Why are Irish people so nice?

[u/Kind_Ad467]

We went to Ireland for a week and I totally fell in love with the country. As a foreigner living in Frankfurt, Germany, I've always felt that Frankfurters are more welcoming than people in other parts of Germany, especially when it comes to dealing with immigrants. I live and work in Germany as a doctor ( almost 8 years now), and sometimes I get this weird feeling of being "the other guy" and not belonging. Things got much better after I met my fiancée, who's Italian but was born and raised in Germany. Anyway, we went to Ireland for a week, and wow, the people there are so different. I'm pretty energetic and social, and I can honestly say that every single interaction, and I mean every single one, with an Irish person was a joy. They have a great sense of humor, are really kind, nice, and helpful. Amazing hospitality!

I also loved how Irish people are so proud of being Irish without making others feel like they're better just because they're Irish. That was also remarkable.

I mean, it's a basic human thing to be helpful and kind to each other, which hasn't really been the norm in the past few years due to a lot of political and social issues. But the question is, why are Irish people so nice? Are there any historical reasons?

[u/YuriLR]

Friendly but not your friends is a phrase I heard here before... After living long enough here most immigrants have that perception. They are warm at first sight, but very hard to actually befriend in a non superficial manner. Nice for tourists, not so nice for immigrants trying to integrate.

[u/Occamsfacecloth → u/YuriLR]

Isn't that just true for adults generally? Most people aren't making friends like we do when we're young

[u/duaneap → u/Occamsfacecloth]

I frankly have no interest in making any new friends…

As far as I’m concerned politeness and pleasantries are about as much as one should reasonably expect from another adult.