The Queen's visit on the 17th... A hot topic

QUEEN Elizabeth II is expected to visit Cork on the last day of her official state visit to Ireland. But some Irish people don't seem to be very enthusiastic about that. For instance, Sinn Féin said it will oppose the visit and stage protests and that "It will be a sad day for Cork if the visit happens". Historical reasons may explain such comments.
Since the visit of King George V in Dublin in 1911, no British monarch on official duty was back in the Irish capital. The bloody struggle for independence, from 1916 and the conflict between republicans and loyalists in Northern Ireland for over three decades had led to the present complicated relationships, even conflicting, with the English crown, long symbol of the oppression of the former British Empire.
What is more, for some people "The British monarchy is based on values of hierarchy, inequality and deference which have no place in a modern republic. I see no reason why this feudal relic should be invited to Cork, or feted at taxpayers’ expense." 

On top of that, after Eurovision results, loads of groups on facebook came up regarding how many points the UK gave to Ireland and vice versa. The UK gave 12 points to Ireland and Ireland gave 6 points to them.

"England: you owe us six points!!!! Ireland: You owe us six counties?!"

"What every Irish person was thinking during the UK votes: give us 12 or the queen gets it" 

Nevertheless, some are PRO-Queen's visit and highlights the economic stakes this will involve.The city council’s head of corporate affairs, said it will boost the city’s national and international profile :"We are well used to state visits and will pull out all the stops. We are also very conscious that the UK is our biggest tourist market and we want to showcase the best of what the city has to offer," she said. 

15° in Ireland...Summer time for Irish !!!!

The last 2 weeks were quite sunny in Ireland. But not that warm... 15° (ok, maybe 17° at a peak...). I was so shocking to see all Irish wearing shorts, flip flops and dresses ... I'm still wearing my winter coat some days... I feel so weird amongst them !!

Ma grand-mère m'a toujours dit : "avril ne te découvre pas d'un fil ! ". And I'm still keeping that in mind, especially in Ireland !

Socks with sandals banned in Tramore ...

Large notices have been put up on the outer railings of Waterford town Tramore's only children's playground saying: 'Socks must not be worn with sandals at this playground. Especially white ones. Its very creepy and wrong.' 

Fashion lesson ??? Joke ? Irish humour ?

Nope!!!

Explanation: Local town councillor Maxine Keoghan said Tramore does not have a strict dress code but it did not want creepy old men with comb overs loitering around the playground and handing out sweets to children they didn't know.

Report say that a growing number of middle aged men have no fear of braving the elements in light-coloured socks and sandals. Read more :

http://www.oxygen.ie/council_bans_socks_with_sandals.PAGE4068.html

"Like", one of the favourite word of the Irish

What's the craic, boy ? Oh my god, Will ye stop messing, like ?

which means: What's up? Oh my god, will you stop that behaviour ?

Irish-style speaking... Some rules and idiomatic expressions to fake being an Irish:

- Say "like" as much as you can. You have to put it at least at the end of each sentence!

- Say "Thanks a million" instead of "thanks very much"

- Use  "Good craic". Be careful bacause if you say it to an American or an English, they could understand you are looking for drugs! Actually, this gaelic word doesn't have a clear translation. It means having a good time, having fun with your friends, listening music and drinking. In French, it's "amusement, divertissement, fun". if you want to know where there is a good party, you can ask "where is the craic?"; If someone asks you "How was your night?", you can answer "it was good craic".

- Say "chuck it down" if you definitely agree with your friends. It's a slang expression especially used in Cork. In French, we would say "carrément!".

- Say "lovely" for everything!

 (even if it's not lovely)

- Say "Jesus Christ" for anything you're in shocked. In French, we would say "c'est pas vrai??!!"

e.g : " - I went to a houseparty last night and I walked home around 9 a.m.

          - Jesus Christ! You're f***** crazy man !!"

Each time I hear an Irish saying it, it makes me smile because if I would say it in France, people would stare at me very weirdly).

--St Patrick's Day-- What a day !

I celebrated St Patrick's Day (or St Paddy's Day) in Cork; and I have to say: it was amazing !

So, first, before showing pictures and videos about this crazy day, have a look to this video, which give you an idea of how Irish celebrate it :

First of all, be aware that Paddy's Day starts at 00h01 am, which means you have to go out the night before the 17th. (It also means that irish have been drunk for 48 hours). As Paddy's Day is a bank holiday, everyone is out the night before.

The 17th, if you are alive, you can begin your day with a bailey's coffee. At 1 pm, go ahead to the parade in town, enjoy and keep drinking of course !
To me, it was a very strange parade! You can see celtic music, dance schools, Irish army, foreigner communities, sport club but also people praying (while parading)...so much different stuffs in this parade...

Celtic music (moment intense pour moi, limite un peu homesick de ma Bretagne en les écoutant)

Polish community (there are loads of Polish in Ireland)

 Chinese community

Sport club

Let's see some pictures of this crazy day:

Have look to her tights !!

the famous leprechaun !!

Even Mac Donald's has St Paddy's colours!

Some pubs, such as An Brog had green pints for this day...and most pubs had Irish bands. Irish people spend easily 30 hours in pubs for Paddy's Day drinking beers... and people from 16 till 90 years old, both sexes, everyone drinks !!!!!!! I saw in front of a pub 3 women, who were around 50 years old, smoking and they were so drunk... 2 of them called a taxi for the third one who was shit faced...It was only 8.30 pm. ahaha!
I think this day is definitely the most profitable for pubs.
St Patrick's Day is such an experience to live ... I strongly recommend to spend it in Ireland at least once in your life !

Technology, Computing Sciences, Social Media... Irish are ahead of the game

With the biggest multinational companies over here such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Blizzard Entertainment, Apple and so on... We can understand why Irish are ahead the game.

As regards to Social Media, every pub in Ireland has a facebook page... On top of that famous Irish brands such as Cully&Sully, for example, uses Social Media very cleverly but also with online contest like "Chef-factor" (see http://www.cheffactor.ie/). I think Irish companies have a bigger awareness of what you can do and what you can get with Social Media and Internet in a whole.

But to what extend are they ahead of the game ??

"A new survey finds that 43% of Irish children report using the internet excessively compared to the EU average of 30%. " Irish Examiner, Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Read more:http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/children-feel-they-use-web-too-much-144585.html

I told about that to a friend (who is Irish) and she said that she thinks this can be true and adding her six years old little brother got a laptop et Christmas !!!!! A real laptop, not a toy! Shouldn't he play with toys at this age ? So, where are the boundaries?

Rag week in Ireland

A week that will never happen in France… A week in which everything is allowed… A week in which lecturers have like holidays, garda and taxis are overbooked… Let’s see in details what is this RAG week!

RAG week = Raise and Give Week. 

Officially, the aim of this week is to raise money for charity organisations at college. For that, contests, games and gigs are organised during the week. Watch this video ("an opportunity to have fun and entertainments!!" ahaha)

Unofficially, this is a week where students drink alcohol 24/7 and skip lectures. 

Exemples of events and games : 

Pillow Fight in Amphitheatre. (BYOP or pillows will be on sale €5 on the day)

Shaving & Waxing for Charity

Got a big scruffy head of hair, or legs that would make ... cringe?? Get involved in our charity shave and wax

€20 to shave off your hair for charity

€50 to wax one leg

€70 to wax both legs

€100 to wax everything you got... and by everything, we mean E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G!!!

Eat the more pizzas the faster you can 
like in american movies.... disgusting!!

Iron stomach : you have to eat some gross stuffs (e.g: tampons...)

They also sell naked calendar and hoodies !! 

When we see such a week in French universities, pigs might fly !

Showers from the Middle Age

Ireland is known for a country where people are very sensitive to high technology and stuffs… but what about buildings, electric & gas installations and plumbing???

I don’t really know how to describe showers in Ireland… I have never seen such installation anywhere… Everything is old… I mean they don't know modern equipments. On top of that, nothing complies with standards… I’m afraid that my house explodes sometimes because of a gas leak or something like that.

If you want to have a shower, you have to pull on a rope in order to connect the shower... And you didn’t see ovens… most houses have gas ovens in which you can see the flame inside. It’s like France 30 years ago! During Christmas holidays (hopefully I was back in France), there was no water anymore at my place for a few days because pipes were frozen!! And it was the case for a major part of Cork!

But what’s strike me most is the fact that each house has a survival blanket and fire extinguisher! Before providing such stuffs, they should build houses which comply with standards!!

Anyway, for those who want to set up their business in plumbing or electricity or whatever, consider the irish market because there are big opportunities to grab!!

Funny stuffs in Dublin...

Irish humour ... ahaha

I love this sign !!!

 So useful for foreigners...

I was in Dublin for Valentine's Day and I was so shocked to see so much stuffs for that day !

In every street you could find florists and the most funny... Knorr, which made a special ad for this day...

Irish people, easy target for marketers ??

Nothing striking about this sign ?

Sign in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin

Have a look, nothing weird ??... To my mind, that jumps right out at you!

I'm waiting for your  answers...

Getting food and stuffs at 3 am at the supermarket...

Let's talk about channels of distribution in Ireland... Again something very different from my home country !

Supermarket : Unbelievable but true! You can get food at anytime in Tesco for example (one of the famous supermarket in Ireland).

Insomnia ? End of your party and don't feel like going to bed ? No time during the day for your food shopping ?

Go to supermarket !!!! It's opened 24/7... 

Shop: you can get some food and stuffs in small shops such as Centra or Daybreak. They are situated in streets out of the city center. It is similar to "épicerie" in France. You can get primarly food : milk, butter, biscuits, sliced bread, beans, pizzas, coke and any type of sodas, soap, bubbles, cigarettes...

There is an ATM in most of them. You can also top up, get a fresh sandwich or wrap. In some, alcohol is sold. Again, they open late, till 10 or 11 pm.

 

on the left : Daybreak shop

Off-Licence: what's that ?? It's a shop, or a counter in a pub or hotel, where alcoholic drinks are sold for consumption. It's usually opened till late in the evening (11 pm or more). In Ireland, you can find an Off-Licence in almost every street... Needless to say that channels of distribution regarding alcohol are organising efficiently and well widespread... 
A few words about types of alcohol in these shops: flasks of vodka/rhum/whiskey ; bottles of wine from 6€ (de la piquette mais c'est le moins cher! oui j'ai bien dit 6€) till very expensive ; around 25 beer brands; around 10 cider brands; sodas; Pringles ( one of the only cake appetizers you can find in Ireland); condoms and chewing-gums !!! 

Going to lectures in tracksuits and hanging out in mini-mini skirt

It's common for Irish to go to lectures in tracksuits. Nobody is looking at what you wear...No one cares of that. .. This is very different from France for exemple! If you go to lectures in tracksuit, everybody will stare at you, thinking "What's the hell is doing here like that ??"

Here, you can go to university with any clothes you wish... Nobody will stare at you!

But this is very different when Irish hang out...

Actually, I have never seen an Irish girl wearing jeans or pants during a night out... Mini skirt and mini dress are definitely the way to dress up to hang out here. Sensitive to the cold ? haha, unlucky!!

Sliced Bread versus Bread

Sliced

I think you guess that in Ireland, Sliced Bread easily wins the battle against Bread… you can’t imagine the large range of sliced breads you can get in supermarkets over here. Different sizes, different tastes, different brands, different recipes … Irish like eating toasts (with butter, cheese or beans…) at breakfast or during the day; so Anglo-Saxon, isn’t it? (I didn’t want to use “British” for some reasons!)

However, they have a kind of Irish bread called “Soda Bread”. It’s hard to describe it; Wikipedia will do better than me: Soda bread are a variety of quicke bread traditionally used in a variety of cuisines in which bread soda(otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate or baking soda) is used as a raising agent rather than the more common yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, bread soda, salt, and buttermilk. I don’t really like this bread which tastes a bit strange in my opinion! Irish usually eat it with soup.

You can get some baguettes in supermarkets but needless to say, Irish don’t have the know-how of baking bread!!!

Do you understand better why I’m missing French bread????

Did you say Chips?

One of the favourite dishes in Ireland is CHIPS. But we are not talking about plain chips here. No interest for normal chips. Actually, it’s yummier if you put garlic and cheese or curry and peas on your chips, is it?????

Another weird stuff about chips in Ireland: Irish eat lasagna with chips! What??????????????? Yes, they do dare!

 Chips with curry and peas

 Chips with garlic and cheese (cheddar cheese and not carrots as you could think)

Irish love beans...

Irish love beans. I especially noted that when I was looking for green beans the first times I went to supermarket. You cannot imagine how they do love them. If you don't believe me, have a look :

This is a full shelf of beans in a supermarket in Ireland (Tesco). One of the famous brand is Batchelors. The range of products is so large !! Amazing, isn't it ?  But do you know how Irish do LOVE eating them ????? Have a look again :

Regarding the green beans I was looking for, there are only two brands which sell them and they are hidden in the back of the shelf !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guinness, Guinness and Guinness again...

It's not worth telling you that Guinness is an Irish beer... Everybody know that!!!!!!!!! I think it is the most representative Irish product.

And Irish are so proud of their Guinness... But I think they can be proud of it. The famous Arthur has created in 1725 one of the most successful beer brands worldwide...

We can't obviously talk about Guinness without having a look to the funny/crazy/famous ads which have built the brand identity. I am especially interesting in -I'm studying marketing - because of the quality of these ads. Colors, clear message, humour, easy to remember, unique selling proposal (Guinness is good and precious, isn't it ?)... Guinness marketers were really inspired and designed relevant ads. You can find some of them below. One of the last TV ad is also available below. Have a look...and Slainte (=cheers) !!!!

Is it really true ? If it is, why pubs and clubs close so early in Ireland ?? Do Irish drink to much Guinness??

              The New Guinness World Ad - Bring it to Life              

 Travel, dream, imagine...That is a great TV ad...

 

Throwing eggs

A (kind of) "funny" Irish game is Throwing Eggs on people walking in the street in the evening from a car... Weird game, isn't it ? The first time I saw this game, I was walking down the street with friends, and suddently a car passed by and threw eggs at us! What the f*** is that??? I thought it was young drunk people having fun... After living for several months in Ireland, I can say now, it can happen at anytime and it's a random game appreciated by Irish...

Irish crisis... Different opinions

Ireland is in a bad economical situation. What strikes me is the fact that Irish don't want IMF and EU aids! I asked some Irish why they don't want these financial aids and otherwise, what solutions do they have? Answer : "We refuse to be dominated by any countries because we have so bad memories with English...Never again. We don't want these aids and we will figure this crisis out by ourselves. I don't know how but we'll do it."  
By the way, the governement agreed to these aids. However, Irish are giving a hard time to the governement and especially to their Prime Minister...

A weird job : holding a sign

I have never seen that before coming in Ireland...

This is an interesting means of communication...

What do you think of that marketers ?

The Irish Accent ... Holy Mary Mother of God !!

Have you ever been in Ireland ??  If not, you have to know some useful stuffs about the Irish accent before going!!!

• It's not "How are you?" but "Hw r ya?"... I spent two weeks before understanding what cashiers told me at the supermarket! (cashiers don't tell you "Hello" but "Hw r ya?")

• Irish pronounce "th" such as a "t" and not such as "z" ... so "three"= tree or "brother"= broter !!!!!

• At the beginning, you could think Irish speak Chinese... actually, it seems to be English after several weeks here....

• A French guy who have been living in Ireland for 5 years, told me : when you could understand Irish, you could speak and understand English all over the world !!

• Watch this video below and you'll understand better:

Women's Christmas in Ireland

Women's Christmas or sometimes Women's Little Christmas is an Irish custom, still very strong in Cork and Kerry, celebrated on the 6th of January (same day as The Epiphany). This is so called because of the Irish men taking on all household duties for the day. Men would take over of the housework, offering women a chance to go out to relax with each other. 
Most women hold parties or go out to celebrate the day with their friends, sisters, mothers ans aunts.
We should have this custom all over the world, should we??

Irish heels !!! No comment !!!

Hot chocolate...

In Ireland, people drink hot chocolate in the evening before going to bed ... to relax ! ?????? that's so BIZARRE ! In France, we drink hot chocolate at breakfast to get energy or during the day if we get cold (as in the US also). So, hot chocolate, to relax or to get energy ??? Who owns the truth ?!