David Craig, on April 12th, 2021(Monday to Thursday blog)
I imagine many people who live outside Northern Ireland are looking at the recent outbreaks of violence and wondering what on earth the Northern Irish are fighting about now – so many years after the supposed Peace Process.
I came across a blog I wrote a couple of years ago highlighting the low levels of educational achievement of the Northern Irish compared to the Republic of Ireland. Here’s abit of it:
Modern emigration – Southern vs Northern Ireland
Southern Ireland – In the last 30 years, Southern Ireland was known as the “Celtic Tiger” as huge cuts to corporate tax rates encouraged many international companies to set up operations there. This had a knock-on effect on education leading to the development of a young, well-qualified workforce. Migration fell and many Southern Irish actually moved back to Ireland to take advantage of increasing job opportunities. An impressive 64% of those Irish immigrating back to the Republic of Ireland during the Irish economic boom had post-secondary-school education – much higher than in any part of the UK
Northern Ireland – During the Troubles (1968 to 1998) and even after, there was a massive brain drain from Northern Ireland as many of those with education or specialist skills fled abroad to avoid the violence, bigotry, stupidity and hatred.
Now, before anyone starts accusing me of being a bigot, let me quote from a newspaper report from Northern Ireland comparing the results of recent emigration from the North vs the South.
The result of differential emigration is that, in the North, only a third of those in their early 30s are graduates, compared to 43 per cent in the Republic and a similar figure for mainland Britain. In addition, Northern Ireland also has a significantly higher proportion of the population in their 30s who did not complete second level.
Western economies today depend on high-skilled, especially graduate labour, for economic success. Many low-skill jobs have migrated to developing countries. The Republic’s economic success story is largely built on a well-educated workforce attracting high-skilled, high-paid jobs, in technology, financial services and similar sectors.
The lower level of education in Northern Ireland, compounded by permanent outward migration of Northern-born graduates, has had a serious negative impact on that economy.
It has also contributed to a society, which is now marked by political stagnation and violence.
More evidence of Northern Ireland’s low educational levels?
This morning I came across a report about the failure of Northern Ireland’s educational system, particularly with young males – those causing most of the recent violence:
In regard to gender and educational attainment, a key finding was the persistent attainment gap between males and females, and the fact that this gap consistently increased, to the detriment of males, after leaving primary school: there was an increase in the gap between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3, and it widened as the school years progressed up to A Level
Moreover, a study done in 1979, when such studies weren’t banned by the political correctness mob, found that while the average IQ in the UK was 100, it was 96.7 in Northern Ireland. This suggests, as one might expect, that the best and brightest and most educated and most skilled often emigrated during the Troubles. This left behind the more intellectually- and educationally-challenged.
That brings us to the question – does the fact that the average educational level and the average IQ level in Northern Ireland are probably much lower than in either Southern Ireland or the rest of the UK have any influence on the province’s apparent inability to create peace and prosperity?
You decide. As usual, I have no opinions about anything!!!!!!
Honest, PC Plod. I am opinion-free otherwise I might be accused of ‘thought crime’.
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I have always found the northern Irish to be very well educated. It always seems the troubles affect the very poorest areas.
But really makes little difference as they are pawns in the globalist plan. The cost of Brexit was a reunited ireland. Now Biden has taken control of the White House that diktat can be imposed.
Remember the good Friday agreement allowed for a future referendum. More troubles will drive more to a vote for peace but the price is becoming Irish.
From the time the Troubles began, I have been of the opinion, to paraphrase Otto von Bismarck – ‘The whole of the all the Unionists in Northern Ireland are not worth the death of a single English Grenadier.’ The parasitic scum should have been left to their own devices and we should have sat back and let Ireland sort out their own problems. Sooner or later, after the death toll had become intolerable, they would have come to some sort of accord.
I cannot see this as an education issue, rather it is a lack of suitable jobs to match abilities which results in increasing state dependence, which is ultimately soul destroying. I cannot believe that people need much of an education to see that rioting and property damage serves no purpose. Look also at the damage that some educated people have done to other people’s lives by their actions, Robert Maxwell’s raiding of a pension fund being just one of many. Look at the potential damage in the future due to climate change policies as a result of lying scientists and academics, all highly educated. We still have to see the full impact from consequential deaths and damage to the economy from the government coronavirus policies based only on the precautionary principle. Rioting is there to see, the more serious damage by our business leaders and politicians is less obvious.
I think the problem relates to the rapid changes that have taken place in the last century and perhaps only in the last 50 years. Britain has gone from a world leader during the industrial revolution to zero with the biggest impact being on manual jobs. Some of this is also due to automation. University is not suitable for everyone and even those who go today do not end up with a well paid job. The livelihoods of skilled manual workers have been taken away, and the closure of ship building in NI is probably more relevant than lack of higher education. Britain, an Island has lost what it has always had and depends on, shipbuilding, but it has not gone in other European countries. People with a good job and a family to support do not riot and create problems through it. It sometimes suits politicians and activists to create an oppressed class because it ensures votes through promises to solve their problems, which they never do. Thomas Sowell, a black American, has said this is how Obama came to power, and he constantly points out how black lives have been made worse by politicians interfering, especially in education. In America he says it has resulted in a worse eduction for some black Americans because it does not meet their needs. Blair’s idea of more going to university might be the cause of inappropriate education in NI.
I support being able to get a good education and people are going to expect jobs that relate to that but we still have very essential jobs that do not need high levels of education. For example, we need somebody willing to collect all our waste and if they stop we soon see how vital that is. I don’t want to do that, nor would I have wanted my father’s job – a coal miner, but somebody has to do them and they should be very well paid. There is also the issue of physically demanding seasonal jobs in agriculture. The British don’t seem to want them and they get done by low paid foreign workers, living as I understand it in accommodation the British would not accept. We have exported jobs to China in particular and have never cared about their working conditions and pay, provided we get cheap goods in return, and we have never cared about the job losses here, provided it is not us. This could not happen without increasing state dependence and for years our governments have taken this route rather than the more difficult route of providing satisfying employment with pay appropriate to the cost of living.
The politicians do not care about us and neither do the rich elites, and between them they have no vision for our quickly evolving civilisation. I’m reminded of Eisenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex and bureaucrats taking over government decision making. This has now extended to all big global corporations. They are making billions from our taxes paid to fight the belief we can control the climate and now billions being poured into pharmaceutical companies to fight a virus that has little effect on most of us and to push vaccines on us that have not gone through the accepted standard of trials. The government lets it happen, even with their high levels of education. It is easy for them to blame somebody else and public opinion when it all goes wrong.
There is a bigger problem than education in NI, Boris, like all the politicians in the west, is following his roadmap to nowhere.
An excellent article once again David with an angle that I had not considered before but at which I think you are spot on.
Once again Mr Thorpe has brought his insight to the party and once again his comments have enhanced the article.
If I may be rather forward Mr Thorpe, I was interested to read that your father was a coal miner which would indicate that you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Can I therefore be so bold as to ask you what your own career is or was ? I would venture that you were consistently top of your year at school and school DUX the year you left.
The school I went to catered for working class kids but it is remarkable to look back and see how many of the children went on to achieve great things in every field.
The common theme with the pupils that did well was the quality of the parents regardless of the jobs they held. Also the tidiness of their houses also told a story.
Please keep your comments coming !
I see Mary Lou, the spokeswoman for Sein Fein. has just apologised for blowing up Mountbatten.
I wonder how her friend Rastus still feels about it ?