UK suffers from 'plastic paddy syndrome'

Are we really this popular?


From BreakingNews.ie

UK suffers from 'plastic paddy syndrome'
14/03/2006 - 18:41:07

A third of people living across the United Kingdom suffer from “plastic paddy syndrome”.

Irish is the number one wannabe nationality, with new evidence revealing many claim Irish connections – including having Irish ancestors “somewhere“, “knowing someone Irish“, and simply “wanting to be Irish“.

In the independent survey commissioned by Rankin Selection Irish Breads, nearly half of all English, Scottish and Welsh people questioned said they would prefer to be Irish, after their own nationality.

Welsh emerged as the least popular with only 13% choosing it, while English was just in front with 14%. Scottish came second with a modest 29%.

A mutual love between the Irish and Scottish was also revealed with 58% of Scottish people choosing to be Irish and 72% of Irish people opting to be Scottish.

Biggest fans of Ireland were the younger generation, with 52% of 16-24 year olds nominating Irish as their preferred nationality, compared to 36% of 55+ year olds.

The survey which was conducted across Britain and Ireland, also revealed that 80% of respondents put St Patrick’s Day ahead of their own patriotic days, as part of what the survey commissioners branded “plastic paddy syndrome”.

In England just 13% nominated St George’s Day as most important, while St Andrew’s and St David’s Days got 5% and only 3% respectively.
 
"Biggest fans of Ireland were the younger generation, with 52% of 16-24 year olds nominating Irish as their preferred nationality, compared to 36% of 55+ year olds."

there's a ton of truth in that. i lived in the UK during the 90s and i saw the change happening in front in my own eyes.

i know we all take the piss out of Westlife and Boyzone - but seriously, they have done wonders for Ireland amongst British youngsters.

instead of I.R.A. , they now think "oooh - Ronan... ", and the Irish accent is actually "sexy" - rather than , as in the 70s - "oh fuck , he's a terrorist"

big change like.

westlife - crap music ( well to me - but about 10 million odd British beors would disagree...) , but it helped our image - we're no longer the "thick paddy" of old - we're the third cousin twice removed to that cute blonde feen that all the girls are after. MAD...
 
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Yeah, I also spent some time in college London in the 90s and experienced both sides of the coin. The girls loved the accent and most of the fellas were sound but on many an occassion I got the "oh your Irish, you must be a terrorist" crap. I was there for the Canary Wharf bombing and around that time I felt very concious about my accent in public. There were anti-terrorist notices every and a frightened and on-edge public can often over-react. Best to keep the gob shut!
 
Yeah, used to it by now. In mid-conversation last Friday, when the girl I was talking to just cut across me to say to her friend 'doesn't he have a lovely accent'. hard to know what to make of it, really, but you just lt it go.
 
pudgee said:
Yeah, used to it by now. In mid-conversation last Friday, when the girl I was talking to just cut across me to say to her friend 'doesn't he have a lovely accent'. hard to know what to make of it, really, but you just lt it go.

lovely accent, pity he's an ugly twat
 
yeah, you guys are the dogs, innit?

im actually from kent, but i once lived with an irish guy which is how i ended up here. he loved his drink, know what i mean?
 
tucker lyons said:
have you come across the one where you ask for a burger and the girls behind the counter all gather to gawp and say 'say burger again?'

thats a new one to me....

tucker

"thirty three and a third" i used to get.

that was mainly in scotland though. i think it must stem from some tv show?
 
steve sanders said:
"thirty three and a third" i used to get.

that was mainly in scotland though. i think it must stem from some tv show?

Yeah, that's hilarious all right.
Unfunny Dub comedian Andrew Maxwell used to actually do a reasonably amusing routine about being told 'you got an accent' by cockneys.
 
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