by: Katie McAree

Ireland

The communication style in Ireland is very friendly and forward, but not in a bad way!In Ireland the language and body language is almost identical to the U.S. Although, their accents are very different!Their lingo is much different than ours. For instance, if we want to say something along the lines of “What’s happening?!” or “What’s going on?” they say “what’s the feckin crack” They use the word crack and feck often

Communication Style

Greetings and salutations are very similar to what they are in the U.S.

When you greet someone you usually give a handshake or wave and say hi

Smiling is also very important when greeting

Greetings

Hi-fives are a very common gestureAnother popular gesture in Ireland is the “peace sign,”

if you are holding up a peace sign and your fingers are facing outward, that is fine, but if your fingers are facing toward you it means “bug off” or “leave me alone,”

Gestures

Traveling to Ireland is very safe The flight from here is about 7 hours and there are no

restrictionsJust like any other country you travel to you need a

passport and will need to go through customsAt this time there are no high risk alerts very welcoming and friendly

Travel

A lot of different looking people in Ireland. You could definitely tell who was 100% Irish though

The people who were 100% Irish had a distinct look to their face, everything seemed to be a little closer together on the face, their skin is very fair and a lot of them do have red hair

Dressed well and very fashion forward. The style is so cute

Appearance

Ireland, is NOT the place you want to go if you are a vegetarian or vegan They have Italian restaurants, Mexican, etc. True Irish food is heavy. There is a lot of meats and bread and TONS of

potatoes Put ketchup and mayonnaise on fries! They have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner like we do and the times are

about the same Use their time to eat as a social time Tables and chairs in the pub environment are very low to the ground

and close together “High-tea” time is considered a meal time… It occurs at 4:00pm usually

daily and right before supper. It is pretty much just a relaxing time where you sit and drink tea and enjoy pastries

Food & Eating

The general attitude in Ireland is very friendly Everyone is very welcoming and warmIreland is prominently Catholic so their values usually

sway with the Catholic beliefs and valuesDid you know that Ireland didn’t legalize birth control

until the 1980s? In the United States it was legal to married women in 1965 and then legal to everyone in 1972

General Attitudes & Values

Ireland is known as “the land of saints and scholars” Religion has always been immensely important in

Ireland, especially Catholicism88.4% of the population in Ireland is Roman Catholic. Ireland takes pride in their Churches, they are

stunning!I was surprised by how dirty their language was in

Ireland for being such a religious area

Religion

The last census in Ireland occurred in 2009. At that time the population was 6 million

The republic of Ireland has a population of about 4,470,700 residents

Northern Ireland has a population of about 1,775,000

Population

St. Patrick's DayChristmasEasterHolidays (vacations) are taken at the beginning or end

of some monthsSt. Stephens day, which is the day after Christmas

Holidays

The language in Ireland is EnglishA small portion of the Irish community speaks Gaelic, it

is an Indo-European language which originated in Ireland and is only spoken by the Irish

Street signs have the roads or cities written in Gaelic in parenthesis

Language

Imagine America, but a little slower paced! There are many secluded parts of Ireland, but there are

also thriving cities such as Dublin that are more fast paced

The younger generation loves to have a good time, go to pubs to catch a pint, and love live music

A slower paced country…unlike America!They love American entertainment; Movies, music, and

television

Lifestyle

Family is very important in IrelandThe Irish usually have very large familiesThe divorce rate in Ireland is much lower because of

their Catholic rootsIt used to be that women stayed home and men went

to work. But as time changed, women now are part of the working force

Family

Ireland suffered and is still suffering from a recessionPeople graduating from prestigious colleges are having

to leave the country to find workThere are nearly half a million people who are

unemployed in Ireland at this timePeople continue to emigrate, and over the next few

years it is estimated that 200,000 people will emigrate out of Ireland

Work

Marriage in Ireland is taken much more serious due to their Roman Catholic roots

Catholics believe that divorce is a sin and no marriage should ever come to an end

Dating in Ireland is very similar to here in the U.S. online dating has also become popular within the recent years

Dating & Marriage

The Irish love sportsHorse races and rugby are the sports of choiceLove live musicLove going to the movies

Recreation

Just like most countries Ireland has different social classesThere isn’t an upper class in IrelandThey follow in the footsteps of Britain, and the upper class

is considered royalty which there is none of in Ireland The middle class is divide into the upper middle classes

which consist of doctors, lawyers, etc. and teachers and nurses, etc. Then there is the working class which can be described as not well off, but are capable of attaining the resources they need to become wealthy.

There is the workless classes which are unemployed or unemployable

Social Levels

President of Ireland is not a member of the government

Presidents term is 7 years and a max of 2 terms.The presidency largely a ceremonial office The Prime Minster is the head of the government The government is regulated fundamentally by the

Constitution of IrelandIreland is divided into two countries; The Republic of

Ireland and Northern Ireland, which are run by two different parties

Government

You drive on the opposite side of the road, and the driver’s side is opposite too

They drive quicklyRound-about’s outweigh street lightsThey have a train station which apparently isn’t run

very well and not very many people like to use it. It is similar to the Metro here

Their cars are the same cars we have here, but are different!

Transportation

Ireland is known for its long and honorable tradition in education

Ireland has one of the highest education participation rates in the world.

81% of students in Ireland complete second-level education and about 60% will move on to complete a higher education.

International companies look to hire Irish graduates for top class positions.

Educational System

Ireland is great for Healthcare and medicineHealthcare is free in IrelandEvery citizen is entitled to free healthcare, but there

are 2 different levels of it depending on how much income you have

There are also great universities for medicine in Ireland including the University College of Dublin

Health & Medicine

Ireland is known as Emerald Isle because it is SO green Ireland’s climate is considered to be temperate

maritime which includes rain quite oftenTheir climate is pretty similar to what it is here in the

U.S. They have rain, shine, snow, sleet, hale, etc. as well as

hot and cold temperatures

Land & Climate

Ireland has had a very vibrant and flourishing economy up until 2008

In 2010 Ireland experienced a double digit unemployment rate

There are thousands of workers and new graduates emigrating out of Ireland simply to find work

It is estimated that over 200,000 people will emigrate out of Ireland due to the downfall of the economy

Economy

The End

Works Cited

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