Are the upper echelons of Irish Society Royalists at Heart?

[haveaharp]

Lads it is symptomatic of the Pop Idol, Corrie watching Sun reading, Chelsea supporting(insert team), Indian takeaway eating attitude that has been evident in this country for years.  Lets have it out in the open, we lost our sense of Irishness, as a nation, a long, long time ago.  People spout off about the West Brit/Blueshit when someone disagrees with a republican viewpoint.  The reality is that unfortunately the notion of True Republicanism is long dead and lying in the Garden of Remembrance.  We all look East for a lot of our entertainment/news/jobs and we have become, understandibly so, very reliant on Britain.  This has gnawed away at our identity gradually and will continue to do so.  The one thing we have is the GAA and no one can really touch it or compare to it and perhaps it is the last bastion of "irishness", even more so than our own language. The concern though is even it seems to be losing its way as well with the gagging by the President against anyone else speaking about the QUeen's visit.  Freedom of speech so long as it doesn't offend I reckon in the last 15 years there are more native Polish speaking people in Ireland than there is Irish speaking. We have allowed our essence to de chipped away and in many ways the forelock tugging by the "great and good" of the last week has put a final nail in that coffin.

Nothing wrong with an Indian takeway. Would ye have us all eating bacon and cabbage everynight before the dance at the crossroads.

[paco]

A friend described the royals, quite articulately, as Paris Hilton (and her ilk) on steroids.

[Rossfan]

Have to say I have been taken aback by the number of fawning monarchists on show this week. Where were these folks educated? Obviously not in a CBS  My own approach is that she is the head of state of our nearest neighbour and as such should be afforded all the normal protocols and priviledges that would be extended to any visiting leader. I also recognise our unique, and unfortunate, history together and that this is another step in a democratic process that started with the Anglo-Irish agreement and was further cemeted by the GFA. However I have no doings with monarchial systems, or privliedge bestowed by accident of birth and as such have had little or no interest in her as a person,................ the views being espoused through the media and around the world that Irish people are some how overjoyed with the visit is at best manufactured. No ordinary citizens have got within an asses roar of her.

Sums up my position very well too.
Despite all the gushing sh1te  the pictures of Black jeep speeding along empty streets certainly wasn't very impressive.

[Orior]

I agree with the sentiment of the thread. There was even a comment in one of the northern papers yesterday from someone complaining that Enda Kenny made the Queen walk across the room to shake his shand. How dare he, lol.

We also get a lot of grief from people making out that we're bigots cause we dont swoon.

[Capt Pat]

A lot of them certainly have their heads up their arses. What a crock of shit this visit was. She was completely unwelcome here. Look at the security they had to put on. They had Gardai out guarding the sheep in the fields in Tipperary this morning to make sure there was no trouble from them. A made for tv visit with every step she took stage managed.

What a waste of money it was as well at this time. They are going to throw a state funeral for Fitzgerald now as well to throw money away.

[brokencrossbar1]

Lads it is symptomatic of the Pop Idol, Corrie watching Sun reading, Chelsea supporting(insert team), Indian takeaway eating attitude that has been evident in this country for years.  Lets have it out in the open, we lost our sense of Irishness, as a nation, a long, long time ago.  People spout off about the West Brit/Blueshit when someone disagrees with a republican viewpoint.  The reality is that unfortunately the notion of True Republicanism is long dead and lying in the Garden of Remembrance.  We all look East for a lot of our entertainment/news/jobs and we have become, understandibly so, very reliant on Britain.  This has gnawed away at our identity gradually and will continue to do so.  The one thing we have is the GAA and no one can really touch it or compare to it and perhaps it is the last bastion of "irishness", even more so than our own language. The concern though is even it seems to be losing its way as well with the gagging by the President against anyone else speaking about the QUeen's visit.  Freedom of speech so long as it doesn't offend I reckon in the last 15 years there are more native Polish speaking people in Ireland than there is Irish speaking. We have allowed our essence to de chipped away and in many ways the forelock tugging by the "great and good" of the last week has put a final nail in that coffin.

Nothing wrong with an Indian takeway. Would ye have us all eating bacon and cabbage everynight before the dance at the crossroads.

Indian is simply soup with a lump of chicken floating in it!  When I was out drinking we never had an Indian we always had a traditional curry chip to soak up the pints The point I am making is that there has been a general anglicanisation of our society over here and it is irreversible. 

[AZOffaly]

I think it's broader than that BC. Sure we've had Anglican influences, and that's only natural. I think the more recent erosion of our erstwhile identity comes from the West though, and the general global homogenisation of the whole world. We are caught between 2 hugely influential players in the English Speaking world in the USA and UK, so it's only natural (if a pity) that many of the worst excesses are now apparent in our own country.

Which is why we should celebrate our language, our music, our games and our history as much as we can, so that it doesn't die off under this pressure. For what it's worth, I still feel as Irish as I ever did

[Banana Man]

Lads it is symptomatic of the Pop Idol, Corrie watching Sun reading, Chelsea supporting(insert team), Indian takeaway eating attitude that has been evident in this country for years.  Lets have it out in the open, we lost our sense of Irishness, as a nation, a long, long time ago.  People spout off about the West Brit/Blueshit when someone disagrees with a republican viewpoint.  The reality is that unfortunately the notion of True Republicanism is long dead and lying in the Garden of Remembrance.  We all look East for a lot of our entertainment/news/jobs and we have become, understandibly so, very reliant on Britain.  This has gnawed away at our identity gradually and will continue to do so.  The one thing we have is the GAA and no one can really touch it or compare to it and perhaps it is the last bastion of "irishness", even more so than our own language. The concern though is even it seems to be losing its way as well with the gagging by the President against anyone else speaking about the QUeen's visit.  Freedom of speech so long as it doesn't offend I reckon in the last 15 years there are more native Polish speaking people in Ireland than there is Irish speaking. We have allowed our essence to de chipped away and in many ways the forelock tugging by the "great and good" of the last week has put a final nail in that coffin.

Nothing wrong with an Indian takeway. Would ye have us all eating bacon and cabbage everynight before the dance at the crossroads.

Hold on that's not what BCB is saying, he is pointing out that we have become completely anglicised in our thinking due to the saturation of British entertainment and media that we have to constantly face.

On a monday lads in work talk about soccer teams as if we were from those industrial towns in the north of England - e.g. if UTD scraped a win in the last minute i have heard ''you's were lucky last night'' - as if the person was at the game, a member of the club, a member of that local community etc

we have become an offshore island no different than the shetlands as far as i can see, that's BCB's point.

Old Ireland is dead and gone and it's gone that long it's too old to lament, ironic the day we realise this that Lizzie Windsor is standing at a statue of the Children of Lir.

[thejuice]

I'd have to agree with Brokencrossbar. Which is a pity as we have cultural connections to other places but for some reason people feel that the queen of england taking an interest in us somehow validates our existence.

[haveaharp]

Lads it is symptomatic of the Pop Idol, Corrie watching Sun reading, Chelsea supporting(insert team), Indian takeaway eating attitude that has been evident in this country for years.  Lets have it out in the open, we lost our sense of Irishness, as a nation, a long, long time ago.  People spout off about the West Brit/Blueshit when someone disagrees with a republican viewpoint.  The reality is that unfortunately the notion of True Republicanism is long dead and lying in the Garden of Remembrance.  We all look East for a lot of our entertainment/news/jobs and we have become, understandibly so, very reliant on Britain.  This has gnawed away at our identity gradually and will continue to do so.  The one thing we have is the GAA and no one can really touch it or compare to it and perhaps it is the last bastion of "irishness", even more so than our own language. The concern though is even it seems to be losing its way as well with the gagging by the President against anyone else speaking about the QUeen's visit.  Freedom of speech so long as it doesn't offend I reckon in the last 15 years there are more native Polish speaking people in Ireland than there is Irish speaking. We have allowed our essence to de chipped away and in many ways the forelock tugging by the "great and good" of the last week has put a final nail in that coffin.

Nothing wrong with an Indian takeway. Would ye have us all eating bacon and cabbage everynight before the dance at the crossroads.

Indian is simply soup with a lump of chicken floating in it!  When I was out drinking we never had an Indian we always had a traditional curry chip to soak up the pints The point I am making is that there has been a general anglicanisation of our society over here and it is irreversible.

And where did the curry for the curry chip come from? I get your point and its true, it could also be called globalisation or Americanisation

[AQMP]

I agree with the sentiment of the thread. There was even a comment in one of the northern papers yesterday from someone complaining that Enda Kenny made the Queen walk across the room to shake his shand. How dare he, lol.

We also get a lot of grief from people making out that we're bigots cause we dont swoon.

No need for that sort of thing, Inda!

[brokencrossbar1]

I think it's broader than that BC. Sure we've had Anglican influences, and that's only natural. I think the more recent erosion of our erstwhile identity comes from the West though, and the general global homogenisation of the whole world. We are caught between 2 hugely influential players in the English Speaking world in the USA and UK, so it's only natural (if a pity) that many of the worst excesses are now apparent in our own country.

Which is why we should celebrate our language, our music, our games and our history as much as we can, so that it doesn't die off under this pressure. For what it's worth, I still feel as Irish as I ever did

There obviously is the influence of the US but I feel there is a greater and more obvious hangover from Britain.  I don't expect people to live in thatched cottages and have all the girls dressed in Irish dancing dresses and all the lads playing nothing but hurling or football(well maybe the last bit alright )  but I do expect people to have a bit more pride in their own identity.  In our drive to become accepted as a country in the New World we have aped so many other countries that we are now a caricature of a country.  Time to go and get a mocha and read Hello, slingback-tastic

[johnneycool]

Have to say I have been taken aback by the number of fawning monarchists on show this week. Where were these folks educated? Obviously not in a CBS  My own approach is that she is the head of state of our nearest neighbour and as such should be afforded all the normal protocols and priviledges that would be extended to any visiting leader. I also recognise our unique, and unfortunate, history together and that this is another step in a democratic process that started with the Anglo-Irish agreement and was further cemeted by the GFA. However I have no doings with monarchial systems, or privliedge bestowed by accident of birth and as such have had little or no interest in her as a person,................ the views being espoused through the media and around the world that Irish people are some how overjoyed with the visit is at best manufactured. No ordinary citizens have got within an asses roar of her.

Sums up my position very well too.
Despite all the gushing sh1te  the pictures of Black jeep speeding along empty streets certainly wasn't very impressive.

Certainly choreographed right down to the smallest detail, but I'm not surprised in the slightest. The ruling classes in the south seem to think they're entitled to some form of privilege over the masses as much as the British landlords ever were.

In 1922 one class system was replaced by another, simple as.

did Liz not get to press some commoner flesh down in Cashel? Pity she didn't get to see the toothy grim of Cormac Bonnar.

[AQMP]

I think it's broader than that BC. Sure we've had Anglican influences, and that's only natural. I think the more recent erosion of our erstwhile identity comes from the West though, and the general global homogenisation of the whole world. We are caught between 2 hugely influential players in the English Speaking world in the USA and UK, so it's only natural (if a pity) that many of the worst excesses are now apparent in our own country.

Which is why we should celebrate our language, our music, our games and our history as much as we can, so that it doesn't die off under this pressure. For what it's worth, I still feel as Irish as I ever did

There obviously is the influence of the US but I feel there is a greater and more obvious hangover from Britain.  I don't expect people to live in thatched cottages and have all the girls dressed in Irish dancing dresses and all the lads playing nothing but hurling or football(well maybe the last bit alright )  but I do expect people to have a bit more pride in their own identity.  In our drive to become accepted as a country in the New World we have aped so many other countries that we are now a caricature of a country.  Time to go and get a mocha and read Hello, slingback-tastic

Or get a bottle of porter and read the Press, sensible brogue-tastic

[thejuice]

I agree with the sentiment of the thread. There was even a comment in one of the northern papers yesterday from someone complaining that Enda Kenny made the Queen walk across the room to shake his shand. How dare he, lol.

We also get a lot of grief from people making out that we're bigots cause we dont swoon.

No need for that sort of thing, Inda!

that's the thing. Outside her realm she can get in the queue like everyone else. It's only that the politicians seem to love all the pomp as they probably are royalty in their own heads.