[extropy-chat] Living in Ireland -the reality

[Dirk Bruere]

Alex Ramonsky wrote:

> I know this is a response to a rather old post and I apologize for my 
> tardiness...
> I lived in various counties in Ireland (Not the same thing as Northern 
> Ireland, BTW -there is no conflict in the South) from 1986 until 1999, 
> when I moved to the UK.
> The bad news:
> We had no electricity, no toilets, no running water. We were not 
> unusual. Most of our neighbors didn't either.
> Since we are not catholic, there was little chance of getting employed 
> or a decent place to rent. We were treated as second class citizens, 
> known as  'blow-ins'. We were refused service in all catholic pubs and 
> some shops and restaurants.
> We were stopped on the street by the cops regularly and searched for 
> no apparent reason. We were ripped off by the locals at every 
> opportunity.
> There are drunks everywhere, and real mental cases wandering around on 
> the streets accosting people for money/booze.
> Car insurance is prohibitively high. Irish roads (about the same 
> standards as much of Africa) meant we needed a new 
> gearbox/clutch/suspension every year or so.
> It rains almost every day, and the winds are icy and blasting for much 
> of the year.
> The attitude to science? There were 5 religious education lessons per 
> week in our local high school and 2 science. Catholic prayers had to 
> be done before and after every lesson, and in the mornings.
> The good news:
> You won't have to send your kids to school. (That's why we did it). 
> You are very unlikely to get burgled, mugged, raped, beaten up or 
> murdered.
> Or indeed, acknowledged at all.
> Enjoy. :  )
> AR
>
Now you know why the Protestants of the North have fought tooth and nail 
not to be part of a united Ireland under the Xian Taliban.
Of course, things are much better now than they were a few decades ago.
The Eire govt no longer seeks prior approval from the Catholic Church 
hierarchy when making policy decisions etc

-- 
Dirk

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