According to Michael O'Keefe...
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wrote on 11 Apr 2025, 21:03 last edited by Renauda 4 Nov 2025, 21:08
In my undergrad years I often went beer drinking on Friday evening with a motley group that included a half dozen or so Irish engineering and chemistry grad students. Most were from Eire but there were a couple very pro Sein Fein blokes from Ulster. The main bond between us all was to drink beer then start singing the usual Irish, Scots and Atlantic Canada pub songs. The infamous Bobby Sands hunger strike happened around that time and it became something of a topic. I recall the Eire fellows telling the IRA sympathizers (Ulster and Canadian) not to romanticize life too much in independent Eire as it was a rather dismal “priest ridden” place where, outside the larger cities, a fellow was forced to buy condoms on the black market. To a person they were hoping to someday work in the UK or immigrate to Canada.
Am not at all sure what this O’Keefe fellow is rhapsodizing about when he refers to old Ireland.
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In my undergrad years I often went beer drinking on Friday evening with a motley group that included a half dozen or so Irish engineering and chemistry grad students. Most were from Eire but there were a couple very pro Sein Fein blokes from Ulster. The main bond between us all was to drink beer then start singing the usual Irish, Scots and Atlantic Canada pub songs. The infamous Bobby Sands hunger strike happened around that time and it became something of a topic. I recall the Eire fellows telling the IRA sympathizers (Ulster and Canadian) not to romanticize life too much in independent Eire as it was a rather dismal “priest ridden” place where, outside the larger cities, a fellow was forced to buy condoms on the black market. To a person they were hoping to someday work in the UK or immigrate to Canada.
Am not at all sure what this O’Keefe fellow is rhapsodizing about when he refers to old Ireland.
wrote on 11 Apr 2025, 21:41 last edited by@Renauda said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
In my undergrad years I often went beer drinking on Friday evening with a motley group that included a half dozen or so Irish engineering and chemistry grad students. Most were from Eire but there were a couple very pro Sein Fein blokes from Ulster. The main bond between us all was to drink beer then start singing the usual Irish, Scots and Atlantic Canada pub songs. The infamous Bobby Sands hunger strike happened around that time and it became something of a topic. I recall the Eire fellows telling the IRA sympathizers (Ulster and Canadian) not to romanticize life too much in independent Eire as it was a rather dismal “priest ridden” place where, outside the larger cities, a fellow was forced to buy condoms on the black market. To a person they were hoping to someday work in the UK or immigrate to Canada.
Am not at all sure what this O’Keefe fellow is rhapsodizing about when he refers to old Ireland.
My sister in law is from Dublin. She left in the late 80’s or early, as did a lot of her friends and family, to live in England. It was very common. It doesn’t make sense to go on about this idyllic place of the past when so many have left for a better life elsewhere.
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wrote on 11 Apr 2025, 22:51 last edited by
What century are we talking about again?
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wrote on 11 Apr 2025, 23:18 last edited by
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
What century are we talking about again?
Yeah, it was completely different in 2005 from how it was in the early 90's.
Obviously, your observations based on some rando on Twitter are going to much more on the mark than my family who've actually lived there.
And admit it, you thought the guy you were quoting was the actor, right?
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wrote on 11 Apr 2025, 23:35 last edited by
No. TBH, I don't have a clue who Michael O'Keefe is.
But I agree with what the guy wrote.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 00:06 last edited by Renauda 4 Dec 2025, 00:07
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
No. TBH, I don't have a clue who Michael O'Keefe is.
But I agree with what the guy wrote.
But of course you would. He wrote it specifically with you in mind.
You must feel important, Beauregard “Listen Boy” Foghorn.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 00:25 last edited by Doctor Phibes 4 Dec 2025, 00:31
Just to add a little perspective - despite recent increases, roughly 1% of Ireland is Muslim, which is roughly the same percentage as the number of native-born Irish living in England, and somewhat less than the number of Brits living in Ireland.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 01:55 last edited by
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
No. TBH, I don't have a clue who Michael O'Keefe is.
But I agree with what the guy wrote.
It's also worth noting that historically and for good or ill, the British have done more to change the traditional Irish way of life than any Muslim.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 01:58 last edited by
Good thing he didn't specify only Muslims, isn't it?
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 02:44 last edited by Doctor Phibes 4 Dec 2025, 02:49
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Good thing he didn't specify only Muslims, isn't it?
OK, he didn't actually come out and say 'non-whites', although clearly the implication was there. I'm not sure that actually makes it any better.
Interestingly enough, somebody is claiming he's not actually Irish, but a Brit. Which if true would be very, very funny.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 03:19 last edited by
Yes, O'Keefe is a common British name...
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 11:52 last edited by Doctor Phibes 4 Dec 2025, 11:52
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Yes, O'Keefe is a common British name...
More common than Badenoch or Sunak, the last two leaders of that most English of institutions, The Conservate Party.
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wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 13:15 last edited by
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
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Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 13:21 last edited by Doctor Phibes 4 Dec 2025, 13:24@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
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@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
wrote on 12 Apr 2025, 13:29 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
A homogeneous population is not the take-away. He's bemoaning the loss of what makes Ireland culture unique. That's what happens when the influx of immigrants is too large and too fast to assimilate.
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@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
wrote on 13 Apr 2025, 00:48 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
You had the curries already in 1990.
England got better after that with EU immigration and much, much worse with middle eastern and south Asian migration. By which I mean Islamic immigration.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
@Jolly said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
Are you now going to posit that a massive influx of foreigners has been good for England? Both economically and socially?
No, there's currently clearly a problem with immigration. However, it's also not all bad by any means. Britain today is a much more vibrant, colourful and interesting place than it was in the 1950's.
The idea that a completely homogeneous population is better, as this guy seems to be implying, is simply not true. As with most things, moderation is a good idea.
You had the curries already in 1990.
England got better after that with EU immigration and much, much worse with middle eastern and south Asian migration. By which I mean Islamic immigration.
wrote on 13 Apr 2025, 11:51 last edited by@jon-nyc said in According to Michael O'Keefe...:
You had the curries already in 1990.
England got better after that with EU immigration and much, much worse with middle eastern and south Asian migration. By which I mean Islamic immigration.
It's ironic that Brexit was sold as a solution to the immigration from Europe, which I agree improved the country no end. What's happened since then is definitely problematic, and the points based system that was introduced seems to have increased the number of immigrants, which presumably wasn't its intent.