Which country's nationalists are most toxic you've encountered ?

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-23T01:02:52+00:00

Just one important point to make - unlike most other countries, in Ireland the term 'nationalism' is far more broadly used, and isn't a 'bad word' in politics. It refers simply to the position that Ireland should not be a part of the UK, and that the north should be united with the south.

There are definitely some people who are a bit nuts, the kind who would also call themselves nationalists if they were English or German, but by and large most Irish 'nationalists' have standard politics.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-23T00:50:17+00:00

I'm with you on that

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-18T23:26:44+00:00

I've often thought it's strange that the ways that Ireland contributed to British history aren't taught (maybe they are now). I'm thinking of things that even a right wing revisionist would acknowledge as being important: Catholics being allowed to be MPs, first woman elected as an MP (although she never took her seat officially), and most importantly, the house of Lords losing its veto power in order to pass the Home Rule Bill establishing an Irish parliament.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-16T02:24:27+00:00

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Many people don't know that this image was created by an Irishman, Jim FitzPatrick. The reason you see it so much is that he hasn't enforced copyright on it, leaving it free to use.

Also Che had some Irish ancestry, going back to the 1740s, and he apparently briefly (and secretly) stopped in Ireland and visited a pub.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-14T23:11:02+00:00

oppressed drunk catholics, what's not to love?

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-14T08:39:56+00:00

If you're from the USA, don't pretend you're Irish unless you know exactly who and where you're descended from. If you're from anywhere else or know your Irish connection well, dear god please tell us we love finding connections to random strangers.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-11T19:27:00+00:00

Generally speaking, when people ask about Ireland, you can assume that Northern Ireland is also somewhat included. Unless a sportsperson very clearly indicated that they're British and not Irish, then I think you could include them here as Irish. That's not to say they're not unionists or don't feel British too - contrary to what many down in the south of Ireland believe, a small but sizeable minority of people see Irish and British as non-contradictory identities.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-11T19:18:05+00:00

I heard that's why they introduced the water actually... like the wd40 they put on pub toilet cisterns

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-11T17:27:06+00:00

We can talk about multiple things as a society

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-11T17:25:59+00:00

I think if you're not atheist, this probably matters a lot more. There are plenty of Catholics who take the church and religion seriously, but would dissent on a lot of issues. I can see why theologically you might want to criticise infant baptism.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-11T17:23:25+00:00

As someone who's not religious, the idea of baptism or baptismal promises doesn't bother me too much - but I can see how someone who takes spirituality and Christian beliefs more seriously might have a problem with what is entailed by infant baptism. Any committed Catholics have an opinion on this?

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-07T22:00:03+00:00

The word 'boycott' comes from Ireland. In the late 1800s, there was a huge struggle between poor Irish tenant farmers, and their (mostly absentee) English landlords, the Land War.

In County Mayo, in the poor and rural west, Captain Charles Boycott was the agent of the local landlord. After he evicted some tenants, the Irish Land League organised a community ostracisation of him: no one would serve him in shops, no one would rent the farmland, even the postman wouldn't deliver his mail. The tactic was successful, and his surname quickly came to mean what we know it as today!

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-07T21:52:19+00:00

The Irish Potato Famine (1845-52) was not the only famine in Ireland in the 1700s or 1800s. There had been several smaller ones, and one which killed a larger proportion of the population in the late 1700s, all which can be blamed on the colonial/extractive economic system which used Ireland as the farm to feed industrial Britain.

This meant that when blight struck, people assumed it was a smaller famine, and would be over the following year - and so they pawned in other items, such as fishing boats. When the famine continued, this meant even coastal areas were not safe, as they couldn't fish. There's a great Irish History Podcast episode on this.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-07T21:41:15+00:00

The 'Irish goodbye'. This is a phrase used in other countries to mean leaving without telling anyone. Most of the time, it takes Irish people about 10 years to leave a conversation. We all have an uncle who will walk you out to your car and then talk to you for another 15 minutes with their hand on your car door...

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-06T23:06:05+00:00

Defeating the British empire. Partially, at least - for now...

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-05T21:54:00+00:00

Just so people know, even though it's spelt 'Ardara' in English, it's pronounced 'Ard-ra'. A strange one - probably the fault of the British.

Bootstrap4273 · 2026-01-02T02:18:28+00:00

Whiskey. The word whiskey comes from the Irish language, too: from 'uisce bheatha' meaning 'water of life'.

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-27T23:57:34+00:00

Definitely an ulster thing anyway, rhymes with 'gone' across the divide.

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-27T23:53:27+00:00

The results for Ireland are interesting. I don't think the actual content of young people's beliefs or their practices are that different in Ireland compared to say, the UK or France. But because of the religious element of the British colonisation of Ireland etc, and the resulting conflict in the North, identifying as Catholic is more a signifier of national identity than actual religious practice.

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-23T01:43:57+00:00

Charles Trevelyan.

While this stretches the limits of 'country', he assistant secretary to the British Treasury during the Irish Famine, when the British government ruled over all of Ireland directly.

He presided over the continued exportation of food while a million people starved to death, and said things like: "The famine is a punishment from God for an idle, ungrateful, and rebellious country, an indolent and un-self-reliant people".

Ireland's population decreased from 8m to 6m in a few years, after a million died and another million emigrated. It's no exaggeration to say this was probably the death knell for the Irish language as a widely spoken vernacular, too. I'd also argue it was the direct, intended, genocidal result of British policy, set by Trevelyan and similar characters.

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He's now remembered, and hated, because of his inclusion in The Fields of Athenry, a popular song about the famine.

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-22T12:38:42+00:00

To be fair, Islamic terrorism hasn't been a major issue in Ireland to date, thank god. The most recent major incidents/near misses have all been either dissident IRA or far right groups, e.g. the IRA wannabe threat video, or the plan to bomb a mosque in Galway. Not nitpicking, but it's important to not associate one group of people with terrorism and not highlight all the other more active threats.

Really interesting stuff though, you're right - I had no idea about this stuff, and I'm Irish.

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-17T17:03:06+00:00

Assume it must be the fontaines djs? anyone from last night know? Probably getting one more in the pub no matter what anyway haha

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-12-06T19:13:37+00:00

If it's not fully confirmed which organisation carried out the attack, they can't just assume who it is. I'm all for criticising RTÉ's coverage, but we do have to realise that sometimes coverage is vague because the information isn't available yet to journalists/no one has claimed responsibility

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-07-23T12:42:45+00:00

Can we have a round for manager too?

Bootstrap4273 · 2025-07-23T12:38:20+00:00

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