Quote: "lol ... there are ManU fans all over England, it doesn't matter where you are in the UK - you ain't gonna have anything happen to you just for wearing a shirt of another team."
Heh, I guess Man U was a bad example, but there are instances of football-related violence around England. I'm not saying it's typical of England. In fact, my exact point is that it's
not.
Quote: "It ain't the english who are intolerant, but that said i've never been treated badly whenever i've been in ireland.
Sure Northen Ireland is a different atmosphere to Ireland, but that doesn't mean they go around thuggin' any English people they find."
The Republic is fine. No one's bothered down there. It was something of a revelation when I first visited. In Northern Ireland, yes, you may in some places have a problem if you wander round with an English accent. But the same would be true in England if the roles were reversed. It's unusual circumstances, and can't be taken as an indication that all Irish are intolerant. I will concede, however, that, speaking as a native of there, Northern Ireland has a shameful degree of violence relating to nationality and religion. That doesn't make the Irish as a people intolerant. Things are just heated in Northern Ireland, like in just about any country where soldiers from a different country hover on street corners with loaded weapons, and where people have long memories of British Army soldiers firing on protesters.
Quote: "ya know the only real areas which have a true problem with the English are the boarder town, even then its only certain area's of the towns like anywhere."
Yeah, my old neighbourhood over there is pretty rough. I couldn't go back now, because I sound too English.
Quote: "
I think there are alot of misconceptions being thrown around eitherside from the news and old stories ..."
Again, my point. We can pull examples out of our arses all day, but we couldn't say either country is particularly tolerant or intolerant. I could say that England is intolerant for stationing troops and building army bases in Northern Ireland. I wouldn't call that a tolerant attitude at all. But that's not my opinion of England. Both countries are as bad, I just do not appreciate being tarnished with the same brush that would cover a minority. I am not intolerant. Impatient, opinionated, and sometimes an arse, yes. But that's another story.
Wow, crikey, this has really stretched on... sorry, Yarbles.
