Hi Joe, interesting comment on Israeli attitudes towards Palestinians. Irish people had a similar experience in the UK during the 70s and 80s in particular. Emigrants to the UK may remember the (now illegal) signs in B&Bs reading "NO blacks, no dogs, no Irish" Whenever I went there I was always a bit self-conscious of my accent and how I might be perceived by people. Only very occasionally did I encounter any overt racism however. Occasionally this manifested itself as a kind of slight but tangible withdrawal from your company, a kind of closed-offness. At other times it could be bureaucratic - as in when we were asked to sign the PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) paper full of nosy questions about who we were and where going etc., Other nationalities were not asked to sign this. Then you'd get comments about 'The Irish Problem" (as if we were the problem. No Irish = no problem). I'd occasionally then ask if the speaker considered the North to be part of the UK or Republic, the obvious answer, part of the UK. Then, it is a BRITISH problem, correct? Naturally I wouldn't have attempted to use such 'persuasive' arguments with a bunch of skinheads from Tottenham. I was also leery of discussing politics / the North with anyone in public in the UK, in case some 'concerned citizen' overheard my less-than-compliant opinions and got it into their heads to phone the police on the basis that anything other than total unconditional support for the official line was closet 'terrorism'. I wonder if anyt other Irish mudcatters have had similar experiences?

I hadn't been to the UK since around late 1995 and the next time I went back (in 98) I found "all changed, changed utterly" (quoting Yeats). With several years of the peace process behind us I found English people almost tripping over themselves to show they were our friends. It was almost unnerving and I remember thinking "My G**, it's become sexy to be Irish!"

I should add, for the benefit of English mudcatters that I never felt any enmity or resentment towards English people (unless they were Tottenham skinheads) but did so towards Thatcher et al, who could have found a solution to much of the trouble years ago had they not been so concerned with their careers. Oh, and to the rags known as Tabloids.

(The British Tabloids have a large measure of responsibility here as for years they whipped up anti-Irish racism with their editorials, articles and cartoons. A very good book on his subject is Liz Curtis' "Nothing But the Same Old Story - the roots of anti-Irish racism" Recommended reading)

Apologies for thread drift.