A mate of mine's kid started school recently in Balbriggan and no word of a lie, he's the only white kid in the class!
So the days of Phil Lynott and 'the other one' representing ethnic diversity in Ireland seem long gone...... Where are your guests coming from?
90& of students studying medicine/nursing in the country's schools plan to emigrate meaning we have to import labour for the Health Service from the likes of India, Philippines etc. We also have a large multi national companies based in the country and they have admin staff servicing their local European markets. Google, Facebook, ebay, paypal and many more IT/Computer firms have their European HQ based in Ireland as we are the only English speaking country in the Eurozone and also we offer lower taxes. We have 3,000 Nigerian taxi drivers in Dublin alone. We have 50,000 Chinese and 30,000 Brazilians students here to study English. About half a million Eastern Europeans mostly from Poland. We have a lot of South Africans here trying to escape the crime in their own country etc etc etc
I'd say Nigeria and Poland Stan although I'd guess a lot of the latter left when the economy went into meltdown. They've come from all over I suppose. I always thought he was Welsh?
My company (a US one) has a massive manufacturing plant out west somewhere, definitely tax related, and there are loads of others from the same industry in the same area. Good for you, as the kit is very cutting edge and difficult to disinvest from once you have it in place, should really encourage science based employment. It's been there a long time and we have a lot of Irish people involved in our manufacturing in the US and elsewhere now as well. Those numbers are surprisingly large though. The last time I spent any serious time in Ireland (more than a 24 hour or less work related visit) was in the early 90's, and it certainly wasn't very diverse then. Not that it was a problem for me.
Times have changed. It is very diverse now. For a little small country that didn't conquer anywhere, we have imported huge amounts of people. I would guess at least 20% of people here were not born in the country. In North Inner City Dublin I think that figure is 67%. There are pros and cons to it but overall, to me, it is a good thing. We still have a huge brain drain with the likes of Australia, Canada and the UK still attracting a lot of our young educated people. The Irish diaspora is still spreading around the world.
Back to the OP, what's your favourite Irish pub? I suppose this means outside Ireland, as most would be Irish pubs there, though I'd be interested in locals recommendations as it strikes me I need to make a visit. May try to get over for an Irish R's meet up next season. I avoid Irish 'themed' pubs in the UK, but real pubs adopted by Irish people can be lively, if you are with Irish mates. Irish pubs in other countries are usually reliable boozers. In the US its a completely different universe, as they are the norm, with as much variation as in Ireland I'd guess. In Chicago there must be hundreds, if not thousands, but a native Irish American took me to one called Barry Maguire's on Division Street which I loved - nothing special or different, but great staff and it was special to my mate as one of his boozers as a youth. Plus they did something called the 'mystery shot', an unidentified spirit for $1, if you guessed it you got a bottle. Turned out to be revolting chilli flavoured vodka. We guessed gasoline.
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I hope everyone's having/had a good St. Patricks day. I'm not Irish myself but any excuse for a celebration, unfortunately stout disagrees with me but I've had some of Mrs. Kents Baileys (I hope that counts).
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The locals of my youth (in Harlesden, Willesden and Kilburn) were pretty much all Irish pubs and all the better for it. My regular haunt, The Green Man in Harlesden, was said to be the second biggest seller of Guinness in the UK, beaten only by the renowned Crown in Cricklewood - where the craic was good!
Thanks very much for posting that video of the Dubliners Stroller. I have visions of the Irish navvies waiting outside the Crown in Cricklewood to be taken to some site for a bit of work. It brought back many happy memories I had from the 6 years I lived in Kilburn. I went for a little stroll there along the Kilburn High Road prior to the Tottenham match the other week. Like everywhere, it is changing and is certainally not as Irish as it used to be. The next wave of immigrants seem to have moved in to the area. I met a couple of lads I knew so my little trip up there was worthwhile.
Did I read somewhere that the green lighting on these attractions is paid for by the Irish tourist board? Seem to recall the Sydney Opera house charged the most
I hadn't thought about that. Great idea nevertheless. It would be interesting to know how much they have to pay.
Read somewhere that the whole shebang cost about €65000, including 8k for the Sydney Opera House and 6.5k for the London Eye. We had the last laugh though cos we charged them double that to put it back again...
Very good marketing by the Irish Tourist Board (Bord Failte). 65K euros is a pittance for the exposure they get worldwide. Money well spent.
