan 21 '24
Yes, we consider you equally Irish. You're the clans of the north and your soul rests at Tara with the rest of us. You'll be coming home soon. Walk with us.
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u/Galway1012 Jan 21 '24
Galway man here as the name suggests!
Yes I consider those who identify as Irish & are from north of the border just as Irish as I am.
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u/Bumpy_Uncles Jan 21 '24
Well, we 100% do think you're Irish. But it's just kinda like you've been kidnapped.
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u/elzmuda Jan 21 '24
I’m from Dublin. Generally I just view people on what county there from. Like ‘he’s from Galway, he’s a dub and she’s from Belfast’
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u/TomLondra Jan 21 '24 edited Jan 21 '24
I have friends in places like Cork who have never been to the North and apart from what they hear in the news, they don't know anything about it. All they know is that it's very different.
The people in the South have been at peace for generations and that is what they are used to. They don't want a lot of Northeners coming in to cause trouble.
The people in the North have been at each other's throats for generations and that is what they are used to.
If there is to be reunification it would have to happen peacefully, by consent, and would have to immediately bring benefits everyone would see.
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u/Dealga_Ceilteach Jan 21 '24
If ur an Irish nationalist and have family that are Irish nationalist in the North or ye have family in the Republic or both then ye. If ur Catholic then I will think of ye as Irish even more
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u/jaqian Jan 21 '24
Yes, I do. I view the Protestants and Catholics of N Ireland equally Irish. If you are born on the island of Ireland, you are then Irish; I view the "New Irish" the same way.
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u/dav1shiftslads Jan 21 '24
Believe me, you are way more in touch with your Irishness than them D4 folk. Ask them about anywhere outside Dublin and they'll stutter like fuck.
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u/Sawdust1997 Jan 21 '24
As an Irishman I have a simple test to see if someone from the north is Irish.
Catholic or Protestant?
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u/Adabadah Jan 21 '24
Lived in Dublin for 3 years, worked with people from all walks of Ireland. Can safely say they don't care 😆
That goes for "Irish" and/or "British" folks
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u/Charming_Locksmith40 Jan 21 '24
I'm Canadian, and this past summer I was visiting family in northern Ireland. Our plane landed in Dublin and we drove up north because it was cheaper, but first night we were in Dublin. Was at temple bar and got chatting with this fella Dean about the troubles. At one point I laughed and asked him to repeat himself, saying I'm sorry but I'm having a little trouble understanding his southern accent. Then he goes; "no no, I have and Irish accent, THEY have a northern accent". Told my family about it when we got up to Ballymena and they were like wth lol my auntie was like "fuck Dean, Dean's not even an Irish name" lol
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u/tazzz898 Jan 21 '24
Southerner here, lots of friends from Northern Ireland! I think of them as Irish, just with better accents than down here!
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u/AceMangoville 4d ago
I am from the republic and yes, I believe that all northern Irish who are Irish are indeed Irish.