IRELAND

How the Irish live today?

My Dear Friends! As we all know that we are here to present our view of The Irish Culture. My presentation is more about How the Irish live today?

Irish Life:
In the last 30 years, life in Ireland has changed a lot, and this has meant that people have had to change the way that they thought. One way that life has changed is that farming has become less common in Ireland. Although Ireland still produces a lot of farm products, a lot of the farms are owned primarily by large companies as compared to the past, when farms were small, and each family took care of their own small piece of land. Hence, the older people would remember a time when people grew-up on farms, but the young think it to be normal to grow-up in cities. The youth in Ireland, these days, would be encouraged to go to University and find high paid jobs rather than to live on a farm with a large family, all working together.

Irish family:
Irish people are very close to their extended family, like cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. In traditional Irish culture, before the British took control, Tribe was the most important part of society. And this aspect of Celtic life is still a part of Irish life today.

Irish Women:
Women in Irish families have a much different role, than they had. Married women in Ireland used to not be allowed to have government jobs. Even after this was changed, it was difficult for women to acquire jobs. However, today Ireland has laws, like all EU countries, which look after the rights of women in society, particularly at workplace. There are laws which ensure that even when a woman has a baby, she keeps her job and also gets financial support.

Irish Work Culture:

As far as the Work Culture is concerned, Trade Unions play an important role in Irish industries. They ensure that the workplace is safe, and workers get better pay and advantages.

Irish Community:
Having said all that, the Irish are well known for their entertainment. In Ireland, an important social meeting-place is the public house, also called a Pub. In cities as well as in small villages, the local pub is a place for friends to meet and socialize, to eat, listen to music and dance. It is also a place where a lot of drinking goes in, and Irish people have something of a reputation for drinking a lot of alcohol.

The Catholic Church:

Talking about the restrictions today, as many people in Ireland have a better education today, and know more about different cultures of other parts of the world, the Catholic Church has become less important to Irish life. In the past, the people of Ireland were more devoted to the Church, and many followed the orders from the pope and his priests without questions. However, now, as people think more for themselves on matters, power of the Church has become less. The laws which were created based on Catholic beliefs were not always allowed by the EU which Ireland had joined, and so many of these laws had to be changed. The Catholic Church was against this, but the people voted to allow it anyway.

Irish Education:
Education in Ireland is still run mostly by religious groups. Although in other parts of Irish culture the church has less direct power, religion is still part of daily school life for most students. When education first became compulsory, schools were all run by the church, and it is still the Catholic Church which runs most of the schools today. Even universities, for that matter, are often linked with religion in Ireland. University education is very popular in Ireland, and over 40% of people between the age of 25 and 34 years, have a degree. It is more prevalent because education is free for EU citizens, including universities.

Irish Language:
The Irish language is an important part of the Irish culture, and the Irish government has put a lot of effort over the years into making sure that it does not disappear. It comes from the Celtic language that the Celts from Europe brought to Ireland, and is related to the Gaelic language spoken in Scotland by some people. Though it is the national language, and the first official language of Ireland, only about 3% of the population of Ireland speaks the native Irish language.

English Language:
The other official language of Ireland is English, which most Irish people use in their daily lives. English was brought to Ireland when it was under the control of the British. The English spoken by people in Ireland is quite different from other forms of English, mainly because of the strong Irish accent and the slang. This dialect of English has been affected over many years by the Irish language, so that certain things in Irish have been passed to the type of English that they speak today. Because Ireland is separate from Britain, there are also some old-fashioned ways of speaking that have disappeared in Britain. There are also different accents, in different parts of Ireland, which Irish people can tell-apart, but which outsiders would find difficult to identify.

Oral Culture:
Even though the British were in control of Ireland for hundreds of years, the Irish language was still spoken by the poor Irish farmers for much of this time. The traditions of the Irish people were kept alive by these poorer people, while in the cities, the rulers from Britain spoke mostly English. These poor farmers would often have been unable to read or write, and traditional stories and poetry would be passed down by people memorizing and telling each other. Even after, the Irish language started to become less popular, and education more common, the Irish people kept their style of being very talkative and good at conversation.

Irish Literature:
This habit helped the Irish to make many famous poets and writers. Although many Irish writers still write in the Irish language, Ireland is most famous for its writers in the English language. Ireland has had four winners of the Nobel Prize for literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. The most famous Irish writer of all, James Joyce, never won the Nobel Prize, even though he wrote what many people think is the best English novel of all time.

My Dear Friends! Theres a lot more to be learnt about this beautiful country and its people, and Im sure we would discover that on the floor while we take calls. Having said all that, I wish you all, the very best with your presentations. Thank You