Dublin trip 2018

Sofie Bernart G3B

April 2018

Table of content:
 1. Recent history of Ireland
2. 3 things Ireland is famous for
3. Irelands relation to the EU
4. Differences and similarities school systems
5. Funny anecdote
6. Daily life Irish family
7. New words
8. Different rules
9. Working/living/studying Ireland
10. Similarities Ireland and The Netherlands
11. Communication
12. Diary

Recent History of Ireland

Bloody sunday
In 1972, in Londonderry, thirteen unarmed civil right demonstrators were shot dead by british
army paratroopers. This event is now known as bloody sunday. The men were in a peaceful,
however, illegal protest against internment. British troops responded by firing rubber bullets
and a water cannon. But when the army was ordered to arrest as many demonstrators as
possible, violence erupted.Fourteen people died. There was a big discussion about who had
begun shooting. Some believed the demonstrators started the fight but they were found
unarmed and thus no treat to the soldiers. However in 2010, British Prime Minister David
Cameron went before Parliament to apologize for the shootings.

Bloody sunday was a tragic day for a lot of Irish people, and is believed to be an event of
injustice. I think it is horrible what happened a totally unnecessary. There was no sign of
treat or weapons found by the demonstrators and I think the soldiers did not respond in a
right civilized way. I think it is important to remember such a day so the people who were
unfortunately killed will never be forgotten.

Case X
In 1992 case X had begun. A fourteen-year-old became pregnant as a result of rape.
However she was prohibited to travel to the UK to undergo an abortion. After a long trial, in
which was discovered the girls was suicidal, the Supreme Court lifts the injunction. This
meant that, if there was a real risk to the life of the mother abortion would be lawful. Two
referendums passed to grant the rights to travel and information. A third amendment to
remove suicide as a ground for abortion was rejected.

The right of abortion has always been a big discussion in ireland and still now there is an
ongoing referendum whether abortion should be legal or not. I think a women should be
granted the choice whether or not she wants to keep the unborn, it is her body her choice.
However I do think it is important to seriously think about it when undergoing an abortion.

Plans for a bilingual society

In 2006 the government launches a 20-year strategy to create a bilingual, Irish- and English-
speaking society. The aim of the new policies was to reinstate Irisch as official language,
which meant that every school is obliged to teach Irisch and every student needs to do oral
and written exams in Irisch and the Continuous development of high-quality broadcast
services through Irish. But the government decided to create a bilingual society and focus on
the development in which as many people as possible speak both Irish and English.

I believe that the decision to develop Ireland as a bilingual society has been, and still is a
great decision. I am doing a bilingual education and it has been helpful for me in so many
ways. It helps me understand things better, it gives me more confidence when in a different
country, and it helps me better to understand different cultures. I think being bilingual gives
you so many more opportunities and more people should be able to know a second
language.
3 things Ireland is famous for

St. Patrick's day

St. Patricks day is a cultural and religious celebration that is held in Ireland every year on the
17th of March, the death date of Saint Patrick. It was made an official Christian feast day in
the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church. The day is all about the Irish
culture and heritage and the arrival of christianity in ireland. Celebrations involve festivals,
parades and wearing green and shamrocks.

Guinness
Guinness is a beer brewery, originated from the brewery of Arthur Guinness. The company
was started in 1759 in Dublin. Guinness accounts for more than a quarter of all beer sold in
Ireland and is also well-liked by other countries. The Guinness Storehouse is a popular
tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. In a self-guided tour you get to know
how it is made and what ingredients are used

Riverdance
Riverdance is a typical Irish dance. It is a really fast dance and it is important not to move
your upper body and only let your feet do the work. Riverdance can be done in groups or in
partners. Michael Ryan Flatley is famous river dancer from Ireland. He is also a
choreographer and musician. He became internationally known for Irish dance shows
Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and Celtic Tiger.

Ireland's relations to the EU

Ireland joined the European Union in 1973. It helped Ireland develop in a lot of positive
ways. Farmers were able to establish their own markets and set prices for their products.
Roads and communication technology were improved through funding received from the EU.
Also shops became larger instead of only small family businesses. In 2002 Ireland
 introduced the euro in their country. Ireland kept developing and became a wealthy country
this period is called ‘the Celtic tiger’. However, in 2008 there is a global financial crisis and
Ireland gets into a lot of depths and after receiving a bail-out package containing money from
the EU they finally succeeded to get back from the crisis.

Differences and similarities school systems

Differences: Similarities:
- Levels like - Ages from going to preschool up
HAVO,VWO,VMBO until the Senior year
- Length holidays - Attendance to school is free
- Uniforms at school - Attendance to school is obligatory
- Grading

Funny anecdote
So we were playing Fifa on tuesday evening. We played Ajax (me) against PSV (Sophie)
and it was really tied. PSV only had to make one more goal and it would be 1-1. We were
playing concentrated while the other girls were each supporting a team. And since we are
women and can multi-task, at least most of us, we were eating sweets in the meantime. But
then when Ajax was this close to scoring another goal, while Sophie was putting sweets in
her mouth, she totally panicked and trew the sweets by accident all around the room. It
looked like it was raining tiny green sugar frogs!

Daily life Irish family

A day in the life of an Irish family doesn’t differ much from ours. In the morning there is
breakfast with toast and cereal. The kids go to school, both parents leave to work. In the
evening when everybody got home again, they watch TV together, sometimes with
girlfriends and boyfriends. On wednesday we watched the soccer game of Manchester and
Liverpool. Through the day the kids kind of make their own plans, they make homework or
go out with friends or go to the sportfields. They go to school by bus or train, and they have
to wear uniforms. School takes till threeish. And that is how an average day looks like in the
family we stayed at. It did not differ much from our own lifestyle. However, we did think the
children had to do a lot on their own at a very young age. We saw kids from just 8 years old
walking alone to the train station.

New words

Word Description

Craig A good time/fun

Whanker A fool
 Deadly Brilliant/Fantastic

Dia Dhuit Hello

Conas atá tú How are you

Álainn Beautiful

Tá Yes

Nil No

Dubh linn (Dublin) Blackpool

Kip A nap

Different rules
The most obvious rule we came across was the fact that you had to drive on the left side of
the road. This was a bit difficult to adjust to but fortunately no accidents happened. An other
rule was that the use of phones weren’t allowed at school. And that children need to wear
uniforms to school.

Working/living/studying in Ireland
I’ve heard that it is way more difficult for women to be accepted into different jobs than men.
I also have noticed that the level of education is not as good as ours. However, kids do seem
to have more free time.

Similarities Ireland and the Netherlands

Some of the similarities between Ireland and netherlands are the food. We as countries are
both really keen on potatoes. Also the clothing style was kind of the same. I’ve also noticed
that there were a lot of foreigners just like in most cities in the Netherlands.

Communication
I think the communication went quite well, we’ve had nice conversations with our host family
about our day and what we had seen and done. Also we have met some people in the city
who asked us where we came from. Sometimes I had some difficulties understanding some
of the accents but most people spoke quite clear. We also learned some Irish words and
phrases.
Diary
Sunday, April 22
After a long trip we arrived in Dublin. First we dropped off our luggage, and we had some
free time to explore Dublin for a bit. Afterwards we were guided through Dublin by an official
guide, and he took us around town and informed us about the history of the city. In the
evening we were introduced to out host families. We were openly welcomed and had a small
chat about life in Ireland. After a lovely dinner we went to our rooms and almost immediately
fell asleep, tired of the journey.

Monday, April 23
We woke up in the morning after a good sleep, so we were ready for the day. We had
breakfast and went to the meeting point which was just two streets away. We went back to
the city by train for our English class. We learned Irish slang and some Irish songs. They
also taught us some basic riverdancing. After lunch we visited the St. Patrick’s cathedral
which was quite impressive and had a lovely garden were we sat down and enjoyed the sun.
In the evening we went to see a movie about a teenage boy who got into trouble. He was in
possession of drugs and had to go to prison.

Tuesday, April 24
We had English class first in the morning. We had prepared a presentation about something
typically Irisch and tell the rest of the class something about our chosen subject. Afterwards
we went to Lusk College and got to experience an Irish school. We had to do quizes in small
groups and there was a guest speaker. After our visit to Lusk College we went to Howth. It
had been raining all day but fortunately when we arrived in howth it was dry. We went to the
port and spotted a few seals. We wanted to get to the top of the hills but couldn't reach it
because it was to far away so we went back and got some ice cream. After a lovely
afternoon in Howth we went back to our host families, and had a fun evening.

Wednesday, April 25
In the morning we visited two museums, the archeology museum and the national history
museum. After lunch we went to the GAA were we could experience some of the typical Irish
sports. We learned how to play Irish handball, gaelic football, and hurling. It was really cool
to do and we had a lot of fun. After we had dinner at our host family we went to a local bar
for our last evening in Ireland. It was a Ceili evening and we learned how to properly
Riverdance.

Thursday, 26
It was our last morning in Dublin we had to be at the airport at 4 o’clock. First we went to the
GPO Witness History museum. And afterwards we still had some free time in Dublin. We
went shopping with a small group and bought some souvenirs to bring back home. Everyone
was a bit sad the adventure was almost over. It all happened so fast! at 3 o’clock we arrived
at the airport and I knew it was really over now. When we got back home our families were
all waiting outside eager to hear our stories.