Dear Whiny Bitches,
How’ve you been? I am good. Let’s talk about that recent survey. You know the one? Recently something called the Good Country Index released a survey stating that Ireland was the “best” country in the world. Now, there’s a been a lot of confusion on this so first of all let’s just clarify that the survey was not necessarily the best place in the world to live, the survey was actually trying to measure which countries contribute most to the welfare of humanity (in stuff like global aid, peace-keeping, diplomacy, fighting climate change and so on) and which countries are dragging everyone else down. Now, I’ll admit I was surprised that we got the number one spot, not stunned, but surprised. But sure, we do give a lot of money to overseas aid and we’ve been involved in UN Peacekeeping missions since the early sixties so fine, okay, I don’t think we’re a crazy choice. Let’s talk about crazy, though.
Specifically, let’s talk about your reaction to this news and the perception that Ireland has been deemed the “best” country in the world to live (prosperity, equality, health and wellbeing were all criteria so it’s not exactly inaccurate). The prevailing reaction has been incredulence. And that’s fine, that’s human nature. Any country would react the same. If you told the inhabitants of Narnia that their magical wonderland had been voted the greatest place in existence to live they’d look at you askance and say “What, this dump?”
“I mean, look at this shithole.”
But from a lot of you there’s been something a bit stronger, something close to rage. Apparently the the company that carried out this survey has been flooded with angry emails from Irish people expressing their outrage that they had DARED to suggest that Ireland is actually a pretty groovy place to spend eighty or ninety years. Now, do I think that Ireland is the greatest country on earth? Probably not. I’d say it’s probably one of the Scandies or Canada as they usually top these kinds of surveys in HDI, Quality of Life etc. But here’s the thing, in those same surveys, Ireland is usually right up there in the top ten. So this result is not really an outlier as some have suggested. It’s like the World Cup. Brazil may be the best team in the world but they don’t win every single time. But, dear whiny bitches, your insistence on reacting to this news like the compilers of the survey pissed on your mother’s grave has brought me to this conclusion.
I am going to smack you.
Like, all of you.
All 4.6 million of you.
I am going to go door to door, county to county, starting with Carlow and finishing with Wexford, and slap every last one of you.
Why?
Because your outrage and tutting and bellyaching over this actually makes me physically nauseous. Let me explain why.
See this?
This is Earth in 2014. There has literally never been a better time and place to be a living human. Our species is healthier, living longer, killing each other with less frequency than at any other time in our history. Also, we have a genuine no-foolin’ internet.
See this?
This is Western Europe. It is literally the greatest place on Earth to live in this, the greatest era of history to live (there’s some Russia in this picture, just ignore that part). This is not subjective. People live longer, happier, healthier lives here than anywhere else on Earth.
See this?
Gasp! It’s hideous!
This is where you live. Let’s review.
You live in a liberal democracy in the most prosperous continent on earth. Your media is free and open, and your elections are fair. No later than April 2016 you will got the polls and vote. The current government may lose and if they do they will pack up and go home without a single shot being fired. Your country has literally no enemies. You will never have to go to war. You will never starve to death. You live in a nation that has one of the richest literary traditions on earth and a long, vibrant, endlessly fascinating history. Also, the scenery’s kinda nice, right?
“Jeez, look at this shithole.”
If you were to take every human being who has ever lived and rank them from most to least fortunate, simply by dint of being born in this country, in this time, you would be in the top billionth of a percent. Which is why, dear whiny bitches, when you become outraged that someone has tried to tell you that you actually have it pretty good, you are displaying a cognitive dissonance that borders on the obscene.
You really have no idea, do you? Little game for you.
Pick a country at random. Pick any year in the last two millennia. Read up on what was going on in that country at that time and tell me if you’d rather live there or here. We can play all day.
My point is not that Ireland is the greatest country on Earth. My point is that if it’s not it’s close enough as makes no odds. And you know what one of the best things about is? You, whiny bitches. The Irish people. You’re wonderful. Everyone says so. Everyone I know who has visited this country has remarked on how friendly, open, warm, welcoming, funny and fundamentally decent the Irish people are, you miserable fucks. You make this country a wonderful place to live and I love you, you utter cunts.
And before you start, yes, thank you, I am aware that the country is not perfect. I know that there are problems and we shouldn’t ignore them and just pretend that everything’s hunky dory. But this…this has got to stop. It was fine during the famine, or the troubles, or even most of the twentieth century. There was plenty to complain about then. But by pretending that we are living in some kind of third world dystopia is hugely offensive to the billions of people worldwide who still, even in the twenty first century, deal with real, horrendous hardship. It’s fucking disgusting quite frankly. It’s like Donald Trump saying to a homeless man “You think you have it bad, I’ve got an itchy foot!”
“But Mouse what about the crash?”
The crash happened to everyone and we’ve come out of it better than a whole lot of countries. The republic still stands, we didn’t vote in any Nazis and the economy is coming out of the woods.
“But Mouse, what about our sclerotic political system?”
Please, tell an American how bad our political system is, they could probably use a chuckle.
“But Mouse, what about…”
STOP. Unless there’s been an ebola outbreak in Killybegs that no one’s told me about my point still stands. And you know what, if you want to take a minute to look around you, take a deep breath and say “You know what? This place ain’t so bad.” I promise it won’t hurt.
You may now leave your angry comment below. Go on. It’s a free country.
And it’s also pretty awesome.
unshavedmouse 
*pats* If it helps, it’s a common phenomenon. My mother (who grew up in post-war Germany) has even a word for it: “Suffering on a high level/niveau” (doesn’t really translate well, but basically means “complaining about stuff over people would wish to worry about”).
Homer Simpson was right. You Germans have a word for EVERYTHING.
Well, it is more a saying in this case, but yes, more or less. There is a lot to love about the snappiness of English or the soft tones of French, but neither language allows you to play as nicely with it as German.
Would the nearest modern English equivalent be “first world problems”?
Also, does any language have a word for that beautiful rippling effect that light makes underwater? I want to know that word. (And possibly date that word, but introductions are needed first.)
“Dappling”?
Yep….that’s a good translation.
Though it doesn’t really contain the process of whining in it….
You mean “gebrochenes Licht” (refracted light) or do you mean a special effect caused by it?
Hmm, possibly “dappling.”
The first 45 seconds was the closest I could find to what I was trying to describe (and in Mouse’s honor, it’s based on a Disney movie):
In America we just call those people making ‘first world problem’ statement by a name:douche’bags.
What I wanna know is what department unshavedmouse works in.
You’ve rumbled me. I’m the Taoiseach.
the department of whining about whining
Ah, you must be our liason from the department of whining about whining about whining. Take a seat, we’re about to get started.
But how can anyone be sad when their country is shaped like a chubby parrot?
Which will now be my response to everyone.
You have made me love my country more than ever, Unshaved started it off but you’ve really closed that chapter!
Always thought it looked more like a teddy bear. Either way it’s a good deal!
Yeah, I think the parrot is turning its head over its shoulder. Teddy bear is a better fit though.
Well, this is certainly amusing.
I don’t know much about Ireland, in fact, you’re the only Ireland…er (god) I know, Neil (great first impression btw)…but you seem like pretty nice people. Perhaps you’re just being modest.
The same thing would happen if Canada “won” the survey. All the apologies would get old real fast.
By the way man, did you know they’re working on a Pacific Rim animated series? Well, and a sequel. And a new comic. And more merchandising… … …they really want to turn PR into a big thing.
And I am just fine with that.
Ireland is awesome! So is Canada!
They’re better than Arizona that’s for sure… (I’m not trying to suggest that Arizona is an anarchic shithole with people being massacred by warlords every five minutes, but compared to the rest of the US… Yeah it kinda blows.)
But you have John McCain, and he speaks for the trees! (He’s a Lorax, right?)
Haha!
…
…
…
What are trees?
Wow. He kinda sucks at his job.
What do you expect from a guy that looks like an inflated Steve Martin?
Seriously. It’s uncanny.
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/3286818816/hCBC2C94E/
Jesus, it’s like he looked in a funhouse mirror.
It is so.
A reality we must deal with.
The line between actor and politician begins to blur, and the simple word “action” can either be the start of a scene, or the start of a war…
Sorry. I got a little carried away there.
“Senator McCain, how should we tackle teen alcoholism?”
“Bomb Iran.”
HAHAHAHA!!! That just made my day. XD
Fun story time about John McCain.
So as I’ve mentioned before, I am a baseball fan, specifically a Dodger fan. Last year, the Dodgers clinched their division by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks (who finished in 2nd place) in the Dbacks home stadium in Phoenix. Now the Dbacks had apparently asked the Dodgers not to come back out on the field to celebrate if they happened to clinch the division during the games in Phoenix. The Dodgers not only ended up ignoring this, they went into the outfield, climbed the centerfield fence, and started jumping and playing around in the pool they have out there for fans (why they have a pool in the first place is anyone’s guess). Well the Diamondbacks absolutely flipped out. Everyone involved with the team just started losing their minds about how disrespectful, childish, and immature it was. And when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Fans were tweeting about it just saying the stupidest stuff. And guess who just happens to be a Dbacks fan, that’s right, John McCain. He tweeted “No-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats! “The #Dodgers are idiots”” (tweet found in this article, he obviously since deleted it: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/arizona-senator-mccain-rips-dodgers-pool-party-article-1.1462842). Best part of the story though was the comeback by Brian Wilson (a player on the Dodgers who is, for lack of a better term, insane). He tweeted this “Senator McComplain knows a thing or two about coming in second and watching someone take a plunge in the pool (I mean poll) #POoLITICS” (https://twitter.com/BrianWilson38/statuses/381156906061950976).
So yeah, McCain is dumb
Hah! Zing.
This is good. It’s what I tell people here in Canada when they really get down to a good complain.
Thank you. I live in Guatemala and I can’t really put into words just how bad some of the regions are here. There are even some statistics that say that up to 50% of children are malnourished, and we have some of the highest murder rates in the world at 31 per 100,000 inhabitants. Even if Ireland is one of the lower countries to live in Western Europe, it doesn’t change the fact that people there live much, much better than many places in the world.
“You will never go to war.” – I touched wood for you 🙂 because that was some hardcore tempting fate there!
Yeah…the Russians may invade and replace me with a rodent of their own. Like…a hamster….
Have you come to kill me?
Not today mouse … I am working on taking over the London underground line by line but that blasted Skimbleshanks has depleted my troops *curses*..
I see your point though, it’s ridiculously unlikely and being in a country that doesn’t declare war helps make it more so. But in comparison to saying “it’s not going to rain”, it’s hardcore tempting of fate. And there’s still the back door to Britain bit, like in 1798, and Britain is quite likely to get in a fight again.
Sorry, 1799. If it had been 1798 things might have been different.
Bravo!!!!! Every word. Agree. Bravo!!!
Thanks!
Your point that rage was the wrong reaction to this news is of course sound analysis. I think the reason behind that rage is that we still have problems in this country, it’s very hard to change things in this country and news like this would give us a sense of complacency, at least among our Establishment figures.
As you’ve pointed out, we’ve done much better than other countries but that doesn’t mean we should be “happy” about our situation. Self-aware and grateful of our place in human history, yes. But being told we’re the best “Good Country” when there’s still so much dysfunction can feel jarring. And yes, you could consider our dysfunction mild compared to the terrible problems other countries face, but the danger is becoming complacent. The US have a horribly dysfunctional political system because the legislature stall everything. But ours is horribly dysfunctional because the civil service & executive ram through everything.
There’s stuff we need to change in this country and I know you weren’t suggesting otherwise. I also know that it should be reassuring to take stock of what we do have. But everything being relative it’s not hard to see why Irish people didn’t take this news well.
I would dispute your assessment that change is especially difficult in this country. If anything , the pace at which Irish society has changed in the last twenty years has been breathtaking.
The change of the last 20 years as you say, can hardly be described as positive? The Irishness of Ireland has been ruined by easy credit and incompetent political / financial management. The state has adopted an almost fascist approach to dissent, we could go through them, but I feel you’re too zoned in on your pitch here.
Yes. The change that has occurred in the last twenty years has been positive.
Here hear. 10 or more years ago, we loved hearing stuff like this, and were more ready to believe it then because, as well as the underlying positives most people seemed to be making out like bandits. Clearly, we have shedloads to be thankful for, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be angry when the elite tries to take the piss out of our good nature.
Well here is one Irish person who was very proud of us winning first place in the Good Country Index! I love this little country .. and I bang on about it all the time, just ask the poor feckers from the UK that I work with.
I agree. Plus, it’s the ‘goodest’ country, not the ‘best’ country 🙂
Yeah…really gives it about air of academic rigour.
Frankly I find this post to be annoying in the extreme. Essentially you’re saying the Ireland isn’t such a bad place to live…’ah sure, it’s grand’ etc.The distinction you make between living in Ireland now and living in different countries is disingenuous. The point is that Ireland could be a much, much better country in which to live. Imagine if we didn’t give our natural resources away for a song.How many schools could be properly built, how many hospitals could properly function? Imagine if our political system was not so utterly dysfunctional?. Imagine if bankers who clearly broke the law actually went to prison. Imagine.
I could go on, but the point is that complainers in Ireland are not whinging – they are people who take themselves seriously and don’t believe in the ‘ah sure it’ll be grand’ attitude. They expect to work hard and play by the rules, and they expect everyone else to also. instead what they get in return is people saying that they are whingers when in fact they have legitimate grievances.
OK Pk there really only is one question here.. What country given a free choice would you prefer to live in? Feel free to not answer this question and further critique the blog..
You ignored his point. He wouldn’t prefer to live anywhere else, but he’d like to make the very best of his country and not just *roll over like a good boy* and thank our special minders for not letting us starve. Your attitude is meaningless and redundant.
I appreciate your frustration but the point about comparing life in Ireland to other countries being disingenuous doesn’t hold water since that was exactly what this survey was doing. Comparing real countries to each other. Fanciful, alternate universe nations were ineligible. And if, as this survey pointed out, you restrict your comparison to countries that actually exist then yes, quality of life here is indeed very, very good relatively speaking. I understand that the tone of the post is quite aggressive (I was in a bit of a mood) but you can read about how shit the country is in any newspaper in the country. I simply felt that a counter view was in order.
So true.
A lot of people from other countries would say: I wish I had your problems.
Amen
While I agree with most of of your article and how ridiculous it is that people are complaining about the best Country thing, I don’t agree that people in this country who are suffering hardship from the crash can’t have a moan about it. Saying that someone can’t be sad because someone else might have it worse is like saying someone can’t be happy because someone might have it better. People in this country feel very hard done by and let down by their government. And a lot of people are living very close to the breadline, day by day. Saying that they can’t complain about it because other countries are worse is like saying to a depressed person ‘what have you got to be depressed about?’ you can’t compare people’s suffering. To the person going through it, it is the worst thing going on in their lives and very real to them.
I get that. And of course people have a right to complain. But sometimes to me it feels like that is all we do and that we never take the time to acknowledge the positive and I don’t think that’s healthy. If I gave the impression that was callous or indifferent to individual suffering then I apologise unreservedly. This was not addressed to anyone individual, but to the nation as a whole which really does have it better than virtually anywhere else.
pk: There is a big difference between constructive criticism, aimed at making real improvements in society, and whingeing. The authort of the original post, if I understand correctly, is hitting out at the pointless and destructive whingeing that so many Irish people engage in these days, and which engenders even more cyncicism among the populace.
The Irish media (well it’s primarily the Irish editions of British media if we’re honest about it) are themselves to blame for an awful lot of the cynicism, with their constant focusing in and dramatisation of minor issues (such as the ridiculous focus on Garth Brooks in the past few days). Irish media sites also need to engage in more moderation of their “comments” sections, as far too many of the comments consist of trite rants and curses. For example, on the Journal.ie the other day, there was a nice story about a minor engineering miracle constructed by the ESB in Wicklow 40 years ago (The Turlough Hill hydro-energy plant). Some nice lady commening on the story felt it was ok to call the staff at the plant a four-letter word beginning with “c”, just because they dared to hire some local band and have a small celebration (inside the plant itself mind you, not in a hired venue). It’s this sort of mindless, coarse and aggressive negativity that is so wrong, and it ultimately stifles the authorities from taking any risks, because they know they will be criticised for anything at all they do, and the bigger the project, the bigger the risk of the fallout, which could end their careers.
That all said, yes we need radical change in our political system and in the administration of justice etc. But for something to be done about these things, we need a media that is willing to support change, encourage debate, perhaps even advocate new ideas, and not simply try to find the fault – no matter how small – in every proposal ever made, thus stopping anything from happening.
Right on PK!
Incredulity surely?
No need to smack me .. I love Ireland … the people, the weather, the rain … and it made me happy to see we are the ‘nicest’ and we give the most to other global worldly causes … begrudgers are everywhere …well written post … go smack some people …
I just always thought we were lucky not to have earthquakes and the like, or hurricanes and stuff 🙂
No snakes or venomous spiders either.
@unshavedmouse awesome response to pk. You winneth the internet (well you have already, several times).
Poor old disingenuous is currently in a support group for abused words, accompanied by pretentious and mendacious.
I feel that Ireland has more problems than those mentioned here. I have often been asked by foreigners why Ireland has such high instance of child abuse,from religious,institutional,historical and current domestic.alcoholism and drug abuse are rampant as has been the case for years but more recently the escalating use of heroin is destroying our big cities and even rural communities.mental health problems are not properly treated in Ireland,leading to an unprecedented amount of suicides.there are far more people living on the poverty line than perhaps the author is aware of.these are problems which affect the Irish psyche,that is why “on paper” it’s not so bad
Yes,it could be worse,it could also be a lot better
I hope the poster will give the author more credit than that. My purpose with this post was not to deny that there are real, serious problems in Irish life. I want to address the crticism that by emphasizing the positive I’m “encouraging complacency”. I would actually argue the opposite; that by constantly focusing on the problems of this country and treating them as if they are especially and uniquely dire we forment a kind of national depression. Things are shite. They have always been shite. They will always be shite. I would argue that by taking the time to appreciate how much better things have gotten in the past twenty years we can put the problems that you mentioned in their proper mental space; as serious challenges that nonetheless can be overcome as so many other challenges (TB, religious intolerance, infant mortality) have been overcome. Things have gotten better. Things are getting better. Things will continue to get better.
I’ll have a plate of slaps ready for you mouse, the defiance of your “I’ll personally come around and slap whingers” stance is phenomenal.
A great piece. It should be mailed to each household.
Mmmm…delicious plate of slaps.
Yes but compared to other places on Earth, in Ireland you can get help for anything from different organisations. In my country if you even blink in the direction of mental health problem, you’re in the black list for life. You go for help to police, and get raped by them.
Jesus Christ.
It’s because we Irish have issues with “authority” in my humble opinion. Many claim it’s due to British colonisation for so long. It engendered a deep suspicion and mistrust of the authorities – in particular of politicans, which has been impossible to overcome. You don’t see that in Germany, France or most other places, except countries which were colonised.
Of course, it doesn’t help that we have a crazy political system that seems to attract many of the wrong sort of people to politics, and that, once elected, those people need to constantly pander to local issues in order to get re-elected, insteady of looking after the national interest. How many national parliamentarians in other countries are spotted writing to constituents about pot-holes. It’s ridiculous. That sort of thing should be left to Councillors, while TDs should be focused on national legislation and national issues. The only way to address this is through a mixed electoral system, like in Germany, New Zealand and many other places, where half the TDs would be elected from a list, put forward by the parties, and wouldn’t need to knock on doors and be quite so beholden to local politics. There would still be another half who would be directly elected, to ensure that national politicans in general don’t get too removed from issues of concern to the people at grass-roots level. It’s about striking a proper balance and at the moment, the balance is totally wrong.
The same would have happened if France was at the top of this ranking: we love to argue about everything. I don’t think that’s specific to Ireland.
Brilliantly written. A really great piece. Agree with every word, except possibly the line “Any country would react the same.” I think there are quite a few countries – I’d wager that the one I’m living in is one of them – who would just nod and agree and take the number-one spot as their due. Since I left Ireland many years ago I have heard so many Irish people – taxi drivers, strangers, friends, family – opine glumly that it’s a terrible place altogether and aren’t I lucky I got out? And I’m thinking about moving back? Jaysus, am I mad? Sure, the economy! And the job loss! And we have property tax now! Water meters. Cutbacks! And crappy government! Have you seen what you pay for a coffee? Or a pint? And there are scandals, and incompetence, and etc.
Yes, there are lots of flaws – lots and lots. But the things that people complain about are, by and large, not unique to Ireland. Property tax? Hahahaha. I likely pay six or seven times a year in tax on a small apartment what you pay on your actual house. The politicians are corrupt and useless? Well yes, but I live in America. If this was the World Cup of crappy government, it would be USA 7, Ireland 0. Unemployment? Housing bubble? Huge gap between rich and poor? Homelessness? Evil bankers? Thank you, we’re covered.
Things still need to get better in Ireland, things need to be fixed, fair enough. And I’m here, Ireland is there, and the grass is always greener. Literally. IT IS SO GREEN. It is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. And yes, whiny.
Again, great piece.
Thank you very much.
I’ll duck your slap, spring up and give you a hug.
If I were to use a simple balance of all the shit things that happen on a day to day in Ireland and all the good things, it would tip very much in favour of good.
And this scale would include 4.6 million whiners on the bad side.
How dare the world pay us a compliment.
We collectively need to learn how to take one, smile coquettishly and say thank you.
Ireland was declared the best country in the world by a pseudo science nonsense survey. This has annoyed the people who live in Ireland because it’s clearly not the best country in the world. Your response is “oh, would you rather live in Syria?” No, obviously, but France or Germany or America or Canada or pretty much any other Western country, as they’re all doing better. Your point that “things aren’t so bad” doesn’t make sense, as the survey is saying that things are the best in the world. It’s like giving a gold medal to someone who finished 7th in a marathon. Yes, sure, it’s an achievement to even run a marathon, but the gold medal should still go to the person who finished first.
It’s also grimly funny that the article linked below this one is “reflections on the death of Savita Halappanavar”. I read your piece on that, it obviously can’t hope to get the traffic as this “everything’s fine” article, but in it you say “an innocent woman has died a horrible death because we couldn’t bring ourselves to look this issue in the face”. That’s correct, so why do you now want to slap everyone who doesn’t think everything’s fine and dandy? Things don’t just get better magically, they get better because people confront the problems in society and solve them, they don’t ignore them. And 200 years ago I’m sure there were the same people saying things could be worse, why are you complaining? Also, it’s completely naive to think history only goes one way, that things can only get better. Things can get worse too, and blind optimism is as bad as apathy.
asad: I love your absolute confidence in the fact that the countries you mention are better than Ireland. Where is the evidence? While the methodology of the survey which was the subject of the original post can be questioned, at least there was one, and it was transparent and clear. You have not provided any support for your assertion that the US, for example, is better than Ireland. On many counts, including income inequality, homelessness, mortgage defaults etc. it’s a lot worse. As for France, ask the French man or woman on the street what they think, and more than 1 in 2 , judging by recent polls, will probably tell you that that their economy is screwed, the traditional French quality of life is under severe threat, immigration is ruining things etc. So you see, even a pseudo science survey is better than blithe generalisations.
Yes you’re a visionary. You’re the only one who thought people e mailing the group that completed the survey were morons and had little to do with their time. Why oh why can’t we all be as clever as you, ah well our ignorance is blissful for us I suppose. I await your presence on my doorstep.
Big love and thanks,
K
Yes, there is indeed a hierarchy. The person who wastes his time emailing, the person who wastes his time writing a post about the person who wastes his time emailing and lastly the person who comments on the post of the person who wasted his time writing about the person who wasted his time writing the email. And I have you pencilled in for four on Tuesday barring a wrist injury.
Great article well done I live here and your right we love to fuckink moan
Nothing wrong with a good moan, but there are limits.
I strongly disagree. The survey was about Ireland’s effect on the outside world and that’s fine, but the tone of this blog post – itself moaning, about moaning – is incredulous.
I think when we as a society have been forced to bail out private businesses to the tune of billions – and our government refuses to raise taxes on the richest, instead chooses to cut money from the blind and carers and puts the burden of the austerity on the most vulnerable in society – I think we are entitled to complain about Ireland.
We live in a country in which the Catholic Church continues to be shown to have wrought misery of hundreds of thousands of our people and yet they still run our schools and hospitals, and none of them are being brought to book over their crimes. We live in a country in which the crooks at Anglo walk free. We live in a country that claims to be neural and yet lets US war planes (including rendition flights) land in Shannon. And we live in a country in which our police force is so corrupt that when a whistleblower highlights their abuses of power, he is bullied and publicly called “disgusting”.
Yes, things can always be worse. We could be in Iraq or Syria or Egypt or Sudan. However, just because things could be worse does not mean we should not point out the things that are wrong here. The only way to actually improve things is to focus on what’s wrong and change them. Or, we could follow the tone of this blog post, say “ah sure, it’s grand, it could be worse” and nothing will ever get better.
@Conor: Most of the instiutions you mention deserve the criticism you heaped on them. But you see, the point is that the change is happening. Our system DOES allow change, and we will see major changes in how the Garda operate in future, for example; we will very shortly have new national legislaiton on whistle-blowing; our hospitals are improving despite the constant negative headlines, which would make an outsider thing that you are taking your life in your hands going to hospital. In fact, as anyone who’s actually been admitted for any serious illness will testify, the care is generally excellent. But the media only focus on the bad parts – in particular the A&E, which are clearly a disaster. It would be nice if they occasionally also came out with some good news stories so that people also knew about the huge improvements in cancer care in recent years, which have been borne out by better survival statistics across almost all types of cancer.
As for the Catholic church, I think most people would accept that they don’t really run our schools or hospitals any more. Even where they still do on paper, it’s really only nominal and Ruairi Quinn and others have made great strides in moving the patronage to lay boards, Educate Together models etc, though more still remains to be done. But you can’t just casually take the schools and hospitals off the orders which set them up at a time when the State wasn’t able to afford to run them itself. There are property rights etc. to be considered. (And lots of other countries still have schools in particular run by religious bodies).
As for taxes on the rich, we are also far from the only country that refuses to introduce high income tax. But we do now have property tax, which will disproportionaly affect richer people, who generally have bigger houses in more expensive areas. So it’s a form of wealth tax. The radical left-wing never mentions this, though, focusing instead on the inequity of it all, despite the fact that pretty much every developed country in the entire world has a property tax (and water charges to boot). You see, some people in Ireland want it every way. They want to emulate other countries when it suits, but not when it doesn’t. All I can say is that I’d hate to be a politican, because you can never ever win.
Jon
The point of this blog post was that people shouldn’t complain about Ireland – that we should celebrate Ireland; that Ireland is actually a great country. Well, the points I have made demonstrate that Ireland is very, very far from being a great country.
The survey was about a country’s effect on the outside world. And yes, we don’t fight in wars, we don’t pollute the world as much as others, and our crazy tax haven status invites research & tech companies here to do their work (which was one major reason why Ireland scored so highly in this survey). However, as a country to live in, that is something altogether different.
Maybe things will improve in the future, who knows, but for right now, the country we live in is a dreadful one.
And the bank debt, that is private company’s debt, it is not ours, despite your protestations. If a bank can not manage itself properly so that it ends up making crazy bets and giving out loans in a reckless manner, we, the Irish society should not have to pay for it. And yet we are. For the rest of our lives.
Catholic church has, and continues to be, exposed and punished.
Took a while, put the whistleblowers got results.
The debt we’re bailing is 70% state spending (that’s schools, roads, social housing, hospitals, stuff like that) and 30% bank debt (which is mostly negative equity mortgages). It’s us wot made it, us wot pays it.
Finally, incredulous has just joined the support group for abused words (accompanied by pretentious and mendacious and disingenuous from earlier).
If you think the Catholic Church has been punished you are not living on this planet.
The Catholic Church still runs our schools and hospitals, and this will not change. They concealed their priests’ rape of children, they imprisoned ‘fallen’ women, put them into slave labour, and sold their children to the rich Americans. And the authorities are not looking to make anyone accountable for this.
The whistleblower has gotten any results. The culture remains the same. Indeed he had to take sick leave due to ongoing pressure and bullying from colleagues. And the new head of the Gardai was the second in command, not exactly a fresh start.
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about regarding the bailout. The Irish government bailed out the banks to the tune of €60 billion. “We” did not create that debt, the banks did, then the Irish government put our money into those banks.
I find your stance repugnant and dangerous. Because of the bank debt we had to get a bailout from the ECB/IMF, which, on top of the bank debt, means we will be repaying this for the rest of our lives and beyond.
Conor: Where to start? Your post, I’m afraid, is typical of so many by so many on so many sites. You selectively pick up parts of stories without even trying for balance or for the full story. It is not true that the Catholic Church runs all our schools and hospitals, as you claim. Far from it at this stage and there has been an ongoing process to remove their patronage from those where they still have nominal control, and that will continue. So you cannot just say “this will not change”. It is changing, perhaps too slowly in some cases, but it is!
There is new national whistle-blower legislation about to pass the Dail in the coming weeks, which will provide very good protection for all whisleblowers in future. And the Garda whistleblower you mention seems to be in a much better place now, having been vindicated by a recent report commissioned by the Government. As for the acting Garda Commissioner, she is just that, acting. An open competition is taking place to appoint a new permanent head and most of the rumours point to the appointment of somebody from outside the Garda. So there is change there also.
The bailout is far too complicated to get into here. But to challenge one point you made: “we did not create that debt”. Yes we did. Irish people created that most of that debt by spending ridiculously high sums of money on property, sums that no German in his or her right mind would ever have dreamt of spending. Some flaw in the Irish character? Insecurity about our property due to evictions in the old days under the British? Who knows, but it happened! But, on the bright side, debt is part of everyday life. We may be repaying it for some time to come, but as long as we can bring about enough growth to service the interest – and there is good reason to think that we will – that will not be the end of the world. The actual amount that we owe is much less than 60billion by now in any case, and will be reduced further by sales of bank shares in due course, likely NAMA profit etc.
What Jon said.
Also- current garda commissioner is the ACTING commissioner. The whistleblowers had a tough time, it’s true, but that’s over now. Result.
Also- here is info for you on the debt. Put your repugnance aside, and look at the facts:
http://www.johnbruton.com/2012/03/fiscal-compact-treatythe-choice-irish.html
But if you’d rather have the grievance… then you need to read the open letter again 🙂
I am going with a “well said”. First World Woes are such a pain, oh my!
I write about history in Limerick and giggle every time someone tells me that we have it “the worst ever..” and they do often. We have it the best, I am glad as a woman that I live in this time and place. I can drive my car, own my house, get an education, not have children and get paid a decent wage, not too shabby.
I’m Amercian by birth, lived here nine years so far by choice. One of the first things I noticed when I moved here is how very little the Irish love their own country. Rarely did I find some one proud or happy to be here, until I was asked “how do you find it?” and my answers about the people, the culture, the benefits at work (a big one for me, the Yanks have nothing like our standards and respect for a common worker), the health care, the native beauty, the wonderful quality of our food… it was all agreement then. So yes, I’m with you bout the whiny bitches.
Thanks for reading!
It may be undeserved image, but here is how most Americans tend to view Irish people: a charming accent attached to viciously vindictive psychopaths who maim and kill their fellow countrymen in hideous and cowardly ways. All the time, and for centuries. It could be argued that Americans do somewhat he same, but here the insanity was limited temporaly to the American civil war, or geographically to the Hatfields and McCoys. The Irish seem to backstabbers, the lot. I can’t say if this lowers or raises Ireland in research such as UM describes, but it takes the country off my bucket list.
Well. Thanks for that.
“It may be an undeserved image but . . .”
Best, most honest, succinct, to ye point and entertaining commentary I’ve read on the human condition of the Irish people. Thx 🙂
You’re very kind.
Can we agree some kind of passover deal on the slap in the face plan? Lamb’s blood on the door or something.
Yea.
I’ve lived in Ireland 20 years this year. My Granda was from Waterford and he left for London after getting caught up with the IRB… English accent so I always get asked questions along the lines of why am I here, to which I always answer “Because it’s better”
2009 I left for Arizona to get married. Left me job and everything. Got there and she changed her mind so I had to come back (hopping and skipping if I’m to be honest, didn’t much care for AZ)
I’m out of work and want a fucking job, but like many others I’m finding it tough. It is really hard to feel like you’re living in the greatest country in the world when there’s no work and the government are a bunch of shifty arseholes with only their best interests at heart. Ireland is still my home though, I love it here. Love the people and the craic and hate the thought I may have to leave if I ever want to work again.
Reblogged this on Sunny Spells and commented:
This blog is well worth a read, given how ready we are to complain and belittle our country here. Any time we receive praise from outsiders, an a cynical response can be expected, almost by reflex. When I was growing up, Ireland was poor by the standards of neighbouring European countries. Since then, and despite the economic crash, we are broadly on a par with them. That’s a huge change in fortunes. It’s not to say we don’t have problems, or inequality, or lots more to do to improve our country, but parroting the line that we are a basket case, or the worst of the worst, is wildly off the mark.
Also neither the weather or the wildlife is going to kill you. No tornados, earthquakes, bears, snakes or venomous creepy crawlies.
Ah now, there was a typhpoon in Mullingar last year that rattled a few windows.
Actually it’s this attitude, this “I’m alright Jack” mentality that’s at the root of our problems, everything is not fine and things are in many cases getting worse (housing, health service cut backs, increasing student debt). You have a country that is allegedly coming out of a recession, where the government and banks etc. are happily frog marching us into the same stupidity (a housing bubble) that got us in the mess in the first place, personally I’m being evicted at the end of this month, why? Because house and rent prices have rocketed through the roof. No I won’t be homeless, yes I will be completely fine, but we’ve (allegedly) just come out of recession caused by one housing bubble and now we’re marching into a new one as soon as the chance affords us, nothing has been learned it seems, there is a gaping, cynical, stupidity at the heart of how this country is run.
Just because people in other countries would give their lives to have the right to live here, doesn’t mean you give up trying to make this a better country, what people hear as being “moaning” is actually often well thought-out critique of a corrupt system, a system that in the past has wholesale covered up the abuse of children and women. Just because you’ve a nicer house than everyone else doesn’t mean you don’t bother hoovering the carpet, maintaining it, improving it, but because alternative voices are shut out by a very tightly networked cluster of power we don’t get to see that.
Yes living in Ireland is a relative privilege, only a damn fool would say otherwise, but that doesn’t mean you stop there. The level of corruption in this country, what determines the quality of the life you lead relative to your fellow citizen, is far from being fair, when you look at studies that measure social problems it’s the relative inequalities within a country that dictate social problems, ill health, drug abuse, crime etc.
Put it another way if Ireland is such a great place to live in why do we have one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse in the world? A condition where people literally want to escape reality, if reality here were so great why are so many people leaving it, either physically or through alcohol abuse?
What are often very valid complaints about how this country is run by a very small tightly networked elite, end up sidelined ignored, they end up sounding like moaning, because the people who are making these points are doing so from a sincere and deeply held conviction are ignored and feel the need to repeat themselves. Watch the interview with George Redmond’s son on the Late Late, read a book or two, watch ‘love in a cold climate’ about the abuse this country inflicted on women since it inception (still never shown on Irish TV), walk around the city centre and marvel at the number of empty, undeveloped sites (something you won’t see anywhere else in hardly any other capital city in the world and a hall mark of well connected property developers sitting on land, maintaining an artificial scarcity). That mortgage of your is so high because it’s in the advantage of a small number of people of powerful people to have it high. Yes (some) things are improving, the sacking of John Waters from the Irish Times, the reaction to Pantigate was a wonderful thing to behold, but you know what happens to people who pat themselves on the back too much? They get fat and lazy.
Do you like the idea of living in a country where we recently found in that are police force is systemically corrupt, that there is a hidden class of people who can live their lives untouched by the law, that Gardaí can get away with beating mentally ill children with a belt, does that make you proud? Is that good enough? Or do you expect better?
Bertie Ahern had a great line about the people who warned about the economic collapse, “cribbing and moaning from the sidelines, I don’t know why they don’t kill themselves”, this blog post shows that whilst Bertie has shuffled off the stage his thinking is alive and well.
I’ve felt deeply disappointed, humiliated and ashamed of my nationality twice, firstly when we voted yes in the racist referendum of 2004 by 80% (yes it was racist, you put in place a law that judges an infant based on where their parents come from that’s racist, because when they were debating the issue the cause for concern wasn’t Americans, and it wasn’t our fellow light skinned Europeans, it was folks of another shade), secondly when we disgracefully lay down on our backs and didn’t protest the crime that was the bailout and subsequent troika (to the amazement of the international media), yet at the same time when it comes to our shit football team it seems we’re more than capable of raising the rooftops. We’ve a very thin identity in Ireland, being Irish is a very easy thing to do because it doesn’t mean anything, it has no weight attached to it, no meaning, so cheering on a football team is easy, marching for something you actually believe in is difficult.
Very often the people who are complaining aren’t pessimists, quite the opposite, they’re optimists, they’re the ones who are frustrated because they can see the potential for a better country within our grasp, if only people weren’t so blind and blasé about how this country works, who runs it, and to what end.
But ah sure everything is grand really, nothing to see here move, along, move along, whistle walking down the streets with your eyes closed, sure no harm can come to the man with a smile on his face.
Amazing. 100% correct, well said.
Absolutely spot on.
nailed it
original post is bertieism of the highest order
Bertieism? Sir, there’s a line of common civility and decency and you hopped over it like a crack in the pavement.
Very well said Mr. Fredkerr Sir!
“I love you, you utter cunts”, hahaha!!!! I agree totally, western Europe is heaven and Ireland is the Pearly gates!!!
They should bring back the death penalty for the guy who wrote this, I love Ireland, but seriously with such high rates of suicide, depression, alcoholism and with no consideration for the demographic in Ireland it is as if he doesn’t know that out of the whole of Europe people in Ireland between the ages of 18-30 were the worst affected by the recession, you choose to ignore that study based on figures not just opinion. All of the things to be proud of in Ireland were here 50 years ago. All the progress in the last 20 years was undone when we lost 80 billion euro. How exactly do you think these people are going to get somewhere to live?90,000 houses short in Dublin? After big companies came in a spent billions on our property? 5 people going homeless every week with only 2 people being rehomed? It shows a complete lack of empathy deciding that the people who are less fortunate in a great country should just take it and stay quiet, they should be slapped by this prick? Because the atrocities in others countries clearly outweigh their right to even express how bad it can be here? If you want to go around demonstrating physical violence because it bothers you just listening to the pain of the Irish people who are less fortunate than yourself then please by all means start in Dublin 14. You are such a terrible person, freedom, equality? The cheek to even raise such subjects, the state of healthcare, all cemented in by the elite like Mary Harney, some representative she was for the Irish ensuring we pay at least 200% the price of medication that is made in this country with significantly less taxation that other European countries. They only understand money, fucking idiots, as if they never heard of a stitch in time, for them they should realise do things right the first time and you stand less of a chance of waking up to an 80 billion deficit. So in short Pull your head out of your arse and look down on the shoulders of the people who you are standing on you arrogant wanker, sure if you just don’t want to listen to it just buy some noise cancelling headphones, I’m sure you can afford them. The people over 30 are raping the younger generation who are simply smarter and more useful, degree are practically useless, all they want now is experience which you can’t get unless you pretend all that you can demonstrate from a 4 year degree is worth less to a company that working in Mc Donalds. If I ever meet you I dare you to try to slap me in the face, you’ll be picking your teeth off the floor. The truth is the freedom which men in their 20′s fought for and died for almost 100 years ago doesn’t exist unless you have money. Thank you, please do reply, I have all the time in the world for a dickhead like you.
@John Fucking Keegan: I’m afraid you represent all too accurately a type of Irish person who claims to want change but instead is only capable of insult and abuse. You can’t debate without cursing and abusing other people. In other comment, you take a light-hearted comment about giving whingers a slap in the face and threaten to knock someone’s teeth out. You call the author “an arrogant wanker” and tell him to pull his face out of his arse. You conclude by calling him a dickhead”. And even in your name you feel the need to insert “Fucking”. You will never bring about change in anything because nobody who engages in debate with that sort of language is capable of bringing about change. Nobody who engaged in debate in that manner is capable of commanding widespread respect. Change mostly comes about through building consensus, through cajoling, through reasoned debate. I’m not a prude; I curse quite frequently, but not when I’m trying to bring about change. It doesn’t work.
@Jon: I represent the stubborn man, upon which all progress is made. I am one of the most capable men in the country, I find pretty much every task simple whether it be physical or intellectual, because no matter how difficult a task is deemed to be by the general population, it simply cannot be done with out simple physical interactions or mental decision making. I can easily debate without cursing and abusing others I simply replied to the article using the same language as the author, I realise you have chosen to take what he said light-heartedly because your opinion closer reflects the opinion of the author and have chosen to take offence to what I have said because it directly contradicts that opinion, and I do want change but more so I am taking real steps to achieve the change I want to see in Ireland. I find it extremely inconvenient that there is so much respect given to politicians who, while not using any foul language, remain completely irresponsible when asked important questions and just change the subject as the majority of the population seem to not notice. I was not trying to bring about change by replying to the article I went out to hopefully teach the Author something about empathy. If you say horrible things whether light hearted or not and are dismissive of huge national health issues you are causing problems, if it is simply your opinion then you should know not to share it, Ireland has the second highest suicide rate in Europe despite it allegedly being the best place to live in the world according to 4 year old data which seem to think it makes people living in poverty happy to throw a ton of money into getting involved in issues that have nothing to do with us, 1 in 10 children are malnourished in Ireland roughly 1 in 10 are unemployed, we would be able to help other countries more if we were actually all working. It’s pretty obvious. Putting those people to work is simple it’s just the people we have elected(not that there ever seems to be a sensible choice of who to elect) a load of fools incapable of meaningful change, getting loads of money to do barely anything. We need to use a few tips, the Russians have a few good ones. The current president of Ireland has a different opinion to you on what language works when trying to bringing about change and putting people in their place. He is a legend.
The Russians have some good ideas, Christ on a bike.
And then they brought back the death penalty for the guy who expressed an opinion on the internet. And the people revelled in their new facist state, agreeing that it was so much better than what had existed before. And they all lived happily ever after. The End.
Try responding to what I said, instead of resting on your faulty opinion. You talk of cognitive dissonance on the part of the whinger, Do you not see any sense of irony whinging about the whingers all on the basis of one massively irrelevant study 4 year old study? I spend a few years in market research, the majority of the time before any counting takes place they already know what the results will be. “It’s fucking disgusting quite frankly. It’s like Donald Trump saying to a homeless man “You think you have it bad, I’ve got an itchy foot!”. You are the Donald trump of this story, there about 2700 homeless people in Ireland, luckily for them they can’t afford a mac book pro to read your ridiculously affluent opinion. What about the study that said Ireland is the worst place to be if you were 18-30 during the recession? If this is your real opinion you are a bad person and Ireland would be much better off without you. I’m saying shut the “facist” up before he learns how to spell, he feels sick at the suggestion that people are in trouble and just wants everyone to be happy and stop bringing him down.
Respond to what you said. Okay. Your first line implied that I should be put to death so let me disabuse you of the notion that you are someone whose opinion I am interested in debating. You’re a troll John, and not even the funny crazy kind. You threaten me and your opinion is automatically rendered worthless. Those unfortunate enough to share real estate with you may have to put up with your bullshit, I don’t. Don’t bother posting here again.
Nail – on – head!
I’m glad someone finally came out and said it. We’d win the World Whinging Championships. I’m sick of people ‘poor mouthing’ it as they sit in their negative equity 4 bedroom detached house, watching Sky on their flat screen plasma TV.
Euchhh – there I said it. I haven’t got much but I enjoy life and Ireland IS great – except for all the moaners…
I’m an American who has lived in Ireland for much of the past five years. I can assure you that Ireland is not the best place to live in the world. Your gender politics are, from the eyes of an outsider, totally, absolutely 100% FUBAR. Men are Peter Pans, the women are Marys. Traditional household divisions persist behind closed doors. And you don’t allow abortion, at all, to the extent women have died because they should have been performed. If you look at any sort of gender index , Ireland is hovering down in the middle 50% for quality of life. And that is appalling.
JKerwin: I’m pretty literate but have no idea what it means to be a Peter Pan or a Mary? And I had to google FUBAR. Anyway….I would have to take issue with your abortion rant. It is not accurate to say that we don’t allow abortion at all. Were you not here when we had a recent referendum to allow abortion in certain limited circumstances? I personally favour allowing abortion to be much more freely available, but exagerration does not help your case. (And you might be aware that even in your home country it is an extremely divisive issue and that some States, like Texas, have recently brought in severe restrictions on abortion). In any case, I don’t think that lack of abortion alone is sufficient reason to place Ireland in the middle 50% for gender equality. We have much more generous maternity care than in America; we have a universal direct payment to all mothers – in the form of child benefit – which is higher than almost anywhere else on earth; we’ve had two women Presidents (vs none in the United States). Of course, there are still glass ceilings for women in certain sectors of industry, and much more needs to be done on that front, but I’m still rather bewildered at your negative view of gender equality in Ireland. Please explain more.
“This is Earth in 2014. There has literally never been a better time and place to be a living human. Our species is healthier, living longer, killing each other with less frequency than at any other time in our history.”
Given that this is true, then everyone in the world should stfu and stop moaning.
Not at all. But if a study concluded that this was the best time in human history to be alive and everyone on earth got pissed off about that then yes, I would raise an eyebrow.
Really? If everyone on earth got pissed off about it then I’d conclude that the study was fundamentally wrong.
Simply because enough people believe it does not alter objective fact.
“Ireland was declared the best country in the world by a pseudo science nonsense survey. This has annoyed the people who live in Ireland because it’s clearly not the best country in the world. Your response is “oh, would you rather live in Syria?” No, obviously, but France or Germany or America or Canada or pretty much any other Western country, as they’re all doing better. Your point that “things aren’t so bad” doesn’t make sense, as the survey is saying that things are the best in the world. It’s like giving a gold medal to someone who finished 7th in a marathon. Yes, sure, it’s an achievement to even run a marathon, but the gold medal should still go to the person who finished first. It’s also grimly funny that the article linked below this one is “reflections on the death of Savita Halappanavar”. I read your piece on that, it obviously can’t hope to get the traffic as this “everything’s fine” article, but in it you say “an innocent woman has died a horrible death because we couldn’t bring ourselves to look this issue in the face”. That’s correct, so why do you now want to slap everyone who doesn’t think everything’s fine and dandy? Things don’t just get better magically, they get better because people confront the problems in society and solve them, they don’t ignore them. And 200 years ago I’m sure there were the same people saying things could be worse, why are you complaining? Also, it’s completely naive to think history only goes one way, that things can only get better. Things can get worse too, and blind optimism is as bad as apathy.”
… care to respond, unshaved mouse?
Okie dokie.
“Pseudo science nonsense survey.”
Look, I wasn’t in the room when they drew up the damn thing. I don’t know if they’re telling the truth when they say that they used data from 35 separate datasets from the UN and various NGOs. Maybe they just drew names out of a hat. But as I said in the post, the results are broadly in line with most other global surveys of this sort. In terms of Human Development, Human Rights, Press Freedoms, Prosperity, Ireland typically ranks very highly.
“Obviously, France or Germany or America or Canada or pretty much every other Western country as they’re all doing better”.
Obvious to the poster, certainly, but I will need some persuading. Canada, perhaps. As I mentioned in the post Canada and the Scandinavian countries would probably rank a bit higher. France? Maybe. If you’re willing to overlook a resurgent racist far-right, hellish prison conditions and the fact that everybody is just miserable. Germany? Sure, if you live in the west. America? Is it the piss you’re taking? America has a two party system that has become so polarised and so beholden to corporate interests that even a common sense gun safety measure backed by ninety per cent of the population cannot pass because the gun lobby doesn’t want it. A system that allows gerrymandering so blatant that the party that got one million more votes in the congressional elections still holds a minority of seats. Where even the basic social protections other nations (Ireland included) take for granted are decried as socialism and where global warming, the single greatest threat to our civilization is dismissed as a hoax by half of the political spectrum.
“It’s also grimly funny that the article linked below this one is “reflections on the death of Savita Halappanavar”.
Glad you found that amusing. Let me be clear. I am not saying that everything is perfect. I am not denying that there are real serious problems in this country. I am not denying that horrible things happen in this country every day. But I refuse to allow that to blind me to the fact that in the great human family the people of this nation are nonetheless hugely fortunate in the grand scheme of things. And I also deny that the constant pessimism and deep cynicism that is so engrained in this country is some kind of force for grand social change. It is a coping mechanism, a stop gap that prevents us from actually looking at these problems not as the same challenges that face every nation but as great, immovable, unshifting monoliths that will never be solved and never go away because nothing ever changes here. It does. It has. It will again.
“Things don’t just get better magically, they get better because people confront the problems in society and solve them, they don’t ignore them.”
Agreed.
“Also, it’s completely naive to think history only goes one way, that things can only get better. Things can get worse too, and blind optimism is as bad as apathy.”
Wrong. There is NOTHING as bad as apathy. Optimism, whether blind, or based on real historical trends and backed by hard data (sighted optimism?) is at least a force for hope, and without hope we have nothing.
Everybody is just miserable? Seriously think about coming in France to actually experience what is the life here…
A fantastic piece of writing, Mouse. The only part I would disagree with is the idea of you going door to door to give everyone a slap. As I am NOT one of the complainers, I would find this rather offensive and probably deliver an even heartier slap as a retort. Other than that … superb observations 🙂
Leave a symbol painted in lamb’s blood over your door and I shall pass ye over.
I will be sure to do that Mouse. Brilliant 🙂
“But by pretending that we are living in some kind of third world dystopia…” haha.. dramatic. that’s your whole thesis right there for this attention seeking, trendy, sharp, against-the-grain article. whoa that’s feeble. look at you go. I’m pretty sure people aren’t comparing Ireland to Syria or Iraq. People have every right to complain about things that are awful in their country… And you have the right to waste your weekends endlessly defending your pretensions. gu’uck.
Yes, I use hyperbole for dramatic effect. Writers do that sometimes. Also , you’re pretty judgmental for a record shop.
On a related note (not really at all..) I just wanted to point you to my efforts in said same direction: http://feckingdublin.tumblr.com/ My attempt at loving irony of a place I like to call “Cuba without the nice weather” 🙂 I’m am American here nearly 6 years and in Europe for about 18 years all in. Here’s what I’ve learned so far: Shite is shite (where ever you see/hear/find it) and Great is great (repeat) and our only real job is to honestly recognize which is which.
The republic still stands (as Angela Merkel’s bitch puppets), we didn’t vote in any Nazis (*cough* Fine Gael *cough* blueshirters) and the economy is coming out of the woods (via JobsBridge?).
Hmm…
As opposed to actual Nazis. (cough cough Greece.)
Dead fucking right! The smallmindedness that caused people to complain bitter and point out the horror of it all. Internet incredulity I call it. It’s a lot more prevalent now than it ever was.
First world problems is right. Nobody’s life is perfect. Most of you don’t have to keep your child alive on meagre amounts of dirty water deal with militants taking your daughter/family from you in the middle of the night. That doesn’t make Ireland the best country in the world but it certainly deserves credit for the good things because they don’t get outweighed by the bad, as some would have you believe.
Grow up. Do you hear me? Grow the fuck up!
Oh my friend I do not envy you the force you have unleashed. Good luck!
as i type this message when i should be working i cant help but think we should all move to the pacific island of tana, not a penny between them but are the happiest people on earth depite having to wear penis gourds.I disagree and agree with the whingeing about whingers , ireland is a great country with freedom of speech et al. but until we get away from this parish politics system we have, we will always have boyos lining each other pockets whilst we conveniently turn a blind eye to the corruption. we have the best doctors and nurses in the world but they are so over worked that they have lost the humanity in medicine and have become disgruntled with their lot, going from one threat of strike to another or in some cases from the 18th to the 19th hole. we have a society where the private sector and the public sector blame each other. the private sector believing the public sector is living on easy street and the public sector believing the private sector are making millions.both are wrong, most of us on the private sector are barely above 20k a year despite the images of fat bankers that you are bombarded with. the competition for jobs amongst teachers is huge and for every one that is on 50k plus 4 months holidays there are 10 trying to get part time here and there. Because i have lost my complete train of thought and feel like i have started rambling away from my point, ireland does deserve to be near the top of the rankings because we have it so much better than other countries , but at the same time we must be vigilant to make sure that those who would exploit this for their own benefit at the expense of others must be kept in check. yes we should all move to tana, where the witch doctor will pray for our health and if we need food the forest is our supermarket and where we give praise to prince philip because we believe he is a living god , but more importantly we are happy in our lot
A measured, reasonable and well argued response. It’s Christmas come early!
to quote my glorious man god philip “bloody marvellous isnt it pip pip”
Rather!
Have you nothing better to do than write this drivel, you wanker? Are you being paid by the Irish government or have you just got a dose of cuntitis, ‘unshaven mouse’!
We here in Ireland don’t need to hear this shite so shut up. And fuck ff while you’re doing it.
I’ll get your bottle in a minute, hush now.
The author clearly has a blinkered view of this country. “We have much better than most” does not make this country okay. Try telling the most vulnerable in your beloved country, like special needs children, that this place is awesome. Probably something you’re completely unaware of.
Always Johns. Let me say this one more time. My point with this article was that broadly speaking the quality of life in Ireland is very very high when taken in a global context. And yes, I spent many years as a volunteer at St Michael’s I am actually quite familiar with the problems of people with mental difficulties. And those problems are to be found everywhere else in the developed world. Nowhere is perfect. But if you actually did an objective assessment of this country compared to the reality of life on this earth for the majority of human beings rather than just your own sense of grievance (that would be a blinkered view incidentally) you might see my point.
To add, the “dear whiny bitches” bit says it all. Genuine grievance? Here, have a stereotype. You only have to look at the health service of most other first world countries and even some second (like Cuba) to see we are way down the table of how we care for people. And to me, generally speaking, how good a place is to live is dependant on how as a society we treat the most vulnerable. Not how good it is for us personally.
Alright, I’ll throw my hands in the air and admit the title is a little overly aggressive and click baity. Mea culpa. My experience living here all my life is that Irish people do genuinely care about each other, that the bonds between family and friends are incredibly strong here. That has been my experience here. If it has not been yours, I’m sorry. I feel it is one of the best places in the world to live. You do not. Fair enough, neither of us has an experience that can speak for the entire nation. But I consider myself immensely fortunate to call this place home.
INCREDULITY
Brilliant blog!Love the map part, made me chuckle!
Thank you very much!