I’ve never seriously considered leaving Northern Ireland. When I was younger I did have the urge to run but, truth be told, I enjoy being Irish in Ireland as opposed to being Irish elsewhere. I like the atmosphere, the humour – I even like the weather.
I’ve talked to and about people who have left the island for pastures greener and it’s always surprising to see that someone is an ex-pat and doing awfully well for themselves whether they’re a stalwart actor with the respect of peers or a singer who spent a year or two here and seems adopted by the locals. When you consider that the head of Yahoo Europe is a local, and we’ve got locals in senior spots of IDG, CNETand some who have successful careers with Lucasfilm and Atari among our ranks – we have to consider that Northern Ireland, with only 1.8 million people is punching well above it’s weight. We have the advantages of modern technology, significant foreign investment (there always seems to be a growth industry here), good command of English (for the most part) the lingua-franca of the Internet.
And, to the title of the post, I present some Nor’n Iron culture as witnessed by the Toll Trolls (from 98FM, a radio station south of the border).