not2old

one thing to consider & I'm sure that you've thought of this as I would. If there was any slight chance that me or my family would be subjected to harm, physical, mental or racism then I would never & I mean NEVER live or venture to a place that that would happen. I don't care if we are children of God or that folks say 'come on over - you'll be OK' ... it'd be suffer the consequences.

A lot of folks are not tolerant, nor or certain places, cultures or groups ready to accept outsiders.

Ireland as you know is a small populated country of some 4 million + people 85% Catholic, mixed all other with 1% muslim population. Dublin being the capital and a university city would likely be more multicultural than other parts of Ireland.

Before ever emigrating or moving to a different part of the country that I live in even as your case going to Ireland, I would most definitely make a visit, even a couple more before making the leap of faith

Wild Goose Returns

Peaceful Greetings not2old

I am very well aware of what you say. I am Irish and know the Irish people. I know what they are capable of and some can be pretty bad. Like any people, they will be people. Their expression of this fact can vary. But generally speaking they are usually accepting of you unless they perceive you as a threat or anti-social in some way.

In the six counties, if you have one of the local brogues and they don't know you, they will try to discover your religion to determine if you are “one of them or one them or one of us.” If they decide you are not welcome in their immediate environment you will be told to get out. Refusal could be very costly in every sense.

In the 26 counties, especially in the rural areas, if the locals decide you are not to be trusted, anti-social, or a threat to local/individual interests, you will find yourself forced to pack your bags in a less forceful manner but nonetheless effectively.

In both cases it could be just your tough luck. Sometimes they will just not accept you irrespective of how Irish you are.

However, the fact that a person can now be targeted by ethnicity, specific dress code or skin colour adds a new dimension to social relations, for the good or bad, in the 32 counties of Ireland. This is a new social phenomena that is hardly a generation or so in the making.

I may understand the EU politico-social 'New World Order' reasons for thrusting this situation on Ireland, and may even oppose the motives of the power brokers who have organised this.

Nonetheless, an Irish family of mixed ethnicity will now inevitably bear the brunt of this deliberate socially engineered politically divisive ploy of saturating a nation with non-nationals. Even though the mixed family is staunch in its status as an Irish family with concern for the future success of the Irish nation.

Indeed I am even more cautious in making a decision to come and live in Ireland because I am Irish. Because I now that the Ireland of 2013 is a political construct not of the people's making. And because it is not of the people's making they react against it blindly. Frustrated, they lash out at the situation in knee-jerk fashion and cannot see the real enemy.

not2old

this goes for anywhere that you move to & as I posted up thread, 9 years since the last visit is a long time - things do change for the better or worse

Make the visit, see how it all goes & if its right for you - only then can you make the decision either way IMO.

goosegirl

One of the reasons why we are moving to Ireland is to get away from massive amounts of immigrants in Birmingham. We have found them to be increasingly aggressive when in "their area", rude and intolerable. I've got to be very honest and say I'm sick of it. We had a recent incident with charity workers walking through sparkhill (now a Muslim area with very little whites) & they were stoned & had vegetables thrown at them because they were not dressed appropriately. It's the UK-not Pakistan!!! People are not supposed to get stoned in the UK!!! They needed a police escort for the rest of the journey....
I take the attitude, you do as the Romans do when in another country. But that is the problem in the UK they don't which gets a lot of people's backs up. When I live in Ireland, I'm not interested in spouting off my faith or what not. People either couldn't give a toss what your religion is and the fact is Ireland is a catholic country-get used to it, whatever you are!
Live in harmony, integrate, pay for your own property and most of all pay for yourself. That's where England is going seriously wrong and why it's up the creek without a paddle. Too many immigrants sucking the system for what they can get & the politicians are doing nothing about it hardly. If I went to Pakistan,Africa or wherever I doubt if I could get a free house,welfare an so on. Someone please correct me if wrong because I'll move over there instead of Ireland. Then perhaps keep my savings in the bank instead of (hopefully) becoming self employed and buying a property. End of rant.

not2old

wow, do I sense that you are a tad upset? - good rant though to get it off your chest

Tolerance, peace & harmony is a virtue as long as you don't try to inflict your ideas on me or make me like you. To share this with you - in my street that I live of some 50 detached homes there are approx 70% of the homes occupied by non first language English speaking folks. In fact probably less than 25% in total I would guess are christians - but this is Toronto Canada one of the most civilized (with high homicide) multicultural places you could live in. It is strange for me going back to visit rural UK as I have done many times to see mostly white folks all speaking a common language.

That said, on another thread back in July you were discussing looking at & buying a place in Ireland & wouldn't pay a penny more than you felt was necessary. Hows it going with that - did you end up buying & do tell us your experience.

goosegirl

Yes, it's all going great thank you. House is up for sale with lots of interest. We've just come back from the Waterford area, Ireland & had a great time. Put an offer in on a house & looked at lots, so will have to wait and see. There are loads of property available though, so if we don't get this at the price we want there will be others. The scenery is just stunning. My advice to others would be there are plenty out there so don't rush even if you like a particular one. The estate agents/auctioneers will push you to get the max he can (quite obviously). It's quite the game but stick to your guns, its still in recession & they want to get the max for their clients. If you do like a property, talk to the neighbours!! We found out a lot of hidden info from the neighbours regarding this property we've put an offer in on, which could save you some heartache.
It's a great learning curve though & do loads of research. Also the citizens info centres are a great help with moving over to Ireland if you have any questions. They were brilliant with us.

IamStu

I lived in Ireland for four years. Cork and Galway. My experience was sweet and sour. Something I wish I realised before moving there was that for the Irish (generally), regardless of how nice a person you might be, it's just, and I quote "not cool to like the English"
A guy once asked me if I had a "light" for his cigarette, before I could answer in full, he said he didn't want a f#####g English light and walked away. I understand the history and have read a lot about it but what caused me to frown was that this guy was no older than 20! Now where does that come from...rhetorical. There were many other incidents during my time there and it is a complicated issue.
Complicated in the sense that by visiting the country to get an impression simply doesn't work. Only when you live, and especially work in Ireland are you open to the truth.
A guy working for me was from Africa. My assistant managers boyfriend came in one day and asked "where's the bloke with the fly's buzzing around his head?"
I could give you example after example but I must finish with this.
I met some of the most fantastic people, the country has it's issues but the memory that always sticks in my mind about Ireland, they know how to laugh and my goodness, they're some of the funniest people you will ever care to meet. Well worth the craic

not2old

you could have put any named XYZ country in place of Ireland & exactly the same things would likely happen - Spain, OZ, NZ, SA, Canada, USA, the Middle East, the Far East, South East Asia sub-continent to name a few, even if you were from a particular region of the UK moving to another part it'll likely happen. English to Wales or Scotland for example.

Let the "sweet" fond memories of Ireland stay with you forever

IamStu

I detect a level of resentment for my own experiences. The original poster was asking for honesty.
Your post is simply angry. Here's the truth. I could not and would not label a country with an unnecessary label of racist.
As a very young child, I lived in Johannesburg. Racism was so rife it would scare any normal human being out of their pants! It was back in the 70's during the apartheid era. As a family. we moved to Wolverhampton ... low and behold, racism was rife. My Mother moved to Australia and my Father moved to Canada. Your list has risen up from my view but buddy, get over yourself! Ireland, even in my knowledge and experience, is really 20 years behind and proud of it!
For your information, most of the memories are sour.,,

not2old

not at all.. me or my post "angry or resentment", I don't think so, but if it seemed to you that was what you interpreted from it, then I must apologize, for I was merely commenting on your post on what you expressed in post #22 ....

My experience was sweet and sour. Something I wish I realised before moving there was that for the Irish (generally), regardless of how nice a person you might be, it's just, and I quote "not cool to like the English"
A guy once asked me if I had a "light" for his cigarette, before I could answer in full, he said he didn't want a f#####g English light and walked away. I understand the history and have read a lot about it but what caused me to frown was that this guy was no older than 20! Now where does that come from...rhetorical. There were many other incidents during my time there and it is a complicated issue.A guy working for me was from Africa. My assistant managers boyfriend came in one day and asked "where's the bloke with the fly's buzzing around his head?" I could give you example after example but I must finish with this.

IamStu

Please accept my apology.
I have mistaken your comments. Sorry.
However I do believe Ireland is a racist country. I simply want the original poster to understand his taking. I can't compare the situation in SA in the 70's to that of Ireland, modern day. But, there is a serious issue.

goosegirl

We went in some local pubs to where we were staying (I mean local for the locals - they were very obvious pro republican!) & we were viewed with slight suspicion! One evening we went in and you could of heard a pin drop as soon as we walked in & asked for 2 pints of the black stuff (in English accents even though hubby is of Irish decent)! We both thought " We smiled at the folk & sat down. Folk started chatting again & the owner came over to chat to us. We introduced ourselves & said of our desire to live here & he was very friendly. We went again another night. We frequented (I'm not an alcoholic honestly) a fair few pubs and got to speak to the locals (of all ages - male & female) about property, living in Ireland, the general info, whats good/bad & got involved. Perhaps we were lucky but other than slight suspicion which you can get in any local pub anywhere in the world we never came across anyone that was rude to us......until we got back in the UK. Then you meet the general road rage, people shouting obscenities in the street,police sirens and so on. Even queuing in the Lidl checkout, a lady was singing in Waterford. I really did smile. In the UK, people are miserable half the time because of all the problems there is. Ireland won't be perfect but it seems a damn site more cheerful.

not2old

does the old expression still hold ...'when in Rome'

we have been away from the UK for 46 years, we've had many holidays back in the UK as well as lived or spent a considerable amount of medium to long periods in a few other countries, I have traveled for work to some of the weirdest places on this planet. Quickly learned to ignore the looks, comments, resentments, pokes & jabs etc.

My wife for some reason has lost (I would say) 90% of her English spoken twang, often when we were in other non-North American regions or other countries she was referred to as a Yank or 'which part of America are you from'. In NZ in the 80's listening to a radio talk show she called in on a contest - the radio guy said 'Oh, we have an American on the line' my wife was furious saying immediately that 'i'm English', the response back was 'well you sound American... chuckles she had to explain on live radio she had lived in Canada for over 15 years, hence the accent. Perception is a wonderful thing

Myself, well I guess I've lost about 25% of my original broad N.W accent (its much posher or softer now), maybe because I've watch too much Eastenders, Corrie, Crossroads, Emmerdale, Brookside, Ballykissangel ... you get the idea. Still today in Canada folks will ask me 'which part of Scotland or Ireland are you from'.. eh! what!.

Adaptability, there's nothing like it. Blend in, don't be quick to remark or criticize the locals or be a whinging pom or make remarks about 'back home, this that & the other' ... a smile & a nod will get you mileage.

I said to my wife that she with her Yankee/American sounding accent, she'd be far better off living in Ireland than in middle England, or was that little Britain ... what do you think?

In our local take out & eat in chip shop here, if someone who doesn't look the part walks in - everyone stirs at them, stops talking .... see it can happen anywhere

sickntired

I've been in Ireland 13 years now and there is no way I'd go back to any of those ghetto cities in the UK. You are right about the intolerant Muslims patrolling "their area". I just hope Ireland doesn't end up like it, but I suspect it will in another 20 years.

not2old

never say never - it could be sooner than that

A small populated country with a many sheep as there are humans has space for more of either ones. My suggestion is to increase the sheep population

An investment from China that'll employ one-million people (even 100,000) would quickly see folks from all over the map populate & pollute the place.

Keep Ireland the way it is for now so it doesn't attract attention, that way it'll remain a 'sleepy hollow', never to get spoiled. Its one of the last places that I have seen where the 'grass is truly greener'