Like in the 19th Century some British want to portray Irish as ignorant peasants
British fury at the Republic over their disdain for Brexit is going nuclear.
This week a pro-Brexit article that calls Ireland the “land of puppy farms, rain-soaked holidays, dingy bars, drugs mule celebs, verbal diarrhea and squeaky fiddles…” has incensed Irish readers worldwide.
Country Squire Magazine positions itself as a satirical edge magazine but its article titled “Get Stuffed, Éire” had the authentic ring of some serious score-settling.The article is a modern day version of one from "Punch" magazine which depicted the Irish of the 19th Century as apes and drunks.
Now with Brexit muddying the waters, it is time for some Punch.
Why wonders pommy pontificator Jim Browne, doesn’t old Paddy see the point of our self-immolating cliff jump called Brexit?
Don't these slippery Micks understand that us Tommies will be sovereigns once again of our sceptered isle where there’s not a meal we can’t salt and boil?
Why can’t these recidivist Irish bog trotters not see the wisdom of turning Britain back into a forbidding fortress, one that suspects everyone and welcomes none?
Oh, I don’t know Jim, could it have something to do with the lessons of history? Or our record-breaking tourism sector?
There’s really nothing quite as funny as an Englishman’s frustration with the disloyal Irish. That’s why Browne’s double-barreled attack on was planned as an insult but plays out like an unintended comedy.
The writer Jim Browne is heavily criticized for his anti-Irish Brexit arguments
Country Squire bills itself as a platform for overlooked rural British voices, which is only half the story. Yes, it’s click bait, but yes, it unmasks the real anti-foreigner attitudes that drove Brexit in the first place. We see what you did there, Jim. You mean it. We can tell.
“The best things in Éire are all British,” Browne writes, “amongst them Cadbury’s chocolate, Jack Charlton, and the English breakfast.”
Whatever you say, Jim. The “Irish joke,” wrote George Bernard Shaw once, reveals less about Irishmen’s innate foolishness than about Englishmen’s persistent and poignant desire to say something funny.
But singing “you’re going to miss me when I’m gone” works so much better if you're worth missing. Having to tell barefaced lies about Irish dependency on the UK markets won’t make your argument at all. Browne claims 50 percent of Irish exports go to the UK. That’s nonsense. Belgium is by far a bigger export market and the US is the biggest one of all.
Read more: Bank of America flees Brexit Britain to relocate European HQ in Dublin
So British consternation with those hard to pin Micks would be funny if it wasn’t so condescending. We know there’s real anxiety underscoring all those sour grapes.
One Twitter user was appalled by the post, making a complaint to the London Metropolitan Police Force for what he saw as “shocking racist bile” against all Irish people.
I just made a complaint to the London Met Police Force against this shocking racist bile against all Irish people. https://t.co/zA5vbQRUxA
— Ken Murray (@NewsMurray) August 11, 2017
Another user described it as the most racist post he’d ever read in defense of Brexit.
just about the nastiest, most racist and parochial bollocks I've read from an English source on #brexit https://t.co/kPzmYHfa9D
— Steve Woods (@wood5y) August 11, 2017
Here’s something we know in Ireland, Jim. When your “good friend” announces his intention to shoot himself in the face you have two choices: first, you can try to talk him out of it, then you should step out of his way. Ireland, being a good friend, has done both.
If Brexit were working out so well for Britain would they need to write these increasingly unhinged attacks on Ireland? Why would they even bother?
Here’s a strong statement from an Irish member of parliament which captures the Irish ire.Deputy Declan Breathnach commented, “I was genuinely shocked to read this disgusting article. The lazy stereotypes peddled by the piece are deeply disappointing in this day and age. Aside from the inaccuracies and casual dismissal of the dire impact Brexit may have upon this island, North and South, the author specifically attacks Irish culture and history. Depicting Irish people as criminals and drug mules, the article trades in racist stereotypes to make a broader point about Irish-UK relations that
Deputy Declan Breathnach commented, “I was genuinely shocked to read this disgusting article. The lazy stereotypes peddled by the piece are deeply disappointing in this day and age. Aside from the inaccuracies and casual dismissal of the dire impact Brexit may have upon this island, North and South, the author specifically attacks Irish culture and history. Depicting Irish people as criminals and drug mules, the article trades in racist stereotypes to make a broader point about Irish-UK relations that belongs to the 19th century, not the 21st.
H/T: Country Squire
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