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Well despite my thick skin and willingness to put up with your comments, you are starting to get a little personal in your posting style. May I suggest you reign it in a bit when addressing fellow posters, as not all of them are going to put up with it like I do. Sooner or later someone will take enough "offence" and complain about it depending on the topic and how personal you make it.
As to basing my education level based on my knowledge (or lack thereof) on soccer, that says more about you than I.
[If I were to assume you didn't know much about baseball, your lack on knowledge/interest would hardly say anything about your education]
Frankly I cannot stand the game, find it to be one of the most boring things to watch, and never understood the passion many fans have for it.
Sure you have fanatics in any sport, but burning down stadiums, riots, etc. is beyond the pale.
So when I ask a question as it relates to how teams are segregated by regions (instead of presumably all playing together as one nation in a national competition), it has nothing to do with my overall education level.
Heck if anything, you and other soccer nuts should be happy any American is taking an interest.
[Note how Ulsterman took the time to answer my question without any demeaning commentary]
It also relates to the subject of this thread because posters like you want to make it seem as if everything is peachy, and the Irish should be grateful in some fashion.
Clearly flying the flags of other far off countries (who are going to play against England) shows modern day animus of the Irish toward the English/British.
I guess you believe there are no boycotts of English/British products by the Irish, if you assume my analogy of Jews not buying German products is a poor comparison. Yet as is customary on this subject, you will make comments like this, only to be proven wrong.
As to you using the term expert, I am certain I have never claimed to be such. However I have pointed out how you trying to wear that mantle is not fitting. This despite your proclaimed credentials of having a home in Ireland and an Irish wife.
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Keep digging pal - never has a Plastic Paddy sobriquet been more appropriate.
I asked a Jewish friend of mine if he had second thoughts about buying his 7-Series BMW because of what happened in the Second World War and he laughed his head off.
When I told him an American thought this his reply was " well,they were dumb enough to vote in George W.Bush twice and then Donald Trump so what do you expect. "
And I'm popping down to my local soon so I'll be asking my drinking buddies whether they're boycotting Guinness because it's British-owned or not watching British TV channels tonight or not shopping for British food in the shops tomorrow or not supporting British football teams when the new season starts in a few weeks time.
The more you post nonsense about things you clearly know nothing about the more it says about you.
By the way,when DID you last visit Ireland ?
Keep digging pal - never has a Plastic Paddy sobriquet been more appropriate.
I asked a Jewish friend of mine if he had second thoughts about buying his 7-Series BMW because of what happened in the Second World War and he laughed his head off.
When I told him an American thought this his reply was " well,they were dumb enough to vote in George W.Bush twice and then Donald Trump so what do you expect. "
And I'm popping down to my local soon so I'll be asking my drinking buddies whether they're boycotting Guinness because it's British-owned or not watching British TV channels tonight or not shopping for British food in the shops tomorrow or not supporting British football teams when the new season starts in a few weeks time.
The more you post nonsense about things you clearly know nothing about the more it says about you.
By the way,when DID you last visit Ireland ?
Wow you have one Jewish friend and he thought something absurd?
Hold the presses, we have a definitive answer based on this scientific and exhausting survey.
Rest assured I know many more Jewish people than you, as I live in an area where there is a heavy concentration of them. Aside from my Jewish friends who are pretty much of the same mind, not all feel the same way (they are no more monolithic than other groups), yet a fair number of them have resentment toward the Germans. Some take it to another level (especially older Jews) by refusing to ever buy anything German made.
You can believe this or not (despite your aforementioned example), but rest assured it is true. I also mentioned how some older Americans will not buy Japanese products, which use to make their attempts to buy TV's and most electronics a difficult task.
However, what is most important to this thread is whether the Irish (which you seem to think you are the expert on) boycott British products or not. I find it funny how you mentioned Guinness, because many people do not realize it is now part of a British conglomerate named Diageo. As are other Irish brands of booze.
Yes, many a person couldn't care less about where the products they buy come from. Yet some do, and they are obviously conscious of it for a reason. Thus the Irish that refuse to buy British products have their reasons.
Or do you deny this to be the case (maybe because your Irish wife or one of your Irish acquaintances scoffs at such a notion)?
I will be happy to answer your question about my last visit to Ireland, provided you answer mine first. You have an tendency to expect answers, but not give them.
Wow you have one Jewish friend and he thought something absurd?
Hold the presses, we have a definitive answer based on this scientific and exhausting survey.
Rest assured I know many more Jewish people than you, as I live in an area where there is a heavy concentration of them. Aside from my Jewish friends who are pretty much of the same mind, not all feel the same way (they are no more monolithic than other groups), yet a fair number of them have resentment toward the Germans. Some take it to another level (especially older Jews) by refusing to ever buy anything German made.
You can believe this or not (despite your aforementioned example), but rest assured it is true. I also mentioned how some older Americans will not buy Japanese products, which use to make their attempts to buy TV's and most electronics a difficult task.
However, what is most important to this thread is whether the Irish (which you seem to think you are the expert on) boycott British products or not. I find it funny how you mentioned Guinness, because many people do not realize it is now part of a British conglomerate named Diageo. As are other Irish brands of booze.
Yes, many a person couldn't care less about where the products they buy come from. Yet some do, and they are obviously conscious of it for a reason. Thus the Irish that refuse to buy British products have their reasons.
Or do you deny this to be the case (maybe because your Irish wife or one of your Irish acquaintances scoffs at such a notion)?
I will be happy to answer your question about my last visit to Ireland, provided you answer mine first. You have an tendency to expect answers, but not give them.
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In all my years living in and coming to Ireland I have never met a single person who has refused to buy something because it was British.
Indeed,when the currency fluctuates in the right direction there's a huge amount of Irish traffic heading across the border into the North to buy British.
Like your absurd notion of Jewish people not buying German goods or Irish people hating the British you're spouting outdated cliches that make you come across as a bigoted fool.
So, as to your expertise, tell me all about your many visits to Ireland which make you such an " expert ."
In all my years living in and coming to Ireland I have never met a single person who has refused to buy something because it was British.
Indeed,when the currency fluctuates in the right direction there's a huge amount of Irish traffic heading across the border into the North to buy British.
Like your absurd notion of Jewish people not buying German goods or Irish people hating the British you're spouting outdated cliches that make you come across as a bigoted fool.
So, as to your expertise, tell me all about your many visits to Ireland which make you such an " expert ."
You are in rare form today, so maybe you should take your BP meds, as you are getting too worked up.
For example, when I point out how some people boycott products, that does not mean I am boycotting them myself. So don't even try to project a factual discussion onto me personally by claiming I am coming across as a bigot.
[NOTE - I find it amusing how people who are capable/guilty of things themselves often accuse others of it]
As I pointed out, SOME people do it, but in your black & white world view, either everyone does it, or no one does.
Life does not work that way, and while there can always be an outlier or exception, we are not talking about such, rather concerted efforts.
As to my last visit to Ireland, it was just a few years ago. When I go, I make it a 10 day - two week trip and visit both the north & south. I missed going on a pub crawl in March, and am looking forward to getting over in the next few months. Maybe I can rent your 2nd home, depending on what city/county it is located in?
This entire article speaks to the deadlock and intransigence of how the GFA is withering on the vine while the DUP & SF cannot get their acts together. Here is an excerpt;
Since February 2017, the politics and politicians of the British-ruled province have been deadlocked over forming a power-sharing executive, and London has abjectly failed in its responsibilities to get the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) — the largest on the Loyalist or Unionist side — and Sinn Fein — the largest on the nationalist or republican side — back to work or indeed the negotiating table.
Assembly elections in March of 2017 didn’t break the deadlock, nor deadlines, threats and rounds of talks that ended in failure four months ago.
There is a sense too that the situation is not being helped by the fact that the Conservative party of UK Prime Minister Theresa May, as fractured and as fragile as it is, is only clinging to power through a confidence and supply arrangement from the DUP’s 10 Members of Parliament at Westminster.
And when it comes to Brexit, the DUP has no truck with any deal that might threaten UK or Northern Irish sovereignty in any deal over the border with the EU and Dublin.
The DUP and Sinn Fein aside, the three other parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Social Democratic Labour Party, the Ulster Unionists and the cross-community Alliance party, just want to get back to work at Stormont.
For people in the province there, they face the ugly reality of being caught between two competing power vacuums.
In Stormont, Sinn Fein and the DUP can’t agree on a joint mandate for a new power-sharing arrangement, and both sides are hung up over a language rights’ act that would give Gaelic speakers — a dialect spoken fluently by about 1 per cent of the population — the same legal footing as English.
As I had correctly pointed out (despite denial/derision from a certain poster), issues like language are now front and center as to why Stormont is not up and running. To some on the Nationalist side it is important, but should not keep them from getting back to work. The same is true of the DUP with their issues.
You are in rare form today, so maybe you should take your BP meds, as you are getting too worked up.
For example, when I point out how some people boycott products, that does not mean I am boycotting them myself. So don't even try to project a factual discussion onto me personally by claiming I am coming across as a bigot.
[NOTE - I find it amusing how people who are capable/guilty of things themselves often accuse others of it]
As I pointed out, SOME people do it, but in your black & white world view, either everyone does it, or no one does.
Life does not work that way, and while there can always be an outlier or exception, we are not talking about such, rather concerted efforts.
As to my last visit to Ireland, it was just a few years ago. When I go, I make it a 10 day - two week trip and visit both the north & south. I missed going on a pub crawl in March, and am looking forward to getting over in the next few months. Maybe I can rent your 2nd home, depending on what city/county it is located in?
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" Just a few years ago "
Care to be a bit more precise than that ?
" Just a few years ago "
Care to be a bit more precise than that ?
Well I guess I could look it up, as I travel often and do not typically take account of the exact year. I'd say as recent as 2016 or 2015, as I also went to Hawaii before or after. Fortunately I am blessed with the ability to travel a few times per year, and really enjoy returning to places with great people. Ireland fits that bill perfectly, and I have found both the north and south full of friendly decent people.
If Ireland was as tropical as Hawaii, I'd go every couple of years like I do to HI.
Now, where is your home on the island?
Not the exact address of course, just the city/county.
Well I guess I could look it up, as I travel often and do not typically take account of the exact year. I'd say as recent as 2016 or 2015, as I also went to Hawaii before or after. Fortunately I am blessed with the ability to travel a few times per year, and really enjoy returning to places with great people. Ireland fits that bill perfectly, and I have found both the north and south full of friendly decent people.
If Ireland was as tropical as Hawaii, I'd go every couple of years like I do to HI.
Now, where is your home on the island?
Not the exact address of course, just the city/county.
Could you be a little more vague?
You my not rent out your home like I suggested, but I do use VRBO as a means of staying out of hotels when traveling through smaller towns.
As to the specifics of which year it was between 2015-16, why is that important to you? I plan on getting back this year or next, but again, why would that make a difference.
Suffice to say I have visited both the north and south, as I suspect you have. Sure I have gone the typical tourist route, but I also enjoy going into small towns to experience local culture as well.
This makes neither of us experts, nor does it make Ulsterman one despite living in NI.
But as I pointed out, he, Irish Bob, and a few other regulars in this thread have skin in the game. Assuming you live somewhere in the UK, then you at least pay for some of what occurs in NI with your taxes. However many a Brit seems ambivalent to what happens with NI, and many would prefer not to have the burden.
As Ulsterman has said in previous posts, they are alone in many ways.
I have heard other Unionists say they are almost like an unwanted stepchild.
Yet they seem more British in a prideful sense than many mainland Brits, whose English roots goes back hundreds of years.
That still remains a mystery to me, especially when you go into a lodge or Loyalist area where homage is paid to the crown in pictures, decorations, etc.
If I recall correctly the Garden of Remembrance was one such place.
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