Why do the English Still tell Irish Jokes.

One minor experience of this, and in fairness it was probably none of my business, was when working in London one summer and getting lunch in a pub a guy was slagging an Irish girl (lightheartedly) about how the Irish cant talk properly, so I went "yeaah dhas roihh mate innih" in my best sauf London, so that fair shut him up.

I was only illustrating the point that the converse is also just as true - but on reflection I should probably have just let it slide. Great banter that summer, thoroughly enjoyed the inevitable slagging, gave as good as I got etc. etc., gave me a good impression of the english (and hopefully vice versa).
 
The Irish flag is currently flying off the top of Manchester Town Hall to celebrate the Irish festival in the city. Change perhaps!

I hope us english have changed our views. there will always be an element of small minded people here. Near impossible to change them...

I think the younger generation in England view the Irish much better than the older generation. Most youngsters or the more enlightend ones first meet Irish people in Uni and have a great laugh with them.

Likewise, I spent 2 years living in Dublin and never once had any problems being English. My initial apprehensions were blown away with the great people I met over there.
 
I guess in many ways the Irish for some reason, are the last culture/people to be still regarded as fair game for jokes etc by some English people.

I remember Dara O'Brian being on Jonathan Ross last year and as he walked on, Ross went into a "Ah bejaysus Dara, top o' the morning to ye" leprechaun type routine. Dara appeared mildly exasperated and proposed that if he were e.g. Indian, Ross wouldn't have dreamed of doing a 'goodness gracious me' accented routine.

Having lived in England myself for a few years I was on the receiving end of a few Irish jokes/comments and most were without malice. To me it felt a little like it must feel for someone who has an unusual name, say Romeo, and them having to encounter "So have you met your Juliet yet?" comments regularly - there is always the potential of it being said, it's usually all innocent but tiresome and a bit irritating and you even end up feeling a bit sorry for the person making the comments in the end.
 
I lived in the UK for a few years, not during the troubles. I would have been called Paddy a lot and one guy used to call me Dum Diddly i. It did amuse me greatly as there was no harm in it. I am very Celtic looking and no matter where I was in the world people would guess that I was Irish or a Scot.

I remember being in a Irish Club in London once and was asking the barman was it busy on Paddy's day, it got quite insulted and flew off on one, on how Patrick is a saint and Paddy shouldn't be used to describe him. I was surprised with the reaction and told him he had been gone from Ireland for far too long.
 
Yorky said:
For a generation large swathes of Irish men went to England and they were perceived, rightly or wrongly, as Paddy the Navvy or Mick the Bomber. When someone has a strong Irish accent they may come across as naive, uninformed and unintelligent rather the shrewd people that they often are. This combined with rampant alcohol abuse has helped create a stereotype of an Irish person in Britain.

Nowadays, Irish political and current affairs serve to perpetuate that stereotype. One viewing of the RTE Nine O'Clock news is viewed as parody by many in England. From the amateurish production of the programme to the personal appearance of the politicians ( minister for health & former minister for defence) not to mention the endemic political corruption, handling of sexual abuse by priests, grotesquely inflated public sector pay & social welfare rates. I often cringe when I think of English people tuning in.

Having had personal experience of the English approach to someone from Ireland, the initial ' friendly' response is a wistful look and some reference to alcohol consumption / abuse, which I find irritating and ( largely unintentionally) pejorative.

Collectively, I have found that Ireland is viewed as a bit of a joke really - a mickey-mouse country where you go for a break from real life hence the proliferation of Irish jokes.
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Bloody hell, what part of England did / do you live in? When i lived over there I found them to contain the exact same proportion of slackers, wasters, chancers, idiots............. There is also a similar percentage compared to here of gents, jokers, genuine people............

I really think you are reading way too much into what the English think of us.....

So what if our news is a bit provincial - what do you want us to do? Only 4 million people live on the island.....thank god not that much happens as nearly all news is bad! And rightly or wrongly, people are generally more interested whats going on around them rather than the latest bomb in Iraq.

Chill out, have a few pints and get wasted - sure its the craic, begorrah
 
I know I started this thread, but if the English were watching Crystal Swing on last nights Late Late, I don't blame them for slagging.
 
I never really worried about English people making the odd Irish joke in my presence but on two occasions I got really annoyed.

Once was an anti Irish remark from another ethnic minority landlord in London to the effect that "you Irish are only good for building and drinking any you will always be paying rent". It was a bitter twisted remark that was designed to hurt.

The second was a similar anti Irish remark from a "WASP" Australian mocking my accent.

Its funny but it doesnt bother me much from English people but when it comes from any one else it does!
 
MandaC said:
I know I started this thread, but if the English were watching Crystal Swing on last nights Late Late, I don't blame them for slagging.
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Britains Got Talent & X Factor should ensure that they can't really slag us.
 
"you Irish are only good for building and drinking any you will always be paying rent"
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What's wrong with drinking, building and paying rent?
A bit of a generalisation, but probably a better stereotype than many other ethic minority stereotypes, eg, Indians working 24/7 in their shops and never spending their money.
 
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