celebrating british culture in the ROI

[rf]

How should descendants of unionists in the ROI ( who have a british element to their heritage) celebrate and maintain their culture and traditions without compromising their irishness and not offending their neighbours who more than likely fought against britain. i am sure some of you out there would be happy for all things british on this island to go away including the people but i believe there are three strands of irishness anglo irish, ulster scots and gaelic irish each of which should be equally valid and valued and that in my opinion is the way forward. when outsiders think of ireland they think of gaelic ireland but i cant help but feel that they should be able to see all three aspects. i also feel no body in ROI should be made feel ashamed or afraid to celebrate their british heritage. i guess it will be pointed out that there are many new traditions brought to ireland in this recent wave of immigration, no doubt as time proceeds these new irish will want their traditions to be valued.

[rf]

sorry for putting this in the fg section i meant to put it in chat

[pluralist]

sorry for putting this in the fg section i meant to put it in chat

Some would say it was correctly placed in the FG section!

[Leopold Bloom]

but i believe there are three strands of irishness anglo irish, ulster scots and gaelic irish each of which should be equally valid and valued and that in my opinion is the way forward.

Yes, but historically many of the leading lights (including Wolfe Tone, Roger Casement and Padraig Pearse) in Irish separatism have all been Anglo-Irish.

[Minstrel Boy]

I think many unionists in the ROI and many people of English descent have been thriving in Ireland for years. I know several Anglo-Irish people who are almost stereotypical in their Britishness (a love of hunting, near reverance for the Queen and wonderfully fruity accents). Perhaps it's that quintessentially British pragmatism but it seems to me those in Ireland who consider themselves English have carried on living their lives however they wanted and by and large no one has troubled them. Note the usually benign attitude of locals to the last few Irish peers living in stately houses around the country. As regards the ethnicity of Irish people, the 3 strands you identify are so mixed up now that very few people (living in the ROI) consider themselves to be purely of one group and I doubt anyone would pay them any attention if they did.

[Trefor]

How should descendants of unionists in the ROI ( who have a british element to their heritage) celebrate and maintain their culture and traditions without compromising their irishness

What is there to celebrate?

[Minstrel Boy]

Hunting is still legal in Ireland, you can get BBC and buy the Telegraph, be a presbyterian or a member of the Church of Ireland (which is thriving). Supporting the Irish cricket team would seem to be an inoffensive way of celebrating both allegiances. Even republicans are unlikely to find this type of activity overly worrying. There hasn't really been much of a tradition of marching outside NI as far as I know so really I can't see what more British people in Ireland would want to do that they can't already. (I know the first bit sounded tongue-in-cheek but I think it's a fair point).

[}IknowurbutwhatamI{]

I don't think there is much point in celebrating a culture that is more or less defunct and in my opinion backward and elitist.

[expat girl]

Supporting the Irish cricket team would seem to be an inoffensive way of celebrating both allegiances. Even republicans are unlikely to find this type of activity overly worrying.

Sure they'd be pretty unpatriotic if they did; aren't the cricket team on a bit of a winning streak at the mo??

[Limerick Lad]

......and not offending their neighbours who more than likely fought against britain.........

Who are all these neighbours who've fought against Britain, except for a few misguided people who were active in the IRA's recent activities, you would have trouble finding many neighbours who actually fought against Britain.