Now that’s something I can agree with and it’s a very nice hypothetical!
Has the Northern Irish accent mellowed and generalized in recent years? I spoke to a woman in Ulster the other day and I couldn’t tell if she were Protestant or Catholic and, unlike Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, I had no desire to punch her in the mouth just listening to her. 
Hey they have lovely accents up there, ya hater. 
Ian Paisley is a bit of an outlier even as NI is concerned. And for years Adams spoke so awfully they didn’t allow him speak in his own voice on the telly or radio. I’m sure accents there, like most parts of the english speaking world have mellowed a bit over the years.
Knew a woman from Derry/Londonderry* with an accent and voice that could make time stand still. Unfortunately, she had a face that could stop a clock.
-
- Or is that Londonderry/Derry? I’d hate to pick sides, especially now that most everybody is playing nice and I no longer wish to nuke the fucking country from orbit because it annoyed me.
L’Derry is my preferred term. You wanted to nuke a country from orbit? Harsh.
It’s really called Ulster Day?
Sucks for the people in Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan.
I think that’s a term LC Strawhouse made up.
I thought that was because of a law banning the BBC from giving “terrorists”airtime.
There was a daft piece of legislation passed that meant that broadcasters could report the words of Gerry Adams, but not use recordings of Gerry Adams saying them. This lead to a boom in job opportunities for Irish voice-over actors. This whole idiocy was parodied quite nicely here:
(shrug) Northern Ireland, as a nation, was really annoying in the '70s and '80s, and when you have the nukes you sometimes feel a need to use them. It’s human nature.
Wow, dropzone. Quite the nice username-post combo there. Although it doesn’t sound like it’s a supply drop.
Looking back on it, the North American coverage of NI was utterly misleading in the 1980s, probably because of the Cold War influence on the news. I remember the NI conflict being presented as some simplistic battle between “rebels” and Margaret Thatcher’s soldiers from London. One could probably watch the news for ten years and not realize that the long standing majority unionist population in NI even existed.
Nah. I knew all that. I was just sick of it. That happened when you lived in Chicago, a home for plenty of old IRA wannabes. I wanted to kill the lot of them.
There was an outfit down the street that brought over Protestant and Catholic children for vacations in a place where the two groups got along. It doesn’t exist anymore. I hope it’s because it isn’t needed anymore.
A few years back I recall a news story out of NI about some sort of government water treatment scandal, or something, that was dominating the news. One person said something like, “Isn’t it grand? We’re finally a real country with real country problems!” Hardened cynic that I might be (but I’m not), quick with The Button that I might be (but I’m not), it brought a tear to this part-Irish mutt’s eye.
Oops sorry, i honestly thought you’d come up with that.
Nor that they had subjected the Catholic minority to second class nationhood.
I hope you’ll forgive some shameless whataboutery
Well what about it? What is your opinion of the article you posted?
No doubt people from all communities in the north suffered in the Troubles. It’s not something I’ve disputed or would wish to dispute.
I think it illustrates that neither group can be accused of living the high life over the other when you look at the context across the whole island. Even the border between NI/ROI is apparently somewhat porous, and those Prod farmers weren’t subjugating anybody.
Side note - the “Ulster-Scots language” is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen, I saw it on some NI government pamphlets and was giggling like a little kid the rest of the day.
Oh. Politics.
Not clothing.
Carry on.