RSVP was SHOCKED when we heard this article on the Neil Prendeville show on Cork 96 FM this morning. It was written by Irish-based German journalist Antje Joel for the Swiss magazine Die Welt Woche, and is extremely critical of the Irish. The article below is a translation. What do you think? Does she have a point about us or is she completely wrong?
And more importantly, does the rest of the world really think we all have rabbits’or rats’ teeth???
Ireland? Forget it! – Die Welt Woche – Switzerland
The Irish bowed out of the European Football Championship quickly. For this, reporters enjoyed the red-faced Irish fans as they bellowed “The Fields of Athenry”.
There’s hardly a country in Europe with so many stereotypes that are as false as those of the Green Isle. Here’s a correction.
(By Antje Joel)
Ireland? Forget it! Forget everything you’ve ever read about the Green Isle in wishy washy guide books. The Green Isle? Come on, for 353 days of the year, the colour of this blob of land far out in the Atlantic is dominantly grey! Forget what you have dreamt up (with the help of guidebooks and other crazy gobshite storytellers) about that blob where it mostly rains. That the rain in Ireland is romantic. That the people out here are still friendly, always cheerful and ever so helpful. Original somehow. So to speak, natural. And that the Irish, not least due to this beautiful purity, are all or most of them frantically musical: playing the fiddle, playing the tin whistle, playing the Bodhran, Riverdancing, that is in the blood of the Irish. Just like the telling of stories and the boozing of Guinness, right? Forget it!! That’s all nonsense. Except that with the boozing of course.
More money on beer than on education
As the Irish world economist David McWilliams puts it, each of the Pope’s children are spending annually EUR 1,584 on alcohol. No other nation in this world can match this. The Irish spend EUR 1.6bn alone on Starkbier. That’s 20% of the world market and it is EUR 400m more than what the Irish state spends on the Primary Schools of the country. That has to be noted. Two of my children often returned home in great distress from the first Primary School they visited. In two years of their attendance at this school they never once managed to get over themselves to use the school loos. These were in as much need of renovation as the whole building. One winter the temperatures dropped a little bit below zero and our school, just like most schools in the country, were closed down for two weeks. They didn’t have the money for heating the school. The children were already cold before then. What does Ireland need schools for anyway? A country where boozing is seen to be honorable? My 65 year old landlord was all proud to announce that he drank his three sons under the table over the weekend. A nation which has managed to get the whole world to believe that this is funny, kind of original. Who have made the world believe that they’re lovable – why not, if you can lure millions of tourists and earn money with t-shirts reading “if found please return to the pub”.
The children have learned that too. According to the statistics, every third Irish teenage girl gets plastered at least ten times a month. If German statisticians would throw these kind of figures around your head, the Germans would be deeply ashamed. The Irish are the cuddly alcoholics. Recently, when thousands of Irish soccer fans were bellowing out the famine classic “The Fields of Athenry”, while their team was conceding one goal after the other against Spain, the German press wrote “Thank You Ireland! These were the most beautiful moments of the European Championship!”. Well then. And what about the much praised friendliness of the Irish? This worldwide known Irish welcome towards strangers? Have you forgotten that Ireland is a (mostly grey) island? Far, very far out in the Atlantic. Isolated from the rest of the world. Think of the hidden regions in the Amazon delta.
In Ireland they will affectionately welcome ambassadors of other cultures in for a cup of tea and biscuits only for the reason to check them out for possible exploitation. When an Irish person hears “German” they think “rip off target” – that’s what an Irish person once told me. I don’t know what the Irish synonymous for “Swiss” is, but when I watch Swiss people dreamingly roaming the streets of Ireland, I can’t help thinking that it is somewhat the same as for the Germans.
Dear Swiss people, don’t take that personally. You must know that the Irish think that if you’re not born and raised in Ireland, that you’re a bit stupid. At least stupid enough to be ripped off by them. After all, it is quite stupid to think that the Irish are friendly and helpful. This gives them a certain advantage.
The other day I was with an Irish friend, sitting in one of those terrible gloomy pubs, which I would never have put a foot into in Germany, and we talked about how the Irish are trying to screw each other at every given opportunity. The Irish don’t trust each other at all at all. Even though, or maybe because, they all know each other. This constant atmosphere of “not to get caught out” is everything but the typical Irish way of being relaxed.
“That’s so exhausting” I said to my Irish friend “Not a bit relaxing”. “Exactly” the friend replied, “that was one of the reasons I ended up leaving for New Zealand”. That was before the short lived Celtic Tiger and the subsequent crash. Today, the Irish claim that this Celtic Tiger (together with the British of course) are to blame for the island to be tainted and turned into a gangster eldorado. As if there had not been some sort of “asshole potential” before the British and the money and then again since the money. The friend stayed three months on the other side of the globe, before he fell for the praising songs about Ireland and forgot about reality and returned to the Green Island. The Irish are not a capacity when it comes to integration.
Everything is Beautiful
Enrichment through different cultures is Greek to the Irish. Even that doesn’t have to surprise anyone. Ireland is small, with a population of nearly 5m people. Vast parts of the population have a dental deformity. One owner of one of these dental deformities once told me that it was the result of incest. To prove that, he threw back his head, opened his mouth and showed me his rodent like narrow upper jaw. This man was a scientist, he must know. He also said, that young couples have been advised by the government over the last few years to have an DNA test done before marriage, in order to prevent a further spread of this dental deformity. Alone the successful spread of the Irish gene pool is worrying.
School mates of my 16 year old son are giggling when they see a black skinned boy in one of their school books. A female student recently called a Polish pupil a “foreigner bastard”. He replied “fat cow”. One of the two was expelled. Guess who? An Irish acquaintance of mine adopted two Russian babies. They are now teenagers with mainly Irish history and pure Irish accents. And yet, since the school mates found out that they are not Irish bred, they made life hell for those “Russian f*ckers” (original “Russenaersche – could also mean “Russian c*nts”). Same for the Irish mother.
If this doesn’t end, in the distant future the Irish will look like rabbits. Never mind. We, the stupid, will find that beautiful as well. Ireland is just beautiful and somehow romantic. Alcoholism, narrow curvy roads, perforated with pot holes, the rain. And the fact that 70% of the adult population has hardly any teeth in their mouth, or that the teeth they do have are narrowly aligned like those of rabbits.
And of course, the queer music. Diddel di diddel di dainden da, diddeldidaindenda – yes, that’s hard on the legs. And if you’re listening long enough, it will also be hard on the brain. Of course, there are completely different sounding Irish singers and bands: Imelda May, Cathy Davey, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club. But they’re nearly unknown outside of Ireland. Instead there seems to be a global agreement that Irish traditional music is nice. I would bet that the passionate lovers of the ever so monotone fiddly dee music, are not ardent advocates of the Irish folk music’s jigs and reels. They probably find it boring and stuffy. That’s what it is. The Irish however have managed to catapult and establish this Psycho Diddelidi out all over the world.
Just like the Irish pubs. From Zurich to Berlin, those wooden baroque style catacombs with this forced sociability. They suddenly experience certain popularity. Why? Why does one want to overlook the shortcomings of Ireland more so than that of other nations? One doesn’t have to. One doesn’t have to overlook the outmoded sociability, which they export, neither the damaged roads and teeth, neither the boozing nor the rain. More so the compulsion to cheat on each other. To be too soft on people means that you don’t take them seriously. Means: to see them the way we would like them to be and not the way they actually are. Romanticisation may be attractive to the romanticised but it won’t help the future development
What is the problem? I’ve seen an interview by Irish musician Rory Gallagher (on Youtube) where he’s saying that he couldn’t live for all the year in Ireland because the irish people in Ireland are too relaxed.
Meant that they prefer to have a drink or a walk on the countryside instead of working!
So, why are the Irish are shocked? I mean, if Rory Gallagher has had the same meaning about their people why may foreign reportes does not have the same meaning about Ireland (is not guilty for every irish peolpe i.mo.)
The airport be thataway >>>>>>>>>>>
Seriously, you don;t like the country, don’t move there and complain about it, be it Ireland, Australia, the UAE, anywhere.
As for the DNA thing. Ireland until recent times was a devout Catholic country where if you got pregnant outside marriage, you married! So everyone knew who everyone’s daddy was. The modernisation of Ireland to a new form of thinking has altered us. I do believe we have been quite Americanised and the money of the boom did not suit us and we became a bit obnoxious, but overall I would say the vast majority of the population does not adhere to her generalisation. Sure if we were to generalise I don’t think she and her birth nation would fare to well in that argument, only some people have more self respect than to drag themselves down to her mudslinging level.
And as for the alcohol thing, if I spent €100 on booze in a year I would be shock, that including drinks for others in my company. What a terrible thing to assume we are all alcoholics.
A lot of people criticise what the Aussies say regarding this matter but I have to say I agree. “Fit in or Fuck off” you have a choice.
I was going to reply explaining how racist/ignorant/plain wrong this lady is. But on second thoughts, I’ll save that rant for something better written. This article is of such low quality that it wouldn’t have passed the Junior Cert English examiners. There isn’t one real fact in it from start to finish. For example; ‘Vast parts of the population have a dental deformity’. This kind of sensationalist commentary is used by weak “journalists” to catch readers attention without having to do any real background research. But with the slightest bit of analysis her whole argument falls down because any country in the world can be said to have “vast parts of the population” nursing a dental deformity…. its a simple fact called AGING. If she was a real journalist who wanted to make a real debate about dental health in Ireland, she would have given us statistics on percentages of childhood dental deformities and how many of those were genetic problems caused by inbreeding. But she’s not a real journalist, she is just one ignorant person using broad statements and “facts” to pass off a racist rant as a factual article. More examples of these kinds of statements can be seen throughout the piece.
In my opinion this is not an article to be taken seriously. This woman is ignorant, and this article is not worth the paper it is written on. So please,mo dhuine, as upset as you may be, do not let this article reduce you to racist comments, for then we are no better than her…… And we are a WHOLE LOT better than her.
strongly feel that this lady is deliberately pushing people’s buttons to get a reaction which she has succeeded in doing,but the positive side of this is that there have been some fantastic and intelligent replies.
Yes she is correct in that alcohol has been a problem in this country, but the rates of consumption are falling except among women which is worrying.
There are many problems in this country yes,and at the moment a lot of Irish people are worried about debt, mortages,jobs and trying to feed their children etc
But the Irish are a people with an amazingly generous spirit, cast your mind back to Live Aid ,and look what the Irish donated to that cause per capita it was enormous
Secondly how many times in Ireland do you hear the words “ in aid of “? In aid of cancer research, crumlins children hospital, famine relief, disaster relief in regions all over the world,special needs, down syndrome Ireland,Alzhimers Barretstown,Marymount hospice, I could go on and on…we are so used to giving we don’t give it second thought we Are a nation of big hearted people and we will get through our present difficulties despite the negative comments of people like this German lady.
Yes some of our roads and infrastructures aren’t great , but we haven’t the benefit of you- know- who building the first autobahns in Germany around 1939
Also where this lady strays into Dangerous territory is when she tries to make the Irish people out to be an inferior race, incest,rotting teeth etc, where have we seen that before? Yes you guessed it in some of the poisionous propaganda that made the Jewish people out to be subhuman . Racism and stereopying are not healthy, and shouldn’t be tolerated ,and one previous comment mentioned very correctly that Neo Nazism and extreme right wing groups havent gone away they are just in the shadows- for now.Think the recent multiple killings in Norway.
But im convinced the vast majority of German people are decent ,hardworking honest and ultra efficient people and are trying to distance themselves as much as possible from the sins of their forefathers
And I don’t think they would subscribe to the twisted views of this woman and Im sure when they do visit us here they will have a very positive experience,despite the weather.
So, she had a bad experience in Ireland? She’s German and she’s making a living in Ireland writing about how much she dislikes Ireland and it’s heritage etc…Two words: GO HOME. The Irish drink too much? Pot/Kettle…There’s no mention of Oktoberfest in the article, where people drink beer from Litre-sized glasses in ‘beer tents.’ Perhaps she just forgot to mention that.
But for a relatively unknown journalist to jeer a nation on their supposed ‘rabbit’ looks is very brave. The Germans are hardly the most refined looking nation.
Dear all,
I am an Irish person living in Sudan. When I read this article, I laughed quite a bit. Then I thought about the impact an article like this might have on people’s opinions around the world (and obviously Switzerland in particular). It is absolutely atrocious that the publishers allowed this piece of absolute drivel to be published, almost verging on insanity. The “journalist” in question is not at fault. Indeed I feel sorry for her that she feels that she has no option but to live in a country like the one she described. The publisher of her article on the other hand – wow – I didn’t realise that we were lacking so much to talk about – of importance, truth etc.
Like all Irish people, I am the first to say that we do not have our problems and that the ones we do have are not all as a result of the collapse of the Celtic Kitty Cat. Nor do I deny that the older generation in their 50s and 60s have false teeth disguising their otherwise toothless mouth. But…… how is that relevant to anything in her article? Why does she seem intent on bashing the Irish pride even further than it has been bashed?
As a teacher in an international school, I see this behaviour in children all the time. A child doesn’t fit in anymore(at all), so rather than give them a helping hand – they kick them while they’re down. (Metaphorically, in most cases insh’allah)
What made me laugh was the way she described how we try to trick foreigners away from their money. In Khartoum, there is a Khawaja (foreigner) price and a Sudanese price. (usually at least double) There are no price tags, the inflation is 40% and you have to be really savvy to get the best price possible. Walking down the street, Sudanese actually yell out “Khawaja”. Imagine walking down the streets of Cork and yelling out “Foreigner” every time you spotted someone who looked a bit different. Despite the poverty, the haggling, the trickery, the rude ‘Khawaja’ comments, and a ridiculous amount of other complaints unrelated (such as the hot desert sun, lol), the Sudanese are the nicest people in the world. If you are lost, they would walk a mile to get you in the right direction.
People, culture, religion, climate are all inconceivably complex systems. To comment and judge on a couple of aspects in the manner printed here is not just harmful – it is just plain rude. Give me facts and I will face them. Give me opinions tainted by a sensationalist agenda and I will laugh, get angry, feel sorry for the person who wrote them and hopefully forget in a few days that such a small minded and bigoted person existed.
LOVE YOU IRELAND AND LOOKING FORWARD TO MY NEXT VISIT HOME NEXT SUMMER. WILL BE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME RAIN. SLAN LEAT AGUS GO RAIBH MAITH AGAT. MAASALAMA
Im not so sure about the teeth,? but there was a lot of inbreeding in certain parts of the country some years back any open minded Irish person will tell you that he wouldent have to be a scientist, sheer observation would have told u that too, some journalist u are,And you my love i think have a drink problem by the sounds of it all you did was talk about the pubs you were in and the alcos you met,and with with your negative Irish mate who must not have a friend in the world to be hanging around with a german licking each others wounds ,get a life theres good and bad in every country and we are not responsible for the weather.Im sure if you had been a more openminded person with even a small amount of sense of humour you might have been invited to a few peoples houses for dinner and some enlightening conversation and realised that most irish prefer to socialise moderately at home with their families,the usual suspects can be seen out regularly!.As regards to predjudism you get isolated cases of that everywhere take world war 2 for example that was a mild case!.I have to say i did not find your article engaging in the slightest i found it to be biased and negative and if you are a journalist which i doubt? i wouldent tell anyone else!. Now i must have my beauty sleep as i have a dentists appointment in the morning.
i must said i live in Dublin 17 years and i never see anyhing like she is writing 1º the island is green and very green ( beautiful ) she is daltonic, 2º the irish are very helpful people and i know for sperience ¿she talk about drink ? if i remenber she can from Germany and the germans drink to hell,
much more that the irish and the eat whith their mouth fool and i don’t want to continuing because i’m furiose , VIVA IRLANDA
Julia Maria. You must be Spanish (or from some some South American country?) like me. I’m glad to know that you like Ireland so much after living 17 years here. I have also been living in Ireland for 17 years and I am not that enamoured! I kind of agree with some points of the writer maybe with the exception of the teeth which might be a bit extreme. But, please, come on! It is grey most of the time and it rains quite a lot (that’s why it’s bloody green). There are many things I like to say to you, but frankly, after bloody 17 years living here, you have not learned proper English and you do not make any sense. No punctuations, spelling and grammar mistakes. You actually made me FURIOUS! Maybe you learned your English in Ireland?
If she is so unhappy here i would be more than willing to drive her to the airport( see we are helpful) i always knew the germans were uptight a**holes am i stereotyping them?? And i dont even drink!!!!! we have one of the best school systems in the world fact (but due to my poor education i could be wrong) and i will recommend a optican as she clearly is colour blind if she can’t tell the difference between green and grey so she would’t want to go changing any plugs GOD NO she should ring an irish electrician so he can rip her off i mean fix it for her ( must be my irish sense of humour). Before i go her are a few IRISH SAYING SHE MIGHT FIND USEFUL You don’t shit on your own doorstep, never tar everybody with the same brush and last but not least don’t let the door hit you on the way out hint,hint but because i’m Irish i’m also catholic so have already forgiven her for her stupid, self righteous and egotistical story i say story cause clearly its not fact. I must now go and play my fiddle while doing the riverdance. Slan (thats bye in irish by the way but with my big rabbit teeth its easier to say)
Yes, you are right about your poor education…
You know She got a wee bit carried away, but She may have a point & I for one am a willing Irishman to address the whole inbreeding thing with her as She is not a bad looker from the auld likeness.I assume the Hubby is German & won’t mind. Any one got her No. ?
Its sad that she is so unhappy here. Also that she didnt realise that what she wrote would be translated and read by the community she is living in.I hope that her children wont have to suffer public ridicule for their mothers lack of comportment. The comments about inbreeding and teeth are disturbing, they have a strong eugenic ring to them. I am glad that a german living among us can express themselves so freely and show us the untermensch the error of our ways. Its not as if germans have ever done anything wrong.
Everyone who left a Comment , READ IT AGAIN. Youre complaining so much about obvious facts and leaving rather racist and similar comments as in the Story yourself.
Hypocrites? You all are !!!
She obviously just woke up to no milk in her cornflakes, and like all Germans decided to have a rant. The fact that her points are completely false and negligible proves that she’s clearly a terrible journalist with nothing else to write about. This sort of transparent vitriolic bile should just be ignored, and the quasi-Nazi shitbag responsible should be ignored and eventually (sooner rather than later) Forgotten entirely. Her existence in this country is, like her half-baked opinions, pointless and irrelevant. Ive forgotten her name already, and I wont be double checking. Dope
I think it is time for this lady to leave Ireland, If you are unhappy somewhere , then do something about it , leave , try somewhere knew, don’t write an article insulting a country that is genuinely struggling. Maybe Germany evicted here for being so pessimistic ? What effect has her negativity caused her children? Are they as miserable as her? Has her brainwashing them caused negativity to fall on them? Maybe she lives here as the child benefits/allowance is better here than Germany. Why live here when its clear you hate everything there is about the Irish way?I admit Ireland is not perfect but that is no reason to be so scornful off a country that you choose to live in. I am from Galway and have lived or visited each continent and it opens your eyes, you see the pros and cons off each country. It doesn’t give me the right to right an article abusing a culture. They are just the opinions of an over opinionated bitter lady. Let me tell you this , i lived and worked with Germans and they are not perfect, but i draw the line there , i am not going to express my opinions are they are my opinions and I feel little need to express them people! This is not journalism, it is a story prionted to take up space on an empty page
some tantrum there. GO HOME!
you have to give to the women she,s said as she,s seen it and hit the preverble nail on the head were going round either bitching backbiting about each other and what they have
we love to see someone fail
After they have busted their buns to line the pockets of previous dictators that have run this country and totally demoralised its ambitious people.
people here need a Farther Ted kick up the arsse maybe . instead of fleecing hard working intelligent people the government should slap taxes on the countless drunks that are carted into hospitals every weekend that have energy of buggs bunny gone wrong .
we love to critise but WE do not like when someone who came to live in here good faith is shocked and bewildered by the tribal habits of morons singing you never beat the irish and dont know the first thing about football not just along for the pissup.
And then on top of it this weekend we have 30.000 rich intelligent americans over and they spend a night in the 02? listening to didle ei diddle ei music again where was olivia oleary,s recital
Suprised Enda didnt have a pint in hand with the president of notra dame and the admiral of the navy As to fleecing the foreigners we all know were it happens thank god for freedom of speech and this woman certainly has the courage of her convictions.
Drrink !Drink!! Drink!!!! FARTHER JACK REALLY NAILED go to Brussells /leuven bavaria you dont see a table filled with ten pints of stout at 10.55 on a sat night for each person
The world is a bigger place the the owl sod and thank god for that
We read nothing but lies, accusations every day with a cheap taudy newspaper industry and a television network station that shows programmes every week wthout fail about the totally negative side of a once proud culture that has engaged in every form of
A sad article yet accurate in some ways and before any further contributors here conclude I am a Scot’s Unionist because my opinion of Ireland differs from yours, I was born in Cork and have lived here most of my life. I have also had the good fortune to travel to many different countries and cities and each have their faults, I cannot say I have experienced German hospitality, but have experienced Swiss, or rather the complete lack thereof, oh and their horrendous prices. However, it is a beautiful country and pretty much everything works – and on time too ! The rudest people I have ever met were in France, the friendliest in Morocco, the most accomodating in the USA, the most boring in Switzerland. However do I now colour each of these countries with my selective impressions, no I don’t, I try to take a world view. I try to remember the good aspects over the negative and I think this is the measure of balance choosing Rose tints over wearing glasses of a greyer demeanour. The most stunning rain shower I ever saw had a red sunset backdrop to it, the most romantic simple gesture whilst sitting on a park bench near Notre Dame, the most humbling watching clouds form below my feet atop a glacier straddling the Jungfrau. We have two eyes and two ears for a reason, to experience, a single brain to process those experiences and one mouth with which to share. Before we write, the brain needs to be engaged, it appears this lady’s was fed up and tired that day. Chin up Ireland, fight the good fight.
“young couples have been advised by the government over the last few years to have an DNA test done before marriage, in order to prevent a further spread of this dental deformity”
you are kidding right? >.< my god if you believed that no wonder you don't get the Irish.
Sarcasm is probably a foreign language to her
are you irish ??? have you no pride ?? its because of people like you we were over run for 600 years….stand up for you country be proud
ah sure she had a bad hair day, and sure its another rant about some one else and not about her own country, If she is not happy here she can allways go home. and sure we are so used to getting it in the neck
so dust your self off ireland and start all over again
This article is horrible, the fascination with our teeth is simply bizarre and completely unfounded. I have seen people with orthodontic issues but I am yet to come across the rodent people of Ireland caused by the incest of their relations!! Strange!!
However, I will say some of the points she made are valid, Ireland isn’t perfect and does have issues that need rectifying. We can be a country of moaners and begrudgers. HOWEVER, it is quite one thing as Irish people for us to notice and comment on our downfalls, but if someone from another country does it, that is another story altogether. That is xenophobic and a whole different ballgame!
The only person who looks bad from this article is her not the Irish . It comes across as petty, hateful and grossly unfair.
She is a sad and silly woman who should just go back to Germany.
What a sad reflection of your state of mind! Nothing in your life should be so painful as to cause you to lash out like that and if you really have six children you must be passing on some dangerously negative vibes to all of them and everyone around you! Apart from the teeth issue (which frankly is bizarre) there are certainly elements of truth in all you say, given you are generalising about 5 million people, but for your own mental health and wellbeing you should consider seeking help or move country as one wonders if you would be happy anywhere, however I sincerely wish you peace of mind and hope you were just having a very very bad day! maybe start by opting for a massive big hug from your six children!
If Ireland has lost it’s appeal for you then please feel free to leave. Honestly. Go. There’s enough miserable people here already – we don’t need to import another dour faced heffer like yourself. You can also take your 6-children with you. Please. Our schools are already struggling.
The last time I checked in the airports they weren’t restricting the departure of the several hundred thousand Irish people who have had to flee their homeland – thanks to the woeful mismanagement of our own leaders and of course Germany who have the Swiss as their paymasters. So please feel free to go – nobody is forcing you to stay here.
Btw if you’re living on an island located at the far Western reach of Europe, with the rather large Atlantic Ocean battering it’s coast, what do you expect exactly in terms of climate? Searing sunshine? Of course it’s going to rain you stupid bint!
If you’re going to blame an entire people for the failings of the few then I think Switzerland should pay reparations to all the holocaust victims from World War II. You know the ones who’s gold and other valuables were shipped to Switzerland by the Nazis and are still sitting there in Swiss bank vaults after being handed down through 2 or 3 generations of Nazi thieves?
Grow up for Gods sake woman and stop blaming the world for the fact that your life hasn’t panned out as you expected eh?
She is a real cutie – not! I wonder on how much kids allowance she lives on as SINGLE with SIX kids… sure that cant be to bad!! €900/month only allowance or so…. hmm and being that badmouth about the country that feeds her….. Goggle translate of Antje Joel… these search results for her http://tinyurl.com/97r5gm3 Antje Joel, born in 1966, divorced, six children. After the technical college, a broken architectural studies and a completed internship she is a freelance writer since 1993. Their reports, portraits, comments, columns, court reports, she writes for Spiegel, Spiegel Special, STERN, GEO, DU, Brigitte, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, page three of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau magazine, The World, McKinsey Magazine, Daily Mirror, world Week, Tagesanzeiger Zurich, The Magazine, The People. For two years she was a columnist for the “World Week”, Zurich. Books: “The rural column” (dtv), “Six children, cats and career” (Cross-Verlag), “Sylt Stories” (Murmann Verlag) and contributions to anthologies “Stop the millennium”, edited by Helmut Lotz Kai Precht (dtv), “In principle, sun – visions of the energy market,” edited by Thomas Nordmann and Christian Schmidt (contrast-Verlag, Switzerland), “All good things come from above – The subterranean Christmas Book” edited by Julika Jaenicke, Helmut Lotz and Kai Precht (dtv) visiting Professor at the College of Journalism, Hamburg Prices: 1995 Egon Erwin Kisch Award and Axel Springer Award, 2001 Hansel Mieth Award nominated Depending once again for Egon Erwin Kisch and Hansel Mieth Award
Well here’s a little rant on the best and the worst of the didley aye.
Kept Catholics – 50 Years of the Chieftains
http://www.politicalworld.org/showthread.php?t=12261
Maybe she just needs some love. Sounds like a rant from someone who’s sad and doesn’t fit in and has romanticised where she has come from. No point in knocking Germany because of one stupid writer. Too much anti-German crap in the rag media at the minute, not the true stuff but the ‘lets mention the war’ in every article. We could all write similar articles on places we’ve lived or visited by leaving out the good stuff and the truth. More than likely she’s just trying to raise her sad profile.
What a childish article.
My guess is that she isn’t a very popular or likable person. She wasn’t accepted in Ireland and is now very bitter.
Best not let one bore single-handedly affect relations between two otherwise friendly nations
The best thing about this article is the many clever and witty responses to it! Bravo to the many Irish and non Irish contributions and the briefer the better as its not worth wasting a lot of time over. “More holes than Swiss cheese” Brilliant!
I went to a beer festival in Bamberg, Germany in July this year. Bamberg is a small town in Bavaria and not not a town that sees a lot of visitors. From 9am opening time the ‘beerkellers’ (ie Pubs) were full with men (mostly) drinking beer. The pubs in Ire dont even open till noon. I appreciated and respected the various aspects of the culture there and came away intrigued with how different the germans were in so many ways. Different dosent mean better or worse just different. We have to accept that every land has a different culture its just the way it is. Its a shame that some people like the author here needs to put pen to paper to disrespect one culture just because its different to her own. Shame on her that she couldnt respect irish culture for being different and its a pity so many people on here have given her the angry reactions she didnt deserve.
ah if it’s all so terible here, with our deformed teeth (wtf), alcoholic teenagers and pensioners and gloomy grey skies, why exactly does she CHOOSE to live here? Along with our many many pubs there are several airports, maybe she should use one!
100% true, I’m irish, both parents, and all four grandparents are Irish, going back as far as i can find. And i think the writer is spot on. Ireland is a pathetic little rock on the arse of Europe, but we seem to have this extremely high idea of ourselves. We are backwards at everything we do.
Have to say I agree with you John, I’m also irish and it’s upsetting me more and more as time goes on to see irish people turning into alcoholics and expecting everything for nothing and then blaming the rest of the world for it when it does not work out. We as a nation should be ashamed of ourselves.
Your the backwards one what a pathetic and negative comment to make about your own country not everything is perfect here.But id rather be irish than english or GERMAN wow what a history they have ha ha butchers and thieves.But you just an asshole dig a hole and bury yourself in it. People like you just complain about everything and do nothing to help change it.
They are not irish. Most probably irish hating Scot unionists. Its frequently seen on places like Utube nutty unionists posing as irish people with anti irish comments to spread their perverse hatred.
I think you are the backwards (not ‘your’ as you have written). You’d rather be Irish than English or German? Well, I’m sure they are happy with their own nationalities.
Nobody in Ireland is doing that much to change anything.
That sounds like a rather angry lady with a very large chip on her shoulder. A few points in response:
1. Yes alcohol in this country is problematic, but has that lady ever visited the Octoberfest? This has to be one of Europe’s greatest binge drinking sessions, ive been there and ive seen the huge level of drinking that goes on,and the designated containers where people who have had too much beer can throw up and then return to the fray.
2. Yes some of our schools are substandard, but this is is no small way related to the crippling debt burden imposed on our country and by Germany’s own Miss Merkel that cripples our schools, hospitals and vitals services so that the European bondholders can get their money.
3. Our traditional music is loved the world over,and played by musicians from many countries.Irish music and musicians left our shores even before the time of the famine ,but moreso during this period, and integrated into areas like the United States, Canada ,Newfoundland,New South Wales, and the U.K with the migrant workers who left from the Counties of Donegal,Sligo etc, there are traditional music clubs and associations all over the world, and irish music has blended and developed into what is now Appalacian music in areas of the united states.
4. I played some music in Bremen Germany for a week in little pub in the city and got to know some of the people there and I found them extremely friendly, they loved the Dubliners who played their regularly, but their greatest sadness was that they had lost their culture, under the jackboot of the Nazi regime 1939-1945, where books, and folk culture, and a rich history was burned into the ground and was replaced by the empty idealogy of a madman and his murderous cronies.With all our faults , we have a strong and rich heritage,and that’s what these people in Bremen and all over Germany know they have lost forever in the broken glass and ashes of Kristallnacht.
5. Yes it has been a terrible summer, but there has been inclement weather all over Europe, and who knows 2013 might be a heatwave!
The swiss publshers should have known not to print this bullshit, typica of them, great european country they are, hiding under hitlers apron during ww2 , at least the irish fought for the cause unlike there country. We all know where all the gold, arts and treasure are being held since hitler. This lady must be related to the man himself, she should be charged with inciting hatred, and deported from here, if she has such an opinion of ireland and our people why is she here.If the likes of michael collins was still running this country he’d have her thrown out by now or shot, shame on our government for letting these comments go unnoticed. Im sure she will be made feel very welcome by irish people once her ugly face gets recognised more by the people she has insulted worldwide
the most ludicrious part of this is she blames us for the Climate!!! Lets blame the germans for having the black forest.very telling that she wrote a compleatly opposite article 4 years ago.obviously a “lady”with some major issues.sadly she gets what she wants….attention.
Why is everyone getting caught up on this bitter ignorant woman?? Forget her she is an embarrassing cheap writer let her go back to Germany if its not up to her standard here.How stupid she is given Ireland’s geographic location was she surprised that we don’t have sunshine every day and groups of wilder beast roaming majestically across the wicklow hills ? Forget here and let her go back to Germany and listen to German music god help us what world beating music lol.
No, she is not blaming you for the weather. She is stating the facts. The weather is depressing and that makes some people king of moody and depressed. By the way, you Irish are always talking about the weather so it must be very important for you!!!
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/kommentare/ich-lebe-jetzt-in–irland/1308314.html#commentInput you wrote that a few years ago praising ireland.. your such a hypocrite.. dont blame the country if your miserable life has gone down the drain you idiot.
Does anybody in Ireland know that ‘you are’ should be contracted ‘you’re’ not ‘your’. I see this grammar mistake all the time. Maybe you should also go back to your perfect best education system of the world!
This article is ridiculous. I live in Galway and its one of the nicest and most beautiful cities in the world, and i’ve lived all over the world. Your just a bitter old fool and need to get your facts straight. Idiot.
That was one of the funniest articles I have ever read, load of crap of course, pure stereotypes, we are the pixie head irish though lol, the only thing to do for this attention seeker is to pull the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olD8Nv7C8qs (apre match)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDSEqlw5sw&feature=fvst (hardy bucks, note Miss this not a real documentary…. YEAHHH AHHH AHHH!
This artical has more holes in it than a Swiss cheese this lady comes across as very disturbed take some advice try writing comedy you would be very good at it , it was one of the funniest articles I have read in years who says the Swiss aren’t funny
What a great article (just a pity it gets lost a little bit in translation). Finally someone puts the Irish back in their place. Is there just a little bit too much truth in the article for ye all to stomach? All countries get joked about and you don’t see them making a big fuss about it. Ze Germans have been the butt of all jokes for ever now… time to hand it over to the Irish maybe?
Idiot
IF its a joke some of its funny but is it and is incest really ever funny?
I take it Martin your a german, obviously not a real irish man,
If you are making reference to all countries getting flack, well germany got theirs for starting two world wars, and since ye cant start a third because of your military inferiority then ye decide to use your financial might to try and run europe. And a comment like ireland is racist, look at germany, its alive and kicking with all your neo nazi gangs and skin heads, probably without doubth the capital of the world when it comes to football hooliganism and racist attacks, if you are an irish man, then your a disgrace to the irish republic, And for a so called journalist to write a column like that and for a swiss magazine to publish it, it shows how well educated they really are. ireland and irish people may be alot of things but were not any of the bull shit comments that this stupid, uneducated so called woman wrote. We fought wars all over the world and more so here because of what we believe in, and if u think we are going to bow down to germany and its european counterparts dictating how we should run our country then dream on, the irish government dont speak on behalf of the majority of irish people, they are just a bunch of yes boys, if Michael collins and all the true patriotic irish men who die for their country could see whats going on then they would turn in their graves., on a final note martin you should also take a one way ticket to germany, im sure most irish people would give you the same advise, your a disgrace. And if you wish to continue this debate any further well drop me your email here and i will gladly meet you and finish it with you in person
Well said!
My comment is in agreement with Martin, just in case there is any confusion.
Dear Ms. Joel,
four years ago you wrote the following Article: http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/kommentare/ich-lebe-jetzt-in–irland/1308314.html#commentInput
In it you praise how Ireland is great and keep praising all those stereotypes you are now bashing. May I ask Ms. Joel, as a fellow German that has lived in this country for the last 8 years, why do you still live in Ireland if everything is so horrible and all the Irish are trying to pull a fast one on you?
I am going to pick out a few of your key points here. Young people drinking, for example. In Germany young people are the perfect image of prim and proper, they never drink alcohol, or smoke. The German youth is all very well behaved. NOT. Ms. Joel, have you ever been to the Wiesn or any of the smaller local beerfestivals around Germany? I have. I grew up with them. And know from first hand experience that at those festivals teenagers drink until they fall over and have to be carried out by the medics. Oftentimes it ends in stomachs having to be pumped and alcohol poisoning. But clearly only Irish teenagers get drunk regularly.
So, Ireland is full of racists? The whole world knows that there is no racism in Germany, nor has there ever been racism. I’m afraid to tell you Ms. Joel, there isn’t a country where racism doesn’t occur. You seem so surprised about that. Clearly you must have been living under a big rock when you thought you could move to a country and there is no racism. In German schools kids get bullied for their nationality as well. Kanaken, Scheisstuerken, Russenarsch, Polakke …clearly none of these words ever get used in Germany?! And isn’t your entire article racist in its own right?
Shame on the Weltwoche for even publishing this utter pile of racist BS.
So all Irish have rabbit teeth ? And all Jews have big crooked noses, all French have hairy legs and all Germans are perfect. Ms. Joel you are starting to tread ice on thin ice here. 75 years ago there was another German who liked to generalize. I think we could all agree that what he caused is still having consequences to this day (and I’m just thinking of the destruction a leftover WWII bomb caused in Munich City Center this week). Do you really think you are furthering your career by blatant racist slurs on a nation that took you in for the last 4 years?
Ms. Joel, if you lived in Germany, would you be able to make a living from your “journalism”? Or would you be a social welfare recipient? Hartz IV doesn’t sound so appealing to me to be honest. As a German living in Ireland I can honestly say that Ireland is a pretty good country to live in. Tax on wages is relatively low compared to Germany, and the living costs are equal. Rents are incredibly reasonable in Ireland.
Ms. Joel, please do us all a favour and move back to Stollberg or whatever “NPD-Hochburg” you crawled out of.
This article is nothing but the bitter rant of a frustrated idiot.
Kind Regards,
Hans Joachim
I totally agree with everything you said. Well done sir
Hear hear. Well put. If she hates being here so much, off with her. Nobody forcing her to stay. I am here 15 years myself during which time I have studied, met my wonderful (irish) husband, married, had a child, buried that child and had another child here.
My Irish friends and family have been there for me through all those times. In fact, the experience of losing our son aged 22 months was made infinitely easier by the way these things are handled here. The way the Irish rally and are there for each other in those difficult circumstances in particular is just amazing. You just would not get that in Germany. Based on that experience alone, I would never swap Ireland for anywhere else to call my home.
Cannot believe this was actually printed.
well done sir.couldnt have said it better myself.thank you for that
Congrats on your article. This bitter old spinster needed to be put in her place.
She lives in Ballgar (exact address unfortunately unknown) near Galway. I’ve never been but maybe people are “different” there, perhaps popluated with bitter Germans.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antje_Joel
perhaps not much longer
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but crap like this is nothing but stereotyping and ranting gone wrong!
Say what you want about your experiences here and what you think of our weather, economy and people but do so without constantly over stereotyping and contradicting yourself throughout!
You are the first to go on about how awful the Irish are and how they give out about ‘foreigners’ but yet you have no problem cutting us all from the same cloth and calling us ‘incest, alcoholic and uneducated!’ I don’t mind constructive opinions and observations and I would be the first to agree that the weather here is shite but to be a complete Hypocrite and all round grumpy asshole there is absolutely no call for!
I have only but a few words for you if you don’t like it here then you can jog on! That is all
Antje!
You really are one narrow-minded and/or delusional cretin. There is a difference between pointing out a country’s flaws and being a f*cking assh*le. I put you in the latter category. You’re article is so riddled with inaccuracies, purposeful and vindictive misrepresentations and gross exaggerations that I’m not going to even start to pick them out.
You are an inspiration to aspiring ‘journalists’ everywhere, considering that the likes of this brain-dead, ill-informed and frankly bizarre trash-writing can make it into printed and online media.
You’re not funny, or clever, nor have your investigations dispelled any ‘myths’ about Ireland and the Irish, as you try to claim – and possibly even believe yourself! You have just shown yourself as what you really are – a unimaginative, lazy, untalented, narrow-minded, seemingly poorly-educated, wannabe trash-tabloid hack.
Don’t be expecting Der Spiegel to be calling anytime soon….
I’m German as well and all I can say is that I really feel ashamed to be German sometimes. This article is written from a very frustrated person without a proper life.
I hope everybody who knows her in Ireland will read the article.
The Irish should send her back with the next airplane.
I agree with you! And it is people like Ms. Joel that make other Germans look back, when all we want is live here in peace.
I think we should start a collection to buy her a one-way ticket back to Germany
Sorted!
Yet you still live here!!!!!!!
I’m actually outraged after reading this article. I’m not Irish myself, but i’ve been living here more than 12 years now and quite frankly, i don’t see myself living anywhere else. Yes it’s true, Ireland is not perfect, but what country is? I don’t know what this woman’s problem is to be honest. The article is badly written and is purely based on stereotypes that only exist in her head. And speaking of stereotypes… since when are the germans known as friendly and accomodating people. And for the Swiss… Let’s not go there!!!
Here, I got as far as his children being afraid to use the toilet and I stopped taking it in any way seriously. Firstly, a lot can be lost in translation. Second, the only reason to print something like this in Ireland is to annoy people and get the comments going.
In fairness though, we do live in a country with constant rain, appalling dental care, school funding and a fondness for the liquor. We DO wear our ability to drink fifty pints in one session like a badge of honour. And we DO try to screw each other over and we do still look at foreigners differently.
Having said that, the amount of stereotypical pompous BS in this “article” is laughable, typical tripe from someone originally from a country with a superiority complex and a serious lack of humour. The Krauts, indeed, are sour.
If i was too meet this person, she’s know all about the Irish. Go back to your own country if you dislike Ireland so much.
We don’t need your negativity and even more your obvious chip on your shoulder
hahaha this is the biggest heap of sh*t I have ever read, I can’t believe I did read it! Waste of my time, head back to Germany for yourself
Some saddo no marker trying desperately to draw a bit of attention to herself. Maybe she can’t afford the flight back home from Galway or maybe no one wants her back home either!
Appears to have been the writer of “Nicht ganz der Richtige”. Not exactly oozing with literary talent.
Glad to see that some intelligent debate has been sparked by her article. Our alcoholism is proving a major burden for our already beleaguered health system. And she does have some cogent points about price-gouging, our insularity and innate racism. If we’d been more circumspect in our public and personal finances we wouldn’t be shackled with that huge debt. We’ve also been receiving financial aid from the healthier EU states for almost 40 years and were net contributors to the EU for about 20 seconds in 2007, when we were at the zenith of our boom/bubble. There’s barely a piece of infrastructure in the country that hasn’t been at least in part funded by the EU. Maybe we should be debating that instead of the tongue-in-cheek ramblings of an expat journalist who as an outsider has the faculty to make those observations, no matter how uncomfortable their elements of truth may make us. Although the rabbit element is admittedly bizarre.
Ireland is a part of the EU!
Ireland received a BAIL-OUT from the EU and IMF….NOT the Germans!
Germany (and the remaining Countries correctly managing their own countries) has to increase their own taxes to compensate for Irelands Bail-out!
(Where do you thing the money comes from??)
And the Irish slag off the people stopping you from becoming a 3rd world!
Just reading some of the comments hear re-establishes the basis of Antje Joel’s Article, very accurate!
She writes of the “queer” diddley music, well it is obvious she has missed out on Irish country music. That would send her back to wherever pdq.
As for the rain and alcoholism, nothing to be done except toleration.
Heinrich Boll seems to have had a more enjoyable time in the auld sod.
http://www.achill247.com/writers/heinrichboll.html
No country deserves to be insulted this way! We find racism everywhere in the world, not only in Ireland and she’s racist herself, she’s mad racist against irish people! We could write an article like this about any country in the world because nobody is perfect . She uses little anecdotes that she turns into generalities. So what the point?
Just a journo trying to create controversy to get their name out their further. This should be ignored, it is just self serving drivel. We spend more on booze than education? And I’m sure the Germans spend more on wursts than healthcare. It’s a stupid argument, much like the rest of this nonsense. File under “pathetic attempt to get people to know my name” along side Samantha Brick’s “Don’t hate me because I’m pretty” article.
Hey Antje
Did it ever occur to you why the primary schools here don’t have the money to heat the schools?
Might have something to do with the fact our government is forced into paying back huge sums of money back to GERMAN banks, thus leaving very little to spend on Education and Health.
As for the rest of your pathetic excuse of an article, all I can say you sound like one very bitter human being and I’m glad I don’t know you in real life.
Obviously something has happened here that has caused you to become like this?
My guess would be the Irishman (probably father of your kids) has left you.
And going on this article I can see why he probably left you….
@Adrian: Your comment makes no sense, our Irish education budget is not at the whim of German banks… what on earth makes you think that? Money being paid to bondholders is due to the governments irresponsibility, that caused them to borrow money and overspend in the first place, which the government didn’t put into education. And she isn’t married to an Irish person, and a lot of what is being said has nothing to do with being bitter, but harsh reality. Your anger at the truth is directed wrongly.
So you don’t think the fact that we have to repay huge sums of money back to senior bond holders (whom the German banks are a big % of ) isn’t having a huge effect on the budgets our schols currently opertate under?
As for your backing of the this bitter persons artcle, well you are a disgrace if you are actually an Irishman.
Ok, do not blame the Germans now for all your problems. About time you grow up and take charge of your responsibilities.
The truth hurts!
Some half truths, but mostly seems like someone who is angry with ireland and doesn’t have a very well formed sense of humour..
1. She has a weird obsession with teeth. Access to orthodontry was not possible for a lot of Irish people in the twentieth century, but is more prevalent now. I love you big mouth of natural white choppers, think septic generic looking film stars. Think Matt Dillon in Theres somethign about MAry http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/362/imgdilloneg9.jpg/ & http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3026426112/tt0129387
2. Our politicians and a certain section of society have continuously ruined out economy. I don’t vote for those parties.
3. Certain sections of Irish society are diseased with greed and don’t understand fairness. They are the rip off merchants and the government stand idly by.
4 Irish pubs are universally popular, she doesn’t like them, so that a subjective thing on her part.
So a person; from the world war causing country, is writing for a publication that happily hid all the stolen gold; from that world war, and Ireland is the bad guy??
See, we can generalise in a negative manner also.
She mentioned “Russian b*astards” and “are giggling when they see a black skinned boy in one of their school books” yet I believe that it is mainland Europe that has trouble, historically and presently, with racism, skinhead gangs and genocide. Also, that her “Irish friends” actually adopted Russian children seems to have escaped her full comprehension.
I have perfect teeth, much better than many Europeans that I have met. I also have red hair, blue eyes and 187cm tall. Pretty much typical postcard Irish guy, yet manage to avoid those incest ridden teeth somehow. I believe that it was European royal families that demonstrated how to perform incest in the “correct” manner.
I imagine that your “scientist” friend was “taking the piss”.
By the way; I am a Molecular Biologist, so I must know… right??
For every negative point that she brings up, through anecdotes, I could counter with anecdotes of my own. There is nothing scientific nor expandable about her “findings”.
These are the writings of a blinkered and bitter person that feels the need to tar an entire nation, due to her limited experiences.
Poor Antje! Sounds like a bitter has-been journalist who has wriiten this article crammed with stereotypes just to get a bit of publicity such as this and on the radio. Every country in the world has economic and social problems and every country has stereotypes but these don’t filter down to reflect every single person in every single town in the country. She could have easily wrote about the “garlic eating, wine swilling rude French people” but she doesn’t live there does she?
Poor Antje, a bitter, twisted, egotistical person who thinks she’s above everyone else and has the right to lash out at other countries. Typically German.
You forgot to mention the population who are scamming the government on social welfare benefits. why do people on social welfare get a bus pass? why is there a rental allowance, a First Communiun allowance, Stay at home motherwith 4 kids and their Irish husband does shite.
I think “scathing article” is a bit too quick on retort. There is a merit in what is being said. Ireland has refused for a long time to modernise properly and tackle problems in education and social irresponsibility with notions of it’s Emerald Isle and it will all be grand. We need to seriously tackle education in Ireland, poor road infrastructure, and the desolateness of anywhere outside Dublin which has become overrun. There’s no responsibility been taken for the terrible, awful, depressing state of Ireland. Look at the massive emigration happening daily, it’s not just recessional, albeit the majority is. But if in the boom times we spent money where it should have been we wouldn’t be encroaching on second world at the moment.
I am Irish, and actually live in a BRIC country where the gap between rich and poor is so bad that you couldn’t even imagine it in your worst nightmares. Go and live in one for a while, where kids go to school for three hours a day and learn nothing, pay €7 toll for potholed single lane roads, as public transport is too dire and dangerous to take. I’m not saying Ireland is perfect but trust me, you have no idea what you’re talking about when you say third world.
If Ireland is so bad in her estimation, why is she still here. I do believe Ireland has one way flights out each day, so off you go Antje. For the record we are not all as she has depicted. I do not drink or smoke, I have reared three very well educated children, I stayed at home to do so and now am back in education myself to further my job prospects, our family pays all our taxes and levies and receives no hand out from the government. And I think she got the part about us Irish trying to “Rip Off ” the Germans or any other nationality wrong, after all we are not charging massive interest on loans as are her countrymen. Safe home Antje, I can see now where your ideas came from “HITLER”
There are no Irish Jokes, they are all true .
This I learned after three years living in Dublin
English please……
let me guess your a thick culchie who came to Dublin
to get a good education and then slated us typical thick culchie
You cant handle the truth you ignorant pig
What a foolish “lady”.
She needs to look closer to home. There she will clearly see what happens to a Traumatised Nation. No personality, Germany is Zombie Land..
Socialism huh.