Anyway here's his comments:
'Plastic Paddies' - Americans(usually) who had some Irish grandfather or further removed relative and actually consider themselves Irish but have never set foot in Dublin, much less speak a word of our language.
you think its a laughing matter, try listening to Plastic Paddies when they come to Ireland. Their great grandfather came from Cork and that makes them IRISH. I jest you not. One grandparent, totally ignoring the rest of their relatives. Usually they're so loud you can here them in the next village 3 miles away. They think the IRA are like the heroic rebels in Star Wars. They're shocked to find Ireland has tv, pizza and the internet and that we dont live in cottages...
I have heard before that it was considered cool in the US to have some sort of Irish link. Which is all very well, if you're talking to Americans and other foreigners, but most Irish and people from our end of the world see through it and take no notice. Its not that we've anything against it really, but it just sounds ridiculous to our ears and we cant see the point. A cop in New Orleans at Mardi Gras actually said ''Top of The Morning to Ya'' to me. I thought he was taking the piss...
The scarist thing about a lot of these Plastic Paddies is their view on the IRA. Many of them consider the IRA as heroes and the fundraising by these people in the US was staggering. Massive money. All out of total ignorance of the situation there, doing it because some great bloody grandfather came from Dublin.
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