West brits

[Tankie]

So you are just trying to insult lads for no reason then Tankie?
You are some tool  and by your last post a bit of a hypocrite

its the board that voted LL was a west brit

[The Real Laoislad]

So you are just trying to insult lads for no reason then Tankie?
You are some tool  and by your last post a bit of a hypocrite

its the board that voted LL was a west brit

26 people voted out of 3346
You are a gobshite 
Btw you never answerd my question on the last page

[WeAreBlueWeAreWhite]

So you are just trying to insult lads for no reason then Tankie?
You are some tool  and by your last post a bit of a hypocrite

its the board that voted LL was a west brit

As Dr Kelso would say to JD.......are you a idiot?

[Aerlik]

biggest WB is EG.  In such denial about his nationality

[magickingdom]

Tankie why do you keep saying English this and English that as if it's some sort of insult? Are you telling me you avoid everything English ?
I always knew Dublin people as west Brits too it was always something that was said about Dublin people where I come from I dunno or don't care why but that's the way it is.
Btw what idiot thinks because a fella supports a team in sport from England is a west Brit?
Does that mean people who like American football are east yanks?

I have no problem with it....i just think its a joke when you have all these super Irish lads who hate everything about Britan (excluding soccer as 'its a good league', or shopping up the north 'as we are being rip off' down here)...me personally i watch rugby, golf, baseball, American football, champions leagues knock out soccer so not sure where that leaves me

i'm just like you tankie, i watch all the above plus gaa

[Tony Baloney]

biggest WB is EG.  In such denial about his nationality

I think it's clear he's a brit. You don't seem to have grasped the concept.

[magickingdom]

biggest WB is EG.  In such denial about his nationality

I think it's clear he's a brit. You don't seem to have grasped the concept.

or maybe its you tony :or is west brit a partionist concept now? the irony. . . i always thought it referred to anyone in ireland with a leaning/love/infatuation towards all things british. . belfast is west of britian

[Evil Genius]

biggest WB is EG.  In such denial about his nationality

What is it I have ever denied about my Nationality?

That I am Irish? - It's obvious from the moment I open my mouth.
That I am British? - It's on the Passport I carry every time I leave the country.
That I am European? - Both the land I was born and brought up in and the land where I have lived most of my adult life are firmly within the continent of Europe.

In fact, not only am I all three, but I am proud to be so.

I was reminded recently of a statement by the Belfast Poet John Hewitt, which addressed this very issue. It's not exactly how I would phrase it myself, but the general sentiment neatly reflects my own, particularly the last clause:

"I'm an Ulsterman, of planter stock. I was born in the island of Ireland, so secondarily I'm an Irishman. I was born in the British archipelago and English is my native tongue, so I am British. The British archipelago consists of offshore islands to the continent of Europe, so I'm European. This is my hierarchy of values and so far as I am concerned, anyone who omits one step in that sequence of values is falsifying the situation."

In fact, it seems to me that the only people "in denial" are those who, like yourself, would deny that there is more than one type of "Irishman", or that being an Irishman automatically excludes one from having any additional identifying characteristics.

Which, considering you are an Irishman who recently took out Australian* Nationality, marks you out as either being thick, confused, prejudiced, hypocritical, or some combination of the four.

* - Remind me again who your new Head of State is? 

[armaghniac]

I was born in the British archipelago and English is my native tongue, so I am British.

Are all persons in Ireland equally British then? Are people from the Isle of Man Irish given that they were born in the Irish sea?

[Rossfan]

What about the Gaels of Scotland who speak ár dteanga ársá álainn?( or their version of it anyway)

[Evil Genius]

I was born in the British archipelago and English is my native tongue, so I am British.

Are all persons in Ireland equally British then?

No, for two reasons. First, the majority of people in Ireland no longer qualify automatically for British Citizenship, as they did at the time of Hewitt's birth. Second, even those who do may renounce it.
All Hewitt was saying is that he embraced his own Britishness, being qualified both legally and geographically, and that no-one else had the right to deny him that.
And years after his death, there remain around one million Irish people who feel the same.

Are people from the Isle of Man Irish given that they were born in the Irish sea?

Oh dear, you are confused. Hewitt was British, because he was a British citizen, born in the British Isles, who embraced his Britishness.
He was also Irish, because he was born in Ireland.
By exactly the same reasoning, however, unless he also has Irish ancestry, a Manxman cannot claim to be Irish, since he will not have been born in Ireland.

P.S. If someone were "born in the Irish sea", perhaps that might make him/her a Merman/Mermaid? 

[Billys Boots]

Any Irish person who supports English soccer clubs should consider themselves a West Brit.

So, if I like Ajax does that make me an Orangeman?

[Evil Genius]

What about the Gaels of Scotland who speak ár dteanga ársá álainn?( or their version of it anyway)

(Assuming you mean Scots who speak Gallic) What about them?

Self-evidently, such people must be Scottish. However, since they will have been born in the United Kingdom, they will also be British, an identity which they may embrace or renounce.

Exactly the same applies eg to native Welsh-speakers.

Why do so many people on this Board seem to have a difficulty with the concept of Britishness/the UK? It is, quite simply, a Union of four Nations. My being Northern Irish also permits me to be British. However, my being British does not make me eg English, any more than it makes me Scottish or Welsh. Neither does it make eg a Scotsman English, a Welshman Scottish or an Englishman Northern Irish etc.

The majority of people in Northern Ireland also wish to be British, as do the respective majorities in England, Scotland and Wales. All four such nations manage this dual identity perfectly easily.

[brokencrossbar1]

Any Irish person who supports English soccer clubs should consider themselves a West Brit.

So, if I like Ajax does that make me an Orangeman?

Yes it does you dirty, sectarian, bowler hatted fool

[Billys Boots]

Any Irish person who supports English soccer clubs should consider themselves a West Brit.

So, if I like Ajax does that make me an Orangeman?

Yes it does you dirty, sectarian, bowler hatted fool

Just checking - thanks.