What is meant by the UK and Ireland and the family. It is a bit of a new one.
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I’m not a British citizen, I can’t vote in the UK, hold a UK passport or pronounce yogurt in that weird way British people do. Yet over the past decade I have countless times had to correct people that being from Irelanddoes not make be British and no, Ireland is not in the UK. No, we don’t “just not want to be” we are no longer part of it and no Irish pounds were not the same thing as pound sterling.
I’m not alone in having these awkward conversations, most Irish people abroad encounter people who think we are part of Britain, and for the most part it does not bother me. I cannot expect everyone in the world to have a good understanding of the geopolitics of a very small European country; I’m no expert myself. But when they tell me I’m wrong about the status of our country, or when the person who makes the mistake is British themselves, then I do begin to get annoyed.
‘Idiot’
While living in the United States my house mate asked where Ireland was, before her boyfriend called her an idiot and that “everyone knows Ireland is in the UK”. He argued tooth and nail that he was right. A co-worker in Australia constantly called me British and when I gently corrected her, she rebutted “no, you guys just don’t want to be in UK, but you are”. I’ve had these encounters over and over, sometimes getting to the point where I show my driver’s license (it’s an old-style paper one, which usually invites even further ridicule).
I’m not alone in having these awkward conversations, most Irish people abroad encounter people who think we are part of Britain, and for the most part it does not bother me. I cannot expect everyone in the world to have a good understanding of the geopolitics of a very small European country; I’m no expert myself. But when they tell me I’m wrong about the status of our country, or when the person who makes the mistake is British themselves, then I do begin to get annoyed.
‘Idiot’
While living in the United States my house mate asked where Ireland was, before her boyfriend called her an idiot and that “everyone knows Ireland is in the UK”. He argued tooth and nail that he was right. A co-worker in Australia constantly called me British and when I gently corrected her, she rebutted “no, you guys just don’t want to be in UK, but you are”. I’ve had these encounters over and over, sometimes getting to the point where I show my driver’s license (it’s an old-style paper one, which usually invites even further ridicule).
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