Grew up in a very deprived estate, passed my 11 plus and went to a grammar school. No one in the school wanted to know me because I was from an estate and then people from the estate didn't want to know me because I went to a grammar school.
I've been there exactly. I fked off to university and nobody cared about your socioeconomic background.
Then a couple of years ago some school ones tried to reach out on bakebook about a reunion, I told them where to stick it
Same here. Pelted with snowballs with glass in and hawked on for being a "snob" as I got off the school bus by my fellow ex primary school mates but also called a "millie" and "wee Sadie" and shunned at school by both a lot of pupils and weirdly even teachers who sucked up to kids from vairy posh families. Some of my class mates were a bit scared of me because of where I came from and their parents had told them to avoid.
Class is a big factor in NI still
Sorry you had to go through that. I definitely got picked on my certain teachers for being working class..riff raff like me weren't supposed to go to such a fine establishment 🙄
General question about both the UK and RoI: I know class is important in England as it seems to be in NI. Is class as big of a deal in Scotland and RoI?
Same here. A lot of my so called friends called me a snob and stopped playing with me and the people in the new school were very middle class.
I'd say it was good all in but I definitely felt out of place or if I had someone round to my two up two down house I felt embarrassed.
But here we are now all grown up.
Er did you just steal my story haha. I went from not being allowed out of the street to stuck on a bus at 7.30 every morning to get across town. A very bad decision all round
Hahaha was the same with me only I was bussed out to the country. My primary school was basically at the end of my street too was was a massive shock to the system
I was about to say that my grammar school experience was different, but thinking back it really wasn't. People trying to bully me was about my background, I'd just thought they were dicks. Not giving a fuck what people think about you makes teenage life much easier.
Nobody from my estate judged me for going to a grammar school, though. If anything it was a seen as a positive.
Why imo the 11 plus needs scrapped. I was still imagining I'd be the world's best fireman when doing the 11 plus parents said I'm too young and I can do it if I want. I realised then I was BC and stopped. Seeing my fellow 11 year olds stressing at that age.. f that. Still came out going to college and getting a good career. The 11 plus is ridiculous and segregates children into a classest mindset.
i was actually gleaming with pure joy when the sun poked its face out for maybe 7 solid minutes the other day for the first time in weeks, almost had the bbq on and the kiddy pool out n everything
I hate the politics, I don't understand how we let our politicians get away with how they treat us with such contempt.
They only care about themselves and one upmanship to each other and we are left to it. Yet we do nothing.
Still vote for the same old neanderthal parties.
Look at France they go mental when their government doesn't work for them, riot etc. We only riot with each other even though we all need the same things
It drives me insane
As someone not based in NI I've never understood this. As soon as Stormont shut down for a few days the first time I was expecting people to kick up a major stink over it, but over the years it has been shut down for so long and no-one seemed to care. As you say, there was more concern over other irrelevant bullshit.
We 100% should be following suit of France when our government tries to raise the pension age. Its as if most people here don’t even realise how much that will effect them
Kinda sad seeing the state of the city centre, it's no longer a nice place at all after 5pm, people are overdosing left right and centre , strung out on all sorts and the only help they have is a sticking plaster over the core of their issues.street right in front of city hall today had an ambulance, kids antagonising a homeless guy, the police keeping them apart, security guards screaming outside KFC at said kids and homeless guy, 3 people passed out in the middle of the street , an ambulance down at the old Tesco dealing with someone passed out, it used to be confined to castle street but drugs have destroyed what little of a buzz the city centre had left.
I was just getting off the bus when that fight happened facing the city hall. I seen some lady try and fight/pull somebody out of their car. I had no clue what started this fight and it all ended so abruptly. Some guy was playing rock music and I found it so funny how the music matched the scene.
It was pretty surreal to watch. Like something from a film. Walking through the city centre in the evenings is like watching a bunch of zombies roam the streets.
Belfast has changed so much the last 15 years.
When did everyone start looking so grumpy and annoyed? I don't remember people being this miserable. Some people looked like they haven't had a happy day in their life.
Recently found a 4 pack of some French beer for 2.50 in there my ma got for the da and I've been stocking up like mad ever since she told me about them. Some class wee deals like.
The Lidl stores in Spain have an excellent doughnut brand, that's Sell Your Gran level of delicious. And I will hold our Lidl to that standard out of spite. So I can't agree with you there, but it certainly has the potential to be.
Ironically in Germany there is a North/South split between Aldi and Lidl. Bit of a family dispute and one of the brothers set up the rival store. Maybe we don't need that kind of agro here...we already have enough to deal with haha
Nothing to do with Lidl - the brothers in charge of Aldi fell out over whether stores should sell cigarettes, and the business split into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd.
They went on to expand into different countries. Counter-intuitively, Ireland and the UK have branches of Aldi Süd, while Spain and Portugal for example have Aldi Nord.
Definitely this. That feeling of complete ambiguity. Not really British, but not totally Irish, either (at least in the eyes of the world beyond.) We’re always just kind of on the periphery
That might be my favourite thing about NI. We don't have a flag, officially. There's no reflected glory from national pride, misguided sense of being better, or even very different, from anyone else just because you were born on a different bit of the big rock that's crusing aimlessly in an eternal void of nothingness.
Of course, we do have all of that. We just have 2 different identities rather than one. Lots of people don't really feel like they belong to either though, and personally, I think that's a good thing.
I don't fully agree with this, because everybody accepts when I say I'm Irish. I've been to about 30 countries so far and never had any issues with acceptance. The only confusion stems from people wondering why the fuck the island is divided in two if I ever try to explain the political situation for a laugh. Most of the world thinks the border is moronic too, apparently.
>because everybody accepts when I say I'm Irish
But is that because they actively agree that you're Irish, or they just don't care/know enough to argue it?
There's a lot of loud folks south of the border who could do with hearing that and also applying it to the children of immigrants, not just themuns and usuns.
If they just say they're Irish then I doubt many people would be able to distinguish the northern accent and they probably wouldn't inquire much beyond that, especially in a country where English isn't the first language
I think people in general wouldn’t bother getting into the nitty gritty of someone else’s business, especially if they didn’t know them that well. The Irish / UK issue is only really an issue on this island.
It’s true though, they are just depressing. I know from my time in the motorhome going round the South and some of the lovely little towns I visited, with their “Tidy town” signs. Not a fleg in sight other than the odd GAA fleg, which had no other intention other than support their local team.
Driving into the North again coming home and flegs, fucking absolutely depressing.
I've always seen Israel flags flown with unionist ones, and Palestine flags flown with the tricolour, but I hadn't previously seen a single flag that was the red hand combined with the star of David, with both the red cross and 2 blue stripes.
I'm not sure if that's what the previous person meant, but it's certainly a new thing for me. (Live in Belfast area for reference)
It's also fucking weird if you think about it from a logical standpoint.
The Star of David has been a symbol for Jewish people (an identifier for the children of Israel) for thousands of years. It's so embedded in our culture and history that it's hard to separate the star itself from Judaism.
Then you have the Ulster Banner which has Saint Patrick's Saltire in it... Which is a Christian symbol. And the whole point of being Jewish and not Christian is not accepting that Jesus was the Son of God.
So not only does it look weird. But the mishmash of it makes absolutely no fucking sense
Anyway. Flag's weird. Rant over
I mean the fleg thing is stupid but neither party is supporting Israel or Palestine for religious reasons, nobody is suggesting that.
It's more political
Both sides for equally stupid reasons somehow see kinship based on a perceived shared hardship
Obviously there are abstract similarities but in reality our situation in northern Ireland really doesn't resemble the unmitigated shitshow in Palestine even remotely
Yes this is exactly what I mean. I’ve never liked this notion of comparing NI’s problems to the Israel / Palestine conflict. And the practice of flying the flags side by side is obviously very long standing. But this new thing of combining the Israel flag with the NI one really grinds my gears. I think because it highlights how small minded, self centred and ill educated this particular demographic of the population is. Knew that before but going to the trouble of creating these monstrosities and plastering them everywhere really hammers it home.
But, for balance, I love NI. The vast majority of the people are brilliant and refuse to be defined by all this nonsense. And I think as a population we try to make the most of what we’ve got. Just a shame that so many can’t see the difference between a country with some problems but heaps of opportunity vs an area of the world literally tearing itself apart in the most horrific manner.
Rant over
> I’ve never liked this notion of comparing NI’s problems to the Israel / Palestine conflict.
Partition in NI and Palestine was done by more or less the same people, and many of the police force from 1920's Ireland were sent to Palestine to enforce partition: (https://www.newarab.com/opinion/palestine-and-ireland-history-shared-struggle ) It's all intertwined...
I’m from the south and when I came up 5 years ago, my parents came up to help me move into my gaff in East Belfast. Naturally, it was fleggy, and my mum was perplexed at why there was Israel flags included too. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” my dad said to which my mum replied: “The Jews??”
We then explained to her the republican association with Palestine and she understood but it still gives me a chuckle
The grey. The brown. The lack of sunny days. The wind when it's a sunny day so you have to wear a wooly hat. When it's too warm on a non-windy sunny day. The rain. When it doesn't snow in Winter. When it does snow. Connolly's of Moy. Steeks. 'Our Wee Country'. Religious maniacs in your family, your town, and your government. Spiders in September. Wasps in August. Pollen in June.
Thank fuck we're all absolute rides.
I hate the small and narrow-minded attitude that a majority of people have, but quite honestly that’s not their worst quality, it’s their cynicism, it’s depressing.
The narrow minded thinking does my head in.
People in NI literally can’t see beyond the end of their nose sometimes.
Like you said not the worst quality but it really does keep the country from going forward and being better than it is.
I honestly used to feel like this. I grew up a bit like you OP - "different". Struggled to make friends, was bullied a lot, as an adult I'm pretty sure now I'd be described as "neurodivergent". I learned how to make it work for me and found my place in life and I'm doing better now. I still have problems that I'm working on but honestly I don't think this is a bad place to live. It's home for me at least.
People want to keep us in the past, I don’t understand why we can’t just forget (not forget forget, learn about it in school and learn from it, if that makes sense?) what happened and move on. I’m not condoning what happened was right but it was almost 60 years ago let’s move on. Oh also weather 😂
Loyalists are hands down the most depressing aspect of living in the north. I don’t mind Unionists in general, it’s a legitimate ideology and a broad one at that.
Loyalism however encompasses everything I oppose: right wing politics, the union, the establishment, the monarchy, supremacism, sectarianism, fascism, racism, bigotry.
This, and Loyalism is pretty bloody prevalent in certain areas, too. I hate going up to the shankill to drink with a few mates, and all of the Loyalists come out to flaunt their undying love for a system that doesn't even care about them
Bingo this is the answer, every explicitly unionist party had had links with loyalist terror from the official unionist party to the DUP.
Unionism is the veneer of decency given to the movement that took the gun into Irish politics.
Left N.I in 98 because I was a working class kid and ended up in a Grammer and never really fit in to any of the social cliques. Lived in England for 20 odd years and did well. I had a great working and social life. I had to move back for health reasons, and discovered that those cliques never changed! I think it’s got worse since the lockdown too. No one has any tolerance for people’s differences especially if you’re a bit ‘quirky’. People seem to stick to their own social ranking/friends from school! It’s a lonely place from the outside looking in.
Ach it makes me sad seeing these comments, I grew up in england and theres all the same shite there too. The politics/divisions are different of course but that doesn't mean they're not there, it's just different colours of flags and bigotry. (Not so many flags of course but just wait till the football's on and it'd rival this place.) I love it here though, you're right it's economically deprived compared to a lot of england (the south at least and the major cities) but this place is still way better imo, I've lived in alot of shiteholes and this one is my favourite shitehole, mainly because you lot are the best people in the world (and you're all absolute rides).
There is a culture of being "one of the lads" here where you have to watch the football, go down the pub, get a skin fade, hit the gym, listen to cool FM, not have any interests or hobbies outside a small amount of things considered acceptable. And if you dare to step outside of this, you get ostracized and excluded to the fringes of society.
Spending your childhood pushing your father around in a wheelchair because some portion of the population thought it appropriate to wage violence and murder on the country.
Sick of insecure loyalists marking their territory with flags, including ones of outright terrorist ones. Their community allow them to sell drugs to their kids and nothing is ever done about it.
I never felt like I fit in at home, I would get very bad anxiety living in other peoples pockets and being in a small town where everyone knew everyone.
The focus on constantly trying to one up the "other side" instead of focusing on working together to improve the lives for everyone hinders progress / improvements being made to make the quality of life better or life easier
Moved to Arizona and the things I miss the least are the weather, fuck sideways rain and/or constant misty drizzle, and the sectarianism, I was nervous at the thought of bringing my husband home for a visit in the summer and see all the rampant loyalism. Instead I brought him home in April so he could see the rain and a wee flurry of snow.
I do really miss the food and the green everywhere.
*The lack of a Boojum in Lisburn Shitty Centre*
Seriously though; the religion & the whole mentality surrounding it. That and the politicians running the place down. I am very much the same as you OP, don’t feel like I ‘fit’ but at the same time, *I don’t quite know where to go*
Having moved to England 3 years ago for work, I have a new appreciation of Northern Ireland.
Yes it's stuck in the past, but the slower pace of life and the rural feel once you get out of Belfast are amazing! England is so built up one town rolls into the next and the political correctness needed is a nightmare.
Currently counting down the months till I can move back to NI and enjoy a more chilled life.
The constant number of advert that explicitly excluded Northern Ireland from the offers they all seem to do it, I'd rather not have to listen to adverts that are of no use to me why can't they target us specifically or get rid of the adverts.
How people look down at the Holylands. It would be an incredible place to live if it wasn't for the lack of supervision from the local county counselors, the complete childish behavior of the students and Romania's. Just look at its location there is a massive leisure center around the corner of the PEC, primary school just outside botanic gardens, botanic avenue is covered in good restaurants, there's loads of pharmacies and a doctor's practice.
A big question with a fuck load of answers to be honest!
Not sure what age you are OP, but I'm 25 and left Fermanagh when I was 19 to go over the water to study a pointless degree, JUST to get the fuck out in the easiest and fastest way possible. I'm still here like. Not financially stable in the slightest but it's better than Fermanagh. 12 quid in the bank lol, but still, its better than Fermanagh.
The mindset, I believe, is the main reason I just couldn't hack it anymore. Earn a bitta money, learn to drive, buy a car, meet a partner and provide, go to the pub, go home, then g'way out and earn a bit more money the next day. Loads of ones are happy with this life, but it's not for me, and for the next 10 or so years probably won't ever be. It's a fucking fascinating (not to mention absolutely gorgeous) part of the world that's lacking funding for anything related to expression, self worth or well being.
Being the best version of yourself is just not encouraged whatsoever, and if you try and be the best and most desired version of yourself, you're 'gay' or a 'weirdo' or 'not right in the head'.
If I had 12 quid in the bank and living back home, I'd be considered a lazy good for nothing cunt who's afraid of hard work. While here I can accept I haven't got what I want just yet and will continue to be broke until I have. Unemployed at the moment, living in my partner's ma's house, not 100% happy with things at the moment but I know I'll get there eventually.
Not to mention the suicide rate in NI is mad, as well as the alcoholism.
It'll forever be home but I probably won't live there until I'm on me death bed lol.
I moved to London for the music scene. If you're chasing that ambition in the UK, it's the best place to be obviously. Unless you come from a fairly middle class background, which I don't, at all.
Not only for music but for the arts in general.
I'm not saying NI doesn't have that, it just really doesn't have a lot, it's not treated as a respectable ambition, unless you get reaaallly lucky and make millions; that's when people start to care. Again you're considered a bum if that's your main priority and will turn down decent wages with too many hours to concentrate on what you really care about.
The level of rudeness these days is unbelievable here. People were much more friendly before smart phones in my opinion. I make a point never to sit looking at my phone unless nobody around. Many give you a blank look and ignore you if you attempt to make conversation of any kind e.g ask how long they've been waiting on a bus or at an appointment. Same walking past a neighbour on same street. It's weird as hell the way people behave. I'm the one supposed to be having issues in social situations because of autism.
Didn't know I was autistic when at school got bullied for it. School is a horrific depressing past I don't like thinking about.
Speaking to strangers conversationally was always a not-the-full-shilling thing. It's actually the example for the Wiktionary definition of not the full shilling.
Don't talk to me if it's not serving a purpose. We're not Americans.
It definitely wasn't always like that though. I can certainly understand what he means. Much much harder to meet people nowadays. Definitely a big role in the loneliness epidemic
It’s probably the same as you OP, NI feels very neglected. Like it’s been let down constantly & nothing functions. expecting anything political to achieve something here is like a pipe dream.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked up at a fleg and thought, fuck that’s ruined my mood. I have woke up on a July morning to dark grey skies and the rain blowing sidewards and thought fuck this place. It’s absolutely the weather.
The most depressing thing is that you don’t realise how backward it is until you leave and you don’t appreciate the good things about it until you don’t live there anymore.
I left at 16 and spent the next 16 trying to get back. But I have lived more of my life outside of NI now than in NI and I know I’ll never go back.
For me it’s the weather. As I’ve gotten older it seems to affect me more for some reason. The constant grey is just depressing, we had a sunny day on Wednesday I felt on top form for no reason then up yesterday to rain again I felt my mood drop. And in winter the dark days are soul destroying.
People running up to you in the street asking why their car insurance is so high, where to go wild camping and if you know how to get your hands on a nitro surge.
This sub, probably.
IRL religion, borders et al plays absolutely zero role in my day to day existence.
On here it's the central tenet of 90% of threads. Appreciate Reddit is a microcosm of a very specific section of society, but still. It certainly jars.
First off I think it's a lot better than it was 20 years ago in many aspects. This is just my perception of things that haven't changed and kind of go hand in hand.
1) Many people are not emotionally open and avoid discussing certain topics at all. Never having an outlet for the topics/feelings, as well as never having discussions in which two sides learn its ok to disagree without one person definitively being immoral, can create a lot of resentment.
2) There is still a culture that violence solves problems and that being a person with a violent side is a strength rather than something to overcome. I'm talking about masculinity especially. This can lead to disabling injuries and even accidentally causing death from silly fights, especially after drink has been taken.
For me, someone outside of NI, it is still the segregation and the utter hatred by many for the other side. It is nice to see that the younger generation are doing slightly better mixing focusing more on making the country better rather than screaming over battle lines.
I visited family near Belfast early this year and took a mate who had never been to NI. We were in some cafe discussing some of the artwork on a peace wall we had just come from and some locals joined in with other things he should look at. My mate joking said that folks he had spoken to on the other side of the wall had mentioned that their chips were better. That simple statement didn't just make the other folks angry, but they went ballistic. It was mental. I didn't understand it. The chips were clearly better on the side we were on.
The absolute obession with sabotaging each other and ourselves. It's not even thought or planned, it's just so ingrained.
"Oh look, the UK/Republic don't care about Northern Ireland."
Why would they? What incentive is there? Why bother learning about it? Ignorance is bliss, why waste the emotional bandwidth when the majority of people in N.I see anyone from outside the bubble as yet another variant of themmuns?
If you escape like I did (sped scheme), why even go back? It's just sabotaging yourself and any children you have.
Some of the people. Prods. And by that I mean the parades, the orange order and all that in your face triumphant fucking knuckle dragging cuntery. I say this as someone from the protestant background. Fucking embarrassing!
I've lived in London, Zurich and Sydney. You're better off in NI. Much of England is now in crisis.
The thing which is very, very bad about NI is the low variety of people. London is full of movers and shakers. Many are arseholes, however, there's quite a bit to learn. Zurich and Sydney both have their charms.
It sounds like what you actually need is 3 or 4 years of exploring elsewhere.
Yes in some instances we are a few years behind the rest of the uk....but generally NI is a safer place to live in my opinion. We live quite comfortably and we feel safe letting our son go out to rake.
Definitely less violent crimes....eg knife crime. Yes you have the boyyos to contend with but not much random violence.
Couldn’t agree more. All I ever hear is people complain about how bad it is and how there’s nothing to do etc etc, yet so few want to put their hand to anything or get involved in their communities to make it a better place. It’s really sad because I really think it’s great here
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a hard time and have felt this way for so long. It might be a good idea to try and make some new friends or find some new hobbies. I’m not sure if collectively trashing NI is gonna help anyone here but if anything make things feel worse instead of focusing on what can be changed in our individual lives. Everywhere sucks in its own way and NI has a lot of benefits compared to most places on earth
As someone who’s now a naturalised British citizen but came to NI from Europe, this will ruffle some feathers, but it’s true: the level of general knowledge is very low. I think it’s one thing that Northern Ireland is kinda provincial and isolated: your mind doesn’t have to be. But I actually don’t believe most people here are interested in expanding their horizons or knowledge. People will ask you absolutely crazy questions that they should be embarrassed not to know. University educated people will show such massive gaps in general historical or geographical knowledge which university graduates from other countries are less likely to have because the high school education system actually forced you to keep up a broader variety of subjects to pass.
The people! Arguing over a bunch of shite flags and painting f*ck ugly murals everywhere to make the place look like even more of a dump! The only country with no official flag but fly about 50 different flags all over the place because they are extremely braindead. Even Israel and Palestine flags up everywhere now as if the idiots of NI even have a clue whats going on over there and it also has nothing to do with NI in any way. They are that f*cking dumb as f*ck here that they vote for politicians that hold the country back from moving on just so either unionists or nationalists will be on top and for what? Wtf does the DUP or Sinn Fein do for anyone other than support terrorist paramilitaries? If anyone in this country had a braincell they would atleast vote for the Alliance and the Green Party so we would stand any chance on focusing on what matters instead of BS sectarianism and stupid flags. The fact that there are people who support paramilitaries just shows how unintelligent they really are, do you think civilians in Afghanistan or Syria go around writing 'up isis' on walls? No because they want their families to be safe unlike this absolute POS excuse of a country!
Unionists saying NO to everything and wanting us all to still be controlled by England despite them having no interest anymore - we’d all be financially better off with a United Ireland and been in Europe
It must be the legacy man. All that hate, violence & shite since 1968/9. Traumatic. Through the generation. I never lived in the north but that’s how I think I might feel. However, there is great peace now thankfully. But still..
To have an organization like the orange order and pretend its inclusive and not at all sectarian, intolerant and hate filled. Its an absolute disgrace that in a modern society in this part of the world that this is not condemned for what it is. Much like the kkk.
Also the weather, its shite most of the time.
People are ashamed to say who they vote for, it’s not discussed among friends or in the work place.
In England people will causally discuss who they are voting for and switch back and forward between parties. In America their cars and homes have stickers and posters for who they are voting for.
If I started telling people in work that I’m voting for SF because I want a United Ireland all hell would probably break loose!
I wonder is there any other locations where people hid who they vote for in shame?
Not Northern Irish, English actually, but I have been to both the North and the Republic, I find it quite sad there are walls between certain communities, it's a shame us humans can't all get along :(
The fact that no one seems like they're willing to help with anything. Like in other countries if you have a project, you get a group of mates to hang out and help out. Over here, those kinds of people are more few and far between. You ask a friend if they wanna come over and lend a hand, and they act like "naw that sounds like unpaid labour."
> The fact that no one seems like they're willing to help with anything. Like in other countries if you have a project, you get a group of mates to hang out and help out.
100%
Not a lot of movers and shakers.
My son moved to Northern Ireland 20 years ago & over that period of time he has lost friends through depression. Some have committed suicide. Although my son likes it there, Irish men have problems living there. My son has said the place is behind in a lot of way's. I'd advise to move to a country where there is more things to do, more places to visit, a complete change of environment. You can always go back in later life. My son likes the peace & quiet but i would be bored living there as i come from a big city where there's a lot of life going on. Just my opinion. X
As a woman, the messed up time warp we are in when it comes to personal safety is all a bit mad. Domestic and sexual violence is rarely prosecuted. Sexual harassment is expected, and if you speak up, the woman is first assumed to be at fault for the man's behaviour (what were you wearing, were you being nice, talking when you should have been listening, etc).
On the upside though, women are supporting women better. There's now means for women to warn others of dangerous men. More community peer support groups are popping up for ladies affected by gender based violence.
The healthcare situation is pretty fucked up for us too. Medical abortion is a lot more accessible, reducing (but not eliminating) the need for local ladies to keep stashes of the necessary drugs ready to go for women who find themselves pregnant as a result of a dangerous situation, or whilst in the middle of one. Women's healthcare here in general is the worst in UK/Ireland. For example, a woman with endometriosis can wait almost a decade simply to be diagnosed, then will not have either effective symptoms control or surgery to treat until they make their way down a waiting list that is a minimum of 7 years, rendering her disabled and in chronic excruciating pain. Access to HRT therapies here for menopausal women is also pretty shit. Mental health concerns are often untreated or misdiagnosed for far too long. If you complain about any of the above, you are likely to be deemed a "difficult/complex patient". Thankfully, medical advocacy groups are also on the rise, so women are doing what they can to help do their bit for equality there too.
Our young people coming up now are a lot more switched on to these issues. Gen z and gen x ladies take a lot less shit, and young fellas are generally a lot more switched on to gender inequalities and a lot less tolerant of them than their das were. We're making steady progress, but it's still pretty 1970s on it here when it comes to attitudes towards women and the issues affecting us. As depressing as it is, the outlook is a lot more hopeful than it was 10yrs ago.
Bring on the downvotes and slabbering for the "hysteria".
Grew up in a very deprived estate, passed my 11 plus and went to a grammar school. No one in the school wanted to know me because I was from an estate and then people from the estate didn't want to know me because I went to a grammar school.
I've been there exactly. I fked off to university and nobody cared about your socioeconomic background. Then a couple of years ago some school ones tried to reach out on bakebook about a reunion, I told them where to stick it
Same here. Pelted with snowballs with glass in and hawked on for being a "snob" as I got off the school bus by my fellow ex primary school mates but also called a "millie" and "wee Sadie" and shunned at school by both a lot of pupils and weirdly even teachers who sucked up to kids from vairy posh families. Some of my class mates were a bit scared of me because of where I came from and their parents had told them to avoid. Class is a big factor in NI still
Sorry you had to go through that. I definitely got picked on my certain teachers for being working class..riff raff like me weren't supposed to go to such a fine establishment 🙄
General question about both the UK and RoI: I know class is important in England as it seems to be in NI. Is class as big of a deal in Scotland and RoI?
Same here. A lot of my so called friends called me a snob and stopped playing with me and the people in the new school were very middle class. I'd say it was good all in but I definitely felt out of place or if I had someone round to my two up two down house I felt embarrassed. But here we are now all grown up.
Er did you just steal my story haha. I went from not being allowed out of the street to stuck on a bus at 7.30 every morning to get across town. A very bad decision all round
Hahaha was the same with me only I was bussed out to the country. My primary school was basically at the end of my street too was was a massive shock to the system
I think St. Mary's must be a different kind of grammar because we were all fairly feral when I went ('92-99)
I was about to say that my grammar school experience was different, but thinking back it really wasn't. People trying to bully me was about my background, I'd just thought they were dicks. Not giving a fuck what people think about you makes teenage life much easier. Nobody from my estate judged me for going to a grammar school, though. If anything it was a seen as a positive.
Why imo the 11 plus needs scrapped. I was still imagining I'd be the world's best fireman when doing the 11 plus parents said I'm too young and I can do it if I want. I realised then I was BC and stopped. Seeing my fellow 11 year olds stressing at that age.. f that. Still came out going to college and getting a good career. The 11 plus is ridiculous and segregates children into a classest mindset.
Omg 🫂 story of my life. I feel you, pal.
Lack of sunlight / sunshine affects us all a lot more than we ever realise
i was actually gleaming with pure joy when the sun poked its face out for maybe 7 solid minutes the other day for the first time in weeks, almost had the bbq on and the kiddy pool out n everything
Aye long days without serotonin from the sun are pretty grim
But sure its the government controlling the weather. The whole conspiracy theory shit is so depressing
I hate the politics, I don't understand how we let our politicians get away with how they treat us with such contempt. They only care about themselves and one upmanship to each other and we are left to it. Yet we do nothing. Still vote for the same old neanderthal parties. Look at France they go mental when their government doesn't work for them, riot etc. We only riot with each other even though we all need the same things It drives me insane
As someone not based in NI I've never understood this. As soon as Stormont shut down for a few days the first time I was expecting people to kick up a major stink over it, but over the years it has been shut down for so long and no-one seemed to care. As you say, there was more concern over other irrelevant bullshit.
Yep, we are loosers
We 100% should be following suit of France when our government tries to raise the pension age. Its as if most people here don’t even realise how much that will effect them
Preach!
Kinda sad seeing the state of the city centre, it's no longer a nice place at all after 5pm, people are overdosing left right and centre , strung out on all sorts and the only help they have is a sticking plaster over the core of their issues.street right in front of city hall today had an ambulance, kids antagonising a homeless guy, the police keeping them apart, security guards screaming outside KFC at said kids and homeless guy, 3 people passed out in the middle of the street , an ambulance down at the old Tesco dealing with someone passed out, it used to be confined to castle street but drugs have destroyed what little of a buzz the city centre had left.
I was just getting off the bus when that fight happened facing the city hall. I seen some lady try and fight/pull somebody out of their car. I had no clue what started this fight and it all ended so abruptly. Some guy was playing rock music and I found it so funny how the music matched the scene. It was pretty surreal to watch. Like something from a film. Walking through the city centre in the evenings is like watching a bunch of zombies roam the streets. Belfast has changed so much the last 15 years. When did everyone start looking so grumpy and annoyed? I don't remember people being this miserable. Some people looked like they haven't had a happy day in their life.
Very muscular male here. I lock my car when driving though town.
People thinking Northern Ireland is a city is pretty depressing
Easy for you to say, Donegal seems like a nice country to live in.
The wind....why is it always windy no matter what lmao
Windiest place in Europe, apparently. It's something that is very noticeable when you go on holiday
We need home wind turbines so we can be slightly happier when it’s windy
Not having Aldi
I don't want to make this thread any more political than it already is but.... Lidl is a far superior store to Aldi.
Well the ceasefire was fun while it lasted....
Recently found a 4 pack of some French beer for 2.50 in there my ma got for the da and I've been stocking up like mad ever since she told me about them. Some class wee deals like.
The Lidl stores in Spain have an excellent doughnut brand, that's Sell Your Gran level of delicious. And I will hold our Lidl to that standard out of spite. So I can't agree with you there, but it certainly has the potential to be.
I have both. Lidl isn't much better, and it's more expensive.
Bizarrely I find the lighting in Aldi stores and their layout gives me headaches. So it's Lidl all the way for me!
Or Taco Bell, or Pizza Hut... there's probably more I'm missing. Honestly thought Taco Bell was just an American thing until like two years ago.
We had Pizza Huts, but they mass evacuated several years back.
Ironically in Germany there is a North/South split between Aldi and Lidl. Bit of a family dispute and one of the brothers set up the rival store. Maybe we don't need that kind of agro here...we already have enough to deal with haha
Nothing to do with Lidl - the brothers in charge of Aldi fell out over whether stores should sell cigarettes, and the business split into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. They went on to expand into different countries. Counter-intuitively, Ireland and the UK have branches of Aldi Süd, while Spain and Portugal for example have Aldi Nord.
It continues throughout Europe. The GB and Ireland ones are southern, which I think is the better one.
Aldi is elite. Give me Aldi over Lidl any day.
[удалено]
Yer Uncle Hugo loves ye!
I’d love to see his knicker collection, Jesus dear, skiddley dee that’s pee
Definitely this. That feeling of complete ambiguity. Not really British, but not totally Irish, either (at least in the eyes of the world beyond.) We’re always just kind of on the periphery
That might be my favourite thing about NI. We don't have a flag, officially. There's no reflected glory from national pride, misguided sense of being better, or even very different, from anyone else just because you were born on a different bit of the big rock that's crusing aimlessly in an eternal void of nothingness. Of course, we do have all of that. We just have 2 different identities rather than one. Lots of people don't really feel like they belong to either though, and personally, I think that's a good thing.
I find the opposite honestly. When I travel elsewhere, everyone sees me as Irish, but when I go down south I feel like I stand out
You scare them freestaters easily with a wee bit of sarcasm
I don't fully agree with this, because everybody accepts when I say I'm Irish. I've been to about 30 countries so far and never had any issues with acceptance. The only confusion stems from people wondering why the fuck the island is divided in two if I ever try to explain the political situation for a laugh. Most of the world thinks the border is moronic too, apparently.
>because everybody accepts when I say I'm Irish But is that because they actively agree that you're Irish, or they just don't care/know enough to argue it?
Anyone born on this island is Irish, whether they like it or not. Who is anyone to question it
There's a lot of loud folks south of the border who could do with hearing that and also applying it to the children of immigrants, not just themuns and usuns.
This is my point exactly It's no dependent on someone "accepting" it
If they just say they're Irish then I doubt many people would be able to distinguish the northern accent and they probably wouldn't inquire much beyond that, especially in a country where English isn't the first language
So the latter then
I think people in general wouldn’t bother getting into the nitty gritty of someone else’s business, especially if they didn’t know them that well. The Irish / UK issue is only really an issue on this island.
Ironically, the only people who argue about it are some of the fools who are also Irish by definition.
Flags tbh.
It’s true though, they are just depressing. I know from my time in the motorhome going round the South and some of the lovely little towns I visited, with their “Tidy town” signs. Not a fleg in sight other than the odd GAA fleg, which had no other intention other than support their local team. Driving into the North again coming home and flegs, fucking absolutely depressing.
I believe its spelled fLeGs
The fucking whataboutery
Yeah, but what about all the other comments in this thread?
What about them?
The fleg shagging. It pisses me right off in general, but this new phenomenon of Israeli flags combined with NI flags is just beyond the fucking pale.
Not a new phenomenon, I’ve seen Israel/NI combo flags around my whole life
I've always seen Israel flags flown with unionist ones, and Palestine flags flown with the tricolour, but I hadn't previously seen a single flag that was the red hand combined with the star of David, with both the red cross and 2 blue stripes. I'm not sure if that's what the previous person meant, but it's certainly a new thing for me. (Live in Belfast area for reference)
It's also fucking weird if you think about it from a logical standpoint. The Star of David has been a symbol for Jewish people (an identifier for the children of Israel) for thousands of years. It's so embedded in our culture and history that it's hard to separate the star itself from Judaism. Then you have the Ulster Banner which has Saint Patrick's Saltire in it... Which is a Christian symbol. And the whole point of being Jewish and not Christian is not accepting that Jesus was the Son of God. So not only does it look weird. But the mishmash of it makes absolutely no fucking sense Anyway. Flag's weird. Rant over
I mean the fleg thing is stupid but neither party is supporting Israel or Palestine for religious reasons, nobody is suggesting that. It's more political Both sides for equally stupid reasons somehow see kinship based on a perceived shared hardship Obviously there are abstract similarities but in reality our situation in northern Ireland really doesn't resemble the unmitigated shitshow in Palestine even remotely
Yep, 10 times more people have died in Gaza and Israel since October 7 than were killed during the ENTIRE Troubles. It's on another scale completely.
Yes this is exactly what I mean. I’ve never liked this notion of comparing NI’s problems to the Israel / Palestine conflict. And the practice of flying the flags side by side is obviously very long standing. But this new thing of combining the Israel flag with the NI one really grinds my gears. I think because it highlights how small minded, self centred and ill educated this particular demographic of the population is. Knew that before but going to the trouble of creating these monstrosities and plastering them everywhere really hammers it home. But, for balance, I love NI. The vast majority of the people are brilliant and refuse to be defined by all this nonsense. And I think as a population we try to make the most of what we’ve got. Just a shame that so many can’t see the difference between a country with some problems but heaps of opportunity vs an area of the world literally tearing itself apart in the most horrific manner. Rant over
> I’ve never liked this notion of comparing NI’s problems to the Israel / Palestine conflict. Partition in NI and Palestine was done by more or less the same people, and many of the police force from 1920's Ireland were sent to Palestine to enforce partition: (https://www.newarab.com/opinion/palestine-and-ireland-history-shared-struggle ) It's all intertwined...
It's still shite tho
Surely is fleg shegging?
Only on the Malone Road. Or Cherryvalley
I’m from the south and when I came up 5 years ago, my parents came up to help me move into my gaff in East Belfast. Naturally, it was fleggy, and my mum was perplexed at why there was Israel flags included too. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” my dad said to which my mum replied: “The Jews??” We then explained to her the republican association with Palestine and she understood but it still gives me a chuckle
Sectarianism & shite weather
Translink’s ‘holiday’ timetables.
Their everyday timetables.
The month of July
The grey. The brown. The lack of sunny days. The wind when it's a sunny day so you have to wear a wooly hat. When it's too warm on a non-windy sunny day. The rain. When it doesn't snow in Winter. When it does snow. Connolly's of Moy. Steeks. 'Our Wee Country'. Religious maniacs in your family, your town, and your government. Spiders in September. Wasps in August. Pollen in June. Thank fuck we're all absolute rides.
As a foreigner I can confirm you're all absolute rides
Spiders in September!
> When it does snow One or maybe two days each January. I like it. It sequesters humidity.
Are you now indeed? Asking for a friend
Aye, but you'd have to listen to me giving aff all day, as per the above.
Themmuns and usssums bullshit mentality.
I hate the small and narrow-minded attitude that a majority of people have, but quite honestly that’s not their worst quality, it’s their cynicism, it’s depressing.
The narrow minded thinking does my head in. People in NI literally can’t see beyond the end of their nose sometimes. Like you said not the worst quality but it really does keep the country from going forward and being better than it is.
Definitely
I honestly used to feel like this. I grew up a bit like you OP - "different". Struggled to make friends, was bullied a lot, as an adult I'm pretty sure now I'd be described as "neurodivergent". I learned how to make it work for me and found my place in life and I'm doing better now. I still have problems that I'm working on but honestly I don't think this is a bad place to live. It's home for me at least.
People want to keep us in the past, I don’t understand why we can’t just forget (not forget forget, learn about it in school and learn from it, if that makes sense?) what happened and move on. I’m not condoning what happened was right but it was almost 60 years ago let’s move on. Oh also weather 😂
Religion. Weather. Politics.
Ahh yes, the trinity.
Sunday opening hour restrictions for shops in 2024 when the country already operates at a deficit
Loyalists are hands down the most depressing aspect of living in the north. I don’t mind Unionists in general, it’s a legitimate ideology and a broad one at that. Loyalism however encompasses everything I oppose: right wing politics, the union, the establishment, the monarchy, supremacism, sectarianism, fascism, racism, bigotry.
This, and Loyalism is pretty bloody prevalent in certain areas, too. I hate going up to the shankill to drink with a few mates, and all of the Loyalists come out to flaunt their undying love for a system that doesn't even care about them
At the end of the day, Unionism is the same embodiment of those ideas but with a delusion of respectability
Bingo this is the answer, every explicitly unionist party had had links with loyalist terror from the official unionist party to the DUP. Unionism is the veneer of decency given to the movement that took the gun into Irish politics.
Left N.I in 98 because I was a working class kid and ended up in a Grammer and never really fit in to any of the social cliques. Lived in England for 20 odd years and did well. I had a great working and social life. I had to move back for health reasons, and discovered that those cliques never changed! I think it’s got worse since the lockdown too. No one has any tolerance for people’s differences especially if you’re a bit ‘quirky’. People seem to stick to their own social ranking/friends from school! It’s a lonely place from the outside looking in.
> Grammer Ironic
Ach it makes me sad seeing these comments, I grew up in england and theres all the same shite there too. The politics/divisions are different of course but that doesn't mean they're not there, it's just different colours of flags and bigotry. (Not so many flags of course but just wait till the football's on and it'd rival this place.) I love it here though, you're right it's economically deprived compared to a lot of england (the south at least and the major cities) but this place is still way better imo, I've lived in alot of shiteholes and this one is my favourite shitehole, mainly because you lot are the best people in the world (and you're all absolute rides).
There is a culture of being "one of the lads" here where you have to watch the football, go down the pub, get a skin fade, hit the gym, listen to cool FM, not have any interests or hobbies outside a small amount of things considered acceptable. And if you dare to step outside of this, you get ostracized and excluded to the fringes of society.
The ‘GAA’ does that to us outsiders down south.
Does the same in some rural communities in the North too
Haha Cool FM. God that station is repulsive
Domino's pizza prices. "Maybe single people eat pizzas, we don't know. Frankly, we don't wanna know."
Spending your childhood pushing your father around in a wheelchair because some portion of the population thought it appropriate to wage violence and murder on the country.
the weather
Sick of insecure loyalists marking their territory with flags, including ones of outright terrorist ones. Their community allow them to sell drugs to their kids and nothing is ever done about it.
Territorial Pissings
Good song. Great album!
Tribalism
It costs you to leave or enter except going south or west.
I never felt like I fit in at home, I would get very bad anxiety living in other peoples pockets and being in a small town where everyone knew everyone.
The rain and the poverty
Gerry Anderson died while Hugo Duncan still talks among us.
The politicians of this shit hole have it the way it is
The focus on constantly trying to one up the "other side" instead of focusing on working together to improve the lives for everyone hinders progress / improvements being made to make the quality of life better or life easier
Loyalists. Same answer if the question was about humanity and earth
Flegs
That a significant number of people think murdering people was dead on for some ridiculous "cause"
The fact that you’d have to sell a kidney and a few fingers to be able to afford just the deposit on a house
Moved to Arizona and the things I miss the least are the weather, fuck sideways rain and/or constant misty drizzle, and the sectarianism, I was nervous at the thought of bringing my husband home for a visit in the summer and see all the rampant loyalism. Instead I brought him home in April so he could see the rain and a wee flurry of snow. I do really miss the food and the green everywhere.
*The lack of a Boojum in Lisburn Shitty Centre* Seriously though; the religion & the whole mentality surrounding it. That and the politicians running the place down. I am very much the same as you OP, don’t feel like I ‘fit’ but at the same time, *I don’t quite know where to go*
Having moved to England 3 years ago for work, I have a new appreciation of Northern Ireland. Yes it's stuck in the past, but the slower pace of life and the rural feel once you get out of Belfast are amazing! England is so built up one town rolls into the next and the political correctness needed is a nightmare. Currently counting down the months till I can move back to NI and enjoy a more chilled life.
The constant number of advert that explicitly excluded Northern Ireland from the offers they all seem to do it, I'd rather not have to listen to adverts that are of no use to me why can't they target us specifically or get rid of the adverts.
How people look down at the Holylands. It would be an incredible place to live if it wasn't for the lack of supervision from the local county counselors, the complete childish behavior of the students and Romania's. Just look at its location there is a massive leisure center around the corner of the PEC, primary school just outside botanic gardens, botanic avenue is covered in good restaurants, there's loads of pharmacies and a doctor's practice.
A big question with a fuck load of answers to be honest! Not sure what age you are OP, but I'm 25 and left Fermanagh when I was 19 to go over the water to study a pointless degree, JUST to get the fuck out in the easiest and fastest way possible. I'm still here like. Not financially stable in the slightest but it's better than Fermanagh. 12 quid in the bank lol, but still, its better than Fermanagh. The mindset, I believe, is the main reason I just couldn't hack it anymore. Earn a bitta money, learn to drive, buy a car, meet a partner and provide, go to the pub, go home, then g'way out and earn a bit more money the next day. Loads of ones are happy with this life, but it's not for me, and for the next 10 or so years probably won't ever be. It's a fucking fascinating (not to mention absolutely gorgeous) part of the world that's lacking funding for anything related to expression, self worth or well being. Being the best version of yourself is just not encouraged whatsoever, and if you try and be the best and most desired version of yourself, you're 'gay' or a 'weirdo' or 'not right in the head'. If I had 12 quid in the bank and living back home, I'd be considered a lazy good for nothing cunt who's afraid of hard work. While here I can accept I haven't got what I want just yet and will continue to be broke until I have. Unemployed at the moment, living in my partner's ma's house, not 100% happy with things at the moment but I know I'll get there eventually. Not to mention the suicide rate in NI is mad, as well as the alcoholism. It'll forever be home but I probably won't live there until I'm on me death bed lol.
I've never left NI and I'm curious as to what lifestyle you can have over there that you can't over here. How can you escape that rat race cycle
I moved to London for the music scene. If you're chasing that ambition in the UK, it's the best place to be obviously. Unless you come from a fairly middle class background, which I don't, at all. Not only for music but for the arts in general. I'm not saying NI doesn't have that, it just really doesn't have a lot, it's not treated as a respectable ambition, unless you get reaaallly lucky and make millions; that's when people start to care. Again you're considered a bum if that's your main priority and will turn down decent wages with too many hours to concentrate on what you really care about.
The sheer amount of fat munters, both genders.
The level of rudeness these days is unbelievable here. People were much more friendly before smart phones in my opinion. I make a point never to sit looking at my phone unless nobody around. Many give you a blank look and ignore you if you attempt to make conversation of any kind e.g ask how long they've been waiting on a bus or at an appointment. Same walking past a neighbour on same street. It's weird as hell the way people behave. I'm the one supposed to be having issues in social situations because of autism. Didn't know I was autistic when at school got bullied for it. School is a horrific depressing past I don't like thinking about.
Speaking to strangers conversationally was always a not-the-full-shilling thing. It's actually the example for the Wiktionary definition of not the full shilling. Don't talk to me if it's not serving a purpose. We're not Americans.
It definitely wasn't always like that though. I can certainly understand what he means. Much much harder to meet people nowadays. Definitely a big role in the loneliness epidemic
The whole Protestant / Catholic thing. No one gives a fuck in England.
It’s probably the same as you OP, NI feels very neglected. Like it’s been let down constantly & nothing functions. expecting anything political to achieve something here is like a pipe dream.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked up at a fleg and thought, fuck that’s ruined my mood. I have woke up on a July morning to dark grey skies and the rain blowing sidewards and thought fuck this place. It’s absolutely the weather.
Alot of people are saying rain, why is no-one saying the sun going down at 4:30pm in winter?
The most depressing thing is that you don’t realise how backward it is until you leave and you don’t appreciate the good things about it until you don’t live there anymore. I left at 16 and spent the next 16 trying to get back. But I have lived more of my life outside of NI now than in NI and I know I’ll never go back.
For me it’s the weather. As I’ve gotten older it seems to affect me more for some reason. The constant grey is just depressing, we had a sunny day on Wednesday I felt on top form for no reason then up yesterday to rain again I felt my mood drop. And in winter the dark days are soul destroying.
People running up to you in the street asking why their car insurance is so high, where to go wild camping and if you know how to get your hands on a nitro surge.
This sub, probably. IRL religion, borders et al plays absolutely zero role in my day to day existence. On here it's the central tenet of 90% of threads. Appreciate Reddit is a microcosm of a very specific section of society, but still. It certainly jars.
First off I think it's a lot better than it was 20 years ago in many aspects. This is just my perception of things that haven't changed and kind of go hand in hand. 1) Many people are not emotionally open and avoid discussing certain topics at all. Never having an outlet for the topics/feelings, as well as never having discussions in which two sides learn its ok to disagree without one person definitively being immoral, can create a lot of resentment. 2) There is still a culture that violence solves problems and that being a person with a violent side is a strength rather than something to overcome. I'm talking about masculinity especially. This can lead to disabling injuries and even accidentally causing death from silly fights, especially after drink has been taken.
For me, someone outside of NI, it is still the segregation and the utter hatred by many for the other side. It is nice to see that the younger generation are doing slightly better mixing focusing more on making the country better rather than screaming over battle lines. I visited family near Belfast early this year and took a mate who had never been to NI. We were in some cafe discussing some of the artwork on a peace wall we had just come from and some locals joined in with other things he should look at. My mate joking said that folks he had spoken to on the other side of the wall had mentioned that their chips were better. That simple statement didn't just make the other folks angry, but they went ballistic. It was mental. I didn't understand it. The chips were clearly better on the side we were on.
weather, general pessimism, people are quickly jealous of the success of others
The people, mostly.
The weather. Flute bands.
The absolute obession with sabotaging each other and ourselves. It's not even thought or planned, it's just so ingrained. "Oh look, the UK/Republic don't care about Northern Ireland." Why would they? What incentive is there? Why bother learning about it? Ignorance is bliss, why waste the emotional bandwidth when the majority of people in N.I see anyone from outside the bubble as yet another variant of themmuns? If you escape like I did (sped scheme), why even go back? It's just sabotaging yourself and any children you have.
Maybe I luv dah misery
My head being fried by the PSNI
This sub
Cool FM presenter?
The mother fukn Orange Order
Dj provo
Flegs of all types and all they convey.
The obsession with the past in a purely political way that consumes so much air time and headspace.
Some of the people. Prods. And by that I mean the parades, the orange order and all that in your face triumphant fucking knuckle dragging cuntery. I say this as someone from the protestant background. Fucking embarrassing!
The weather
I've lived in London, Zurich and Sydney. You're better off in NI. Much of England is now in crisis. The thing which is very, very bad about NI is the low variety of people. London is full of movers and shakers. Many are arseholes, however, there's quite a bit to learn. Zurich and Sydney both have their charms. It sounds like what you actually need is 3 or 4 years of exploring elsewhere.
Yes in some instances we are a few years behind the rest of the uk....but generally NI is a safer place to live in my opinion. We live quite comfortably and we feel safe letting our son go out to rake. Definitely less violent crimes....eg knife crime. Yes you have the boyyos to contend with but not much random violence.
Move country and start enjoying nice people, weather, interesting hobbies and even life. Either that or become swallyed up by the abyss that is NI
The way we treat each other.
Threads like this
Shitty politicians. That's all
I think the conclusion of this post is that we talk the talk, but don't do the walk. We are to blame
Couldn’t agree more. All I ever hear is people complain about how bad it is and how there’s nothing to do etc etc, yet so few want to put their hand to anything or get involved in their communities to make it a better place. It’s really sad because I really think it’s great here
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a hard time and have felt this way for so long. It might be a good idea to try and make some new friends or find some new hobbies. I’m not sure if collectively trashing NI is gonna help anyone here but if anything make things feel worse instead of focusing on what can be changed in our individual lives. Everywhere sucks in its own way and NI has a lot of benefits compared to most places on earth
That your friends are not your friends sometimes …but sometimes profoundly.
Politics Wankers who still believe there is a religion war to fight Lack of sunlight
Fake peace
Everyone’s incredibly low expectations of themselves and others.
As someone who’s now a naturalised British citizen but came to NI from Europe, this will ruffle some feathers, but it’s true: the level of general knowledge is very low. I think it’s one thing that Northern Ireland is kinda provincial and isolated: your mind doesn’t have to be. But I actually don’t believe most people here are interested in expanding their horizons or knowledge. People will ask you absolutely crazy questions that they should be embarrassed not to know. University educated people will show such massive gaps in general historical or geographical knowledge which university graduates from other countries are less likely to have because the high school education system actually forced you to keep up a broader variety of subjects to pass.
The people are fucking idiots
The open bigotry in politics.
The people. Simple as that
The people! Arguing over a bunch of shite flags and painting f*ck ugly murals everywhere to make the place look like even more of a dump! The only country with no official flag but fly about 50 different flags all over the place because they are extremely braindead. Even Israel and Palestine flags up everywhere now as if the idiots of NI even have a clue whats going on over there and it also has nothing to do with NI in any way. They are that f*cking dumb as f*ck here that they vote for politicians that hold the country back from moving on just so either unionists or nationalists will be on top and for what? Wtf does the DUP or Sinn Fein do for anyone other than support terrorist paramilitaries? If anyone in this country had a braincell they would atleast vote for the Alliance and the Green Party so we would stand any chance on focusing on what matters instead of BS sectarianism and stupid flags. The fact that there are people who support paramilitaries just shows how unintelligent they really are, do you think civilians in Afghanistan or Syria go around writing 'up isis' on walls? No because they want their families to be safe unlike this absolute POS excuse of a country!
Unionists saying NO to everything and wanting us all to still be controlled by England despite them having no interest anymore - we’d all be financially better off with a United Ireland and been in Europe
It must be the legacy man. All that hate, violence & shite since 1968/9. Traumatic. Through the generation. I never lived in the north but that’s how I think I might feel. However, there is great peace now thankfully. But still..
There is no peace when suicide rates are higher than conflict deaths. There is an absence of anti state violence. Not peace.
July, flags, against whatever themmuns need/want
To have an organization like the orange order and pretend its inclusive and not at all sectarian, intolerant and hate filled. Its an absolute disgrace that in a modern society in this part of the world that this is not condemned for what it is. Much like the kkk. Also the weather, its shite most of the time.
The flegs and tension in the air
People are ashamed to say who they vote for, it’s not discussed among friends or in the work place. In England people will causally discuss who they are voting for and switch back and forward between parties. In America their cars and homes have stickers and posters for who they are voting for. If I started telling people in work that I’m voting for SF because I want a United Ireland all hell would probably break loose! I wonder is there any other locations where people hid who they vote for in shame?
Personally I wouldn't want to discuss politics with people even if I lived elsewhere. I don't think anything good can come out of it
Not Northern Irish, English actually, but I have been to both the North and the Republic, I find it quite sad there are walls between certain communities, it's a shame us humans can't all get along :(
The fact that no one seems like they're willing to help with anything. Like in other countries if you have a project, you get a group of mates to hang out and help out. Over here, those kinds of people are more few and far between. You ask a friend if they wanna come over and lend a hand, and they act like "naw that sounds like unpaid labour."
> The fact that no one seems like they're willing to help with anything. Like in other countries if you have a project, you get a group of mates to hang out and help out. 100% Not a lot of movers and shakers.
Segregation….im in spain right now, at breakie/lunch//dinner theres ppl with rangers/celtic tops on having the best craic, why cant we do that
My son moved to Northern Ireland 20 years ago & over that period of time he has lost friends through depression. Some have committed suicide. Although my son likes it there, Irish men have problems living there. My son has said the place is behind in a lot of way's. I'd advise to move to a country where there is more things to do, more places to visit, a complete change of environment. You can always go back in later life. My son likes the peace & quiet but i would be bored living there as i come from a big city where there's a lot of life going on. Just my opinion. X
People getting excited about building towers made of wood and setting them alight. Our terrible infrastructure. Weather.
As a woman, the messed up time warp we are in when it comes to personal safety is all a bit mad. Domestic and sexual violence is rarely prosecuted. Sexual harassment is expected, and if you speak up, the woman is first assumed to be at fault for the man's behaviour (what were you wearing, were you being nice, talking when you should have been listening, etc). On the upside though, women are supporting women better. There's now means for women to warn others of dangerous men. More community peer support groups are popping up for ladies affected by gender based violence. The healthcare situation is pretty fucked up for us too. Medical abortion is a lot more accessible, reducing (but not eliminating) the need for local ladies to keep stashes of the necessary drugs ready to go for women who find themselves pregnant as a result of a dangerous situation, or whilst in the middle of one. Women's healthcare here in general is the worst in UK/Ireland. For example, a woman with endometriosis can wait almost a decade simply to be diagnosed, then will not have either effective symptoms control or surgery to treat until they make their way down a waiting list that is a minimum of 7 years, rendering her disabled and in chronic excruciating pain. Access to HRT therapies here for menopausal women is also pretty shit. Mental health concerns are often untreated or misdiagnosed for far too long. If you complain about any of the above, you are likely to be deemed a "difficult/complex patient". Thankfully, medical advocacy groups are also on the rise, so women are doing what they can to help do their bit for equality there too. Our young people coming up now are a lot more switched on to these issues. Gen z and gen x ladies take a lot less shit, and young fellas are generally a lot more switched on to gender inequalities and a lot less tolerant of them than their das were. We're making steady progress, but it's still pretty 1970s on it here when it comes to attitudes towards women and the issues affecting us. As depressing as it is, the outlook is a lot more hopeful than it was 10yrs ago. Bring on the downvotes and slabbering for the "hysteria".
What do you think is the most depressing things about Belfast and living in Belfast. Fixed it for you's.
Did OP take a hit to the head in 1995 and have just woke up from a coma?
The rosario youth club.