Tuesday 19 February 2008

What does the word Irish mean?

Is it just a synonym for a job poorly done? Recently, I have heard a number of people expressing frustration with the way something is done by using the expression "that's a bit Irish isn't it?". Generally, this reference occurs in relation to something done by the Irish government or by Irish companies. For example, when the NRA proposed the Nenagh bypass, people cried out for it to be made a dual carriage way. However, in their wisdom the NRA made it a single carriage way and now not long after been built they are ripping up parts of it to make it a dual carriage way.

One could argue that there are lots of good things that happen in the country, such as the achieving peace in the north, getting the smoking ban through, and putting in place plastic bag levy. Some Irish businesses have even redefined how Irish people live such as Ryanair in how they have transformed air travel in Europe. Is is possible that there are more bad things than good things, and has this resulted in the sad connotation that people have added to being Irish? Or are we a nation of begrudgers who do not recognise good things?

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