Xenophobia and racism at Irish bars in Germany

Seeing all the posts about St.Patrick's day, I thought I'd check on a comment a colored friend made to me sometime back when I suggested we go to an Irish pub in Berlin. I was told that people of color continue to be frowned upon in Irish bars in Germany.

I'm Indian and as brown as they come, but I spent the some years in the US and enjoyed St.Patricks Day ( celebration of drinking, oh yeah, count me in!). Last year was the first time I missed it in 4 years, because I was in Germany and was stuck in some stupid school project.

Having travelled around the world a bit, I'm pretty thick skinned and I dont care about some ignorant idiot, but then I dont wanna mess it up for folks going with me.(Especially what with the booze flowin)

Zo, Red or Green for Brown?

Hives of intolerance Irish bars. Id stay away if I were you. They can be well scary if your not red haired and white skinned.

and blue arsed

Would I get slammed if I said yellow bellied?

You're fine as long as you have a Phil Lynott/Thin Lizzy LP/CD/DVD under your arm in plain sight.

Or a shillelagh nipple piercing visible under your green mesh t-shirt.

..and end every sentence with "te be shar, te be shar"

or something

Thuiginn!!!

Red haired, white skinned, blue arsed, yellow bellied...and he says his mate is 'coloured'!

The Irish used to known as the "Blacks of Europe" and we all got served in those days...

No. Next question, please.

Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud.

King Billy: You made me laugh. Well done.

It wasn't me, it was the inimitable Jimmy Rabbit from the Commitments.

That was a good movie.

The Commitments

Wow, i was really surprised by this one.

I have been into a few irish bars here and there and my experience is that
the term "irish bar" now really means "international / expat bar".
A bar where most inhabitants are just not from (in this case) Germany,
and probobly most not from Ireland either.

A bar and meeting point for anyone ouside of their own country who wants to relax and drink
with other people who are "away from home", regardless of colour or creed.

Thats the feeling that I got, then again I have'nt made any of them my local, so I don't really
know the atmosphere for people who really drink there.

Has anybody else experienced this.

That's partly true Jonny.

Given the money that Guiness put into the trade in the 90s, it is often the fact that an Irish Pub catered to all English speakers.
Over time further migration and demographic change means that the pubs are going to change to keep trading.

And given that the number of English speakers isn't THAT huge anyway they re going to have to rely on other expat customers and of course, some "Hermanns".
It is partly a packaged "experience". I usually avoided them when I'm travelling but I've been into two in Slovakia where they spoke no interest.

And for what it is worth, that NASTIEST abuse I have ever seen taking place in an Irish pub was a of a waitress from Belfast.
She "dared" to come from a protestant background and wasn't deeply ashamed of it.

You weren't in Kilians last night - think there were more Germans in there than on Marienplatz.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course, it just was noticeable.

Could you put it into context MT? How did they establish she was a Prod? And to add to that, so bloody what is she was. But then again did she tell them she was related to Lenny Murphy or something?

Irish bars are very dangerous places. I became a father and married a Bavarian girl as a result of an incident in one. Careful now lads.

what am i reading there???

i went out to an irish pub in colonge with a friend the other day..and i must say i did not experience any racist kind of stuff going on..i'm half black half white so..i am brown..hmm maybe cuz i'm a girl?

The waitress in question was a protestant from Belfast.
She was friendly, intelligent, sassy, open minded, communicative.
But when she admitted she drank in a Unionist pub in Belfast city centre and her son was called William, the guns were out for her.
Her take was "Yes I'm Irish, but different Irish".

Admittedly I'm not a "proud wearer of the sash" by any means but I got less hassle being British working in the place.

Anyhoo, back to the question.
Yes, Ireland has issues with recism, as do a lot of countries.
But I think IF it occurred in an Irish pub in Germany, the ajority of the staff and cunstomers could stampt down on it.

Slainté!

And a happy St. Paddy's Day to you too MT. Had a skinful have we?

Was a bit tied up this afternoon so had to go for Greek not Irish.

Gawd! I wish you hadn't told me that.

If this is true, well that's life. However, if it is drunken drivel, it should not remain on TT without being challengend. I would contend that it is the latter. As regards the first sentence- cannot argue with it. The second sentence irrelevant. The third sentence seems oddly convenient. A unionist with a son called Willaim; ffs what next a 'Ra head with a son called Bobby/Wolfe/Emmet/Fionn/[Insert appropriate Irish republican name here] ?

As regards a unionist pub, do you mean a loyalist pub? Can't remember pubs in Norn Iron being known for being moderate i.e. in your example unionist; twas either black or white-loyalist or republican.

Finally Mt, "Yes I'm Irish but different Irish", not even in the most hackeneyed Hollywood film would someone say a line like that.

No doubt the riposte will be that I wasn't there, I didn't experience it, and I cannot argue with that. Furthermore, I will not deny that a vicious hatred exists between Taigs and Prods. But your fairytale of a incident in an Irsh pub, seems to me, to be just that, a fairytale or at best a story with a huge amount of embellishment.

...you forgot to add..."and straight!"

Never experienced much of a problem in Dublin (well, not nowadays - it was different 10 or so years ago), but when I have experienced the homophobia in an Irish Pub outside of Ireland - guess what - its always coming from that troublesome English element...

And if you're like me - definitely do not go to any so-called "Irish Pub" (neery an irish accent in there!) in any of the Spanish Islands unless you want to end up with a glass in your face!

100% true and not drunken bullshit.
And the quote is exactly as she said it.

Don't want a start a huge discussion over one case, just that it was the worst case of bigoty I've ever seen in an Irish pub.
99% of the time there is no problem though.

The only reasons I'd warn people off them are that they can be expensive and are a hinderence to learnng German.

Yes, I was going to say about that comment too. Even the "fake" irish should know better than to come out with such a bollocks and provocative line.
Either Irish or not, simple as!

Truth is you can idiots anywhere and the expat community is no exception.

In my experience the real idiots are usually tourists who are not going to hang around long enough to live with the embarrassment of their small minded views.

...ah Lord God Almighty MT, and what about the bit of spelling or is it just last night's crisps jammed betwixt the keys?

100% agree with this and have seen many, many examples.

Spelling is a bourgeois pre-occupation Mr West Brit!

I am brown , I think, well more of a deep khaki with a cadium tone. And yet I do not recall racism thrown at me unless of course we are talking about the time when a mate yells "hurry up and finish that pint we are getting anotha".