Alright, alright, alright already!
Time Out!

T

... gotcha Pete!!! ;-)

Let's buckle down, and look at what we've got, should we?

I said: "your average Brit is as anti Irish as at least your average Unionist".
Tír Eoghain has qualified that by saying: "and the average Unionist is apathetic at the very least"

That, dear friends is the nub of the matter!

When the most 'generous' one can be on the grievience addressing within a minority community curve is concerned, is apathetic, Dave, you are starting a bit further up the downright biased end of that scale to find where our happy medium lies...

Let's look at it another way...

Take the Nationality, 'British', for a start.
What is that?
English? Welsh? Scottish? 'Northern Irish' (God help us...)? Jamaican? Indian? Australian?

'British' transcends National Identities and boundaries, and by definition is Empirical, David, old sort.
It's pretty difficult to get past such an overblown sense of superiority, when you are part of the 'Irish Problem', for instance.

It's also pretty difficult to get past the Party Political System in England.
The Conservatives will go down the plughole still waving the Union Jack, as the European Economic Community sucks it in whole, eventually.
Labour has kicked out all it's militant voices, and now stay afloat on a river of Political Correctness and Governmental spin; spending most of their time these days (it seems to me) to be always steering clear of the rapids at the mouth of Shit Creek...

You talk of World Poverty and the like, and why aren't we more vocal in those fields, and I can't argue with you there, at all.
The North of Ireland is your own backyard, however and for years the Establishment wouldn't listen to our grieviences, wishing instead that we would just 'go away'
We then were beaten sensless because we 'would not go away'.
And when we couldn't take any more of this rejection, we came out of that corner and were forced, in turn, to kick a bit of butt, back.

Now a Brit would not accept that 'version' of it at all.
Wasn't put that way in the history books, Dave, was it?

It's also quite funny (in a peculiar sort of way), that those who refer to themselves as 'English', (as opposed to 'British') seem to be much more amenable on a personal level, and who tire of this 'John Bull' image that the Nation is wont to portray.

British people generally speaking therefore, are not sympathetic to the grieviences of the minority; they never have been historically, and their attiitude has not seemed to change one iota since the Good Friday Agreement
... Aaaand, if the best the average Brit can be is apathetic, and the worst is downright hostile, wherein lies the average, Dave?

If you look at the posters to the previous 'Irish Bashing' threads, and ask them to support your call for equality (.. and I have...), so far I can't see anyone who has done it.
I can see a lot of people who, when they do grace us with their presence, do it only to take a swipe at our strivations for better conditions and equality.
They never listened when we marched peacefully....

Any of the other posters here who indicated that they mailed their MP, have not historically posted anything Anti-Irish, that I have seen.

Now... perhaps not enough to make a quorum, but I was particularly referring to the average Brit here, contributing to these boards, and their anti-Irish bent.

You have more or less accepted that, I think.

But take the society as a whole.

Remember that Chicken Tikka Masala is not England's favourite dish because you're all fierce multi-culturalists.

It's because it takes 5 mins in the microwave... on full power...