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God can we not just post of on mt for once, without being pc or getting into shite about this or that….. this topic was lighthearted, it coming to christmas, the IMF are over having talks about a bailout, a killer budget only weeks away, MASSIVE feelings of doom and gloom…….. Maybe the recession hasnt hit everyone but i know alot where it has, unemployment, lack of cash, depression etc…
Would it not be nice to post "nice light post" to lift the spirits of the folk out there who have been hit by the recessionYes every country in the world has unique factors and cultures but we are talking ABOUT THE IRISH AND IRELAND!!!!!!
Righteo, enough doom and gloom, lets have a cheerful thread about what we have to be proud of in this country.
There are loads of great things about being Irish or living in Ireland, so lets get some of them up here and crack a few smiles.
1. We are a generally friendly nation, its easy to strike up a conversation with strangers – that is not as easy in some other countries.
2. Weather – it might rain a lot but we have had loads of rainbows following the rain this week. And today it is sunny and warm, which is nice for November. Where else can you get 4 seasons in one day?
3. Talented – we are a very musical nation. We produce some cracking talent like U2, Riverdance, The Script and even the likes of Crystal Swing and Jedward are popular in and out of Ireland (despite their talent levels!!) We are renowned for being a musical bunch; country pubs with ceilis are a great example of that, even if you can’t dance you can get in the middle of the action and have a great time.
4……..
your optimistic today 🙂 thats a hard question to answer in the middle of winter, with a budget looming, no job creation…. 🙁
at a push…..hmmm…still thinking…
k…..suppose there are a lot of people out there who are very generous with their time and give of it voluntary to organisations who help others. I do voluntary work with two charities ISPCC & Anamcara. My other half does driving for the Irish Wheelchair Assoc. All of this isunpaid work but it does leave you feeling a lot better when you give of your time to help others who need a listening ear, a driver etc. And this can be done by anyone. Just find a cause/charity you believe in and give what time you can…..every little adds up. If no-one gave of their time then so many good charities would go to the wall.
i agree on the 3 points, especially for the friendliness and the people s general good mood.
4_ No strikes that paralyse the country every week like in the place i was born, driving me mad every time i want to go home.
5_People do care about each other and still help strangers
6_Whatever happens people still have babies, lots of babies and that s a good sign for the economy and the future
I agree with it ALL.
That country is the one I call HOME now. I always says I’m going to France or my parents never call it home.
I could go on forever about things I love here and did not get it when I was growing in France, just to name a few (or too many, will see where it takes me)– Was so proud to have my kids irish passport.
– the way people / friends says "welcome back" when you’re back after hol or a break
– the way I can mention my son, who died in feb 2002 and people will here ask me if I named him, in France people will look away and don’t say a word
– the way how hospital staff was so friendly when it happened, how they manage when the day after I had appointment in maternity hospital for my check-up and they made sure I was seen before any other mum to be and I did not see a any bums or babies! A midwife took the time to escort me to make sure I was ok.
In France same thing happen to family friends few months later, and basicly hospital told them they had to get on with it.– the way were hospital staff is overworked but still CARE about human beings, they do more than treat a disease.
They deserve more money, more staff, more equipment but they do a great job with what they have.– I always felt welcome even if I’m not irish and even when my english language was so so weak
– I made friends for life
– the view is lovely all year long, GREEN grass, it’s brown where I come from.
My sister sees the rain, I see the GREEN– Bulmers!
– Xmas spirit
– never too cold (maybe last year but the first time in decades), never too hot
– horses everwhere
I love it. The economical situation is tough at the moment yes, but it’s not the first time in irish history, and it will be ok again, meanwhile still have the irish men and woman with all they can give.
Do you need more?
I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH.–
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I LOVE this country… alot of the above
I cant put my finger on it, but i just love it…. Dublin City is a place i just love to be and its only when im in the city or in the Dublin mountains that i feel "homesick" for Dublin..
Things i love about Ireland…
The Greeness of the whole place, no place like it in my eyes.
Our history of proud, honorable and hard working, our ability to rise above repression and in this care recession!The Smell in Dublin City, up in the James Gate area…. love it!!! The Real Irish folk whether they are in the liberties in Dublin or the arse end of Kerry, the people who care for their neighbours and communities
The Mountains and Lakes in Ireland
Stunning Beaches
Fresh Air….
The fact you could go to any city or town and come away with a bit of history you never knew about….
The phonix park with the zoo, the popes cross, the peoples gardens…
The Irish Rivers the liffey, the shannon and the boyne…. stunning views and walks..
The fact we can talk to strangers with ease and strangers talk to you in the same way
The QUALITY OF OUR FOOD…. cant eat meat unless its Irish.. irish stew,Dublin coddleWe are so lucky for what we have, but i do think we need to find our faith again and neighbours to know each others names, a day out with the kids being a walk on bettystown beach or the likes with sandwiches and a bottle of juice…. back to our roots
Just look or listen to the new Advert for T2 Dublin Airport…. i was in tears listening to it this morning
http://www.casttv.com/search/Dublin%20A … 20Advert/1God girls you have me in tears here (well the pmt probably isnt helping either). Proud tears.
Fabienne, sorry to hear about your son. Thank you for posting such lovely things about Ireland. You made me feel proud to be Irish.
Taylor, that advert is great.
Sabbi thanks for starting this thread, i think we need it.
I agree with all you’ve said, i’ve travelled a lot & always loved to come home as ireland has the best food, best beaches & most friendly people who love to laugh.
I also love the way, we are still all about the family & Irish people love children. Its a nice way to be and i hope we dont lose it.
Mmmm….
Love the fact that while I live "in the country" and can see cows outside my bedroom window…. that I am within a 5 minute drive to the town, and the beach…
I love the fact that I don’t have bars on my windows, and that I can take a walk outside, and play with my kids outside my front door, and I can do so without any fear for our safety…
Honestly folks, unless you’ve had a gun at your temple, you don’t realise how lucky you are not to have to fear resting on your shoulders on a daily basis…. 🙁The welcoming nature of the Irish… you are a nation that is loved worldwide…
The beauty of the country… and I’ve only seen a fraction of it… have to admit that the Atlantic Drive up in Donegal has to be one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.Love the fact that the world’s problems can be solved over a cup of tea! 😉 Perhaps the government should have some…. 😆
Yeah, it is a recession, yes we are struggling through unemployment…. but we are happy, healthy, we have a roof over our head…. and we have made some "lifetime friends"….
DUBLIN!!!! Wow, I love that place…. I don’t know what it is about it…. but the feeling in the air… the whole vibe… especially at Christmas time, just pure magical. And I also love that airport ad… sheer brilliance… and I’m not even born Irish…. (though the heritage couldn’t be stronger! 😆 )
TURF!!! We don’t have that…. I’ve got an open fire, and there is nothing like the smell of it… FANTASTIC….
You also have incredible yoghurt, (I know, strange thing to highlight, but when we go back on holiday…. wow, we miss it…. and the Donegal bacon… major salty…. delicious, unlike the other bacon around!)This may be slightly strange for all you Irish born and bred gang… but the whole wake thing fascinates me…. as one who has never grown up with it, it was very traumatic to experience as an adult for the first time…. but I have to say that now, having gone through it, although it is foreign to me, I can understand the reasoning behind it. Though I never thought I would have ever done so….
Oh dear, I could carry on for a while here…..
This is now HOME…. we’ve thrown the son into an Irish school, which is somewhat challenging for non-natives like us! We truly love it here…. 😉
being irish what does that mean? a question i often wondered what difference would it make if i was born italian, english, french spanish german, it was just a place i was born….
BUT…i realise what it is to be irish and to be proud to be irish, it’s not just a country that i was born in, a country i live in it’s more than that…
being apart of what ireland stood and can still stands for, the people who fought for our country in more ways than one, nearly each irish person is connected in someway, and the history that has been written about lives in each and every person (even those who now consider themselves to be irish)…
we have a greathistory of folklores, the irish are great storytellers where else in the world would you find a lepercaun, a pot of gold, or the phrase "top of the morning to ya"….and apart from china i think we consume more tea than anywhere in the world…lol…we are a young country still with lots more to give, just coz the government fecked us up doesn’t mean that we’ve no more history to make we’ve plenty more years to write…..
every country you go to all around the world seem to be fascinated by the irish and most receive us well….one thing that is sad, isthe fact we have a wonderful language, one that will die out if more people don’t encourage it or pass it on….we learned irish in school but never appreciated it….we are one of the only countries that is still unique, we are unique and should be very proud….
for those who have come from afar to rest their feet on this irish land, and have now called this country home that many people would rather run from, we are so glad to have you here…with the love you have the hope you bring this Emerald Isle will beat again, the pulse is there it just needs to get stronger..
to all Cead Mile Failte agus Is Moth Liom Tae… 😆 😆 😆
Funny enough, I agree wholeheartedly about the wake business!
A friend is married to a German & lives over there. He is an only child. His parents were both only children. When her father-in-law (a popular, outgoing man) died in his late 50s of cancer, this was what happened:
In the morning he was dying in his hospital room. In the afternoon, my friend called back to the hospital & he was in the morgue & the bed redressed. His wife was gone home alone to their apartment. This was a Thursday. On Monday his wife went to work. The funeral was on Wednesday. The body was taken directly to the church from the morgue & then buried. I was preparing to fly over for the funeral but was told that German funerals are invitation only.
My friend & her husband stayed with her mother-in-law the two nights after the death. She said that, as an Irishwoman, it was the weirdest thing she’d ever experienced. She was prepared to spend the evening making cups of tea & loaves of sandwiches, but no one called. The only exception was a Croatian neighbour who dropped in a bottle of vodka. It was the closest thing she observed to an Irish reaction to a death.
Now, we’re country people, so I don’t know if this applies in the cities / big towns BUT….
When her father (late 70s) died the following year, HER friends flew in from 6 countries as did the friends of her siblings. There was a wake inthe house for two nights. There was a procession of people arriving at the house with trays of buns, cakes, apple tarts & sandwiches. The neighbouring women took over the kitchen & made gallons of tea & constantly loaded & unloaded the dishwasher. Local men directed traffic, organised a field for parking, gave elderly people lifts to & from the corpse house & even organised a one-way system through the house – in the front door, out the back. People talked non-stop about the dead man & the subjects that would have interested him.
When the corpse was taken to the church the night before the burial, a rota was organised so that the body would not be alone during the night.
After the burial the next day, there was food served in the local community centre & people were still there at 8 that evening talking about the dead man.
When my grandmother died – and she was nearly 90 – it was the same. She actually knew she was dying & organised her own funeral which I think was class. She gave her two sons (my dad & uncle) a wad of money each to go & buy black suits. They then had to model them for her. My uncle had bought a dark navy pinstripe and she sent him back to town to get a black one!! She booked the local hotel for the funeral lunch on the grounds that "people will be coming from all over for my funeral, you know, & you couldn’t have them heading off home hungry". She was right – people arrived in Mayo from Kerry, Dublin, Donegal… She instructed that her six eldest grandsons carry her coffin & wear black coats…..A lifelong pioneer, she sent my mum to the local off-licence with a booze list that would have made an alcoholic blush – "People would be expecting drink, you know…"
My mum’s uncle died in England recently & basically the body arrived at the church from the morgue & was buried. They went to a local pub where everyone bought their own drink. Some cocktail ssausages were served. And an hour later the only ones left there were the (very puzzled)ones who’d flown over from Ireland that morning.
I think we’re kinda comfortable with death, if it is any way "timely"… I know where I’d prefer to die…. So, yeah, a good thing about Ireland is the way we send people off – with a good old party!
Pookie thats a great story…
My uncle was the same, he found out just after my own father died that he had cancer and nothing could be done, he was heart broken to have lost his brother then the cancer news…. he said he want people to remember his life not his death, he sorted EVERYTHING about his funeral… we were in getting my dads headstone and in arrived my uncle to order his, it was So Weird… here we were going through stone colours, fonts etc and it was so funny, it was like we were out in a pub have a bit of crack and placing an order for 2 headstones for 2 young men 😯
At his funeral he had gotten a neighbours teenage child to create a slide show of photos set to music… not one person was missing, he had videos made and played, there were alot of tears shed that day… but ones of laughter…….. it wasnt a sad day it was has he wanted it a day where we looked back on his life and the fun times we had with him in our extended family
Dont think you would get it anywhere else in the world xxxxxNow I even told my mum how to offer me my tea the irish way! Offered with generosity and made for you to your taste.
I don’t drink coffe and was drinking tea long before I moved here.
Now I rarely drink tea outside Ireland as it is not the same.They are still things I don’t get here, and my answer is, I’m not irish enough.
it’s on tv Fair city or others things like that.Nice strories about people organising their derparturefuneral.
I know that I won’t get what I want, and even less now reading how it is here. But won’t be there to see it, so don’t care.Right…. didn’t want to turn the subject over to "death" but hey, at least it is in the "spirit" which is intended! 😆
Pookie…. we’d be very much like the family in Germany…. the person passes away, say in hospital…. the remains are then taken to the funeral home…. and then the church for the funeral, then they leave to be buried / cremated. More often cremated than buried…. the perhaps back to the Church hall for tea/coffee and snacks.
so, its a case of grieving, mostly done in private….
The Irish really know how to make an occasion of it…. ie… to celebrate the person’s life. I think that is brilliant. Granted, when I had to go through it all earlier in the year it totally freaked me out, and I don’t think I’ve made so much tea / sandwiches in my life…. but in retrospect…. i do think it is the right way to do it!Hubbie reckons the sausages are nicer, and the biscuits! Also he, like me, agrees that the best part of all is being able to be on the street for a walk with the kids / playing…. without fear….. it’s awesome!
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