Dude , we ' re talking about Irish men , not Scots men . Anyway , what makes an Irishman ? It ' s a thorny question , to be sure . I would argue that ethnicity is a bigger factor in Irish identity than in English or American identity the latter two countries have long , perhaps always , had a civic rather than an ethnic concept of citizenship . English ethnicity was a mixedbag from the getgo , and we ' ve been taking in immigrants and making them English for so long . whereas even after centuries there are still AngloIrish people in Ireland . Or at least there were . Maybe after another 100 yrs of assimilating immigrants , the conception of Irish identity will change . But I ' m happy to admit that it ain ' t really for me to say , since I ' m not Irish . Unless I dig up my nan ' s birth certificate , file some paperwork and pay a few euros , of course . Which is kind of my point if that ' s the definition , then I could become Irish even if I never set foot in the place or give a shit about it . I ' d only do it for the extra passport , just so I could say , Check out my multiple passports I ' m an international man of mystery . Would you really consider me Irish , then ? My feeling is that the Irish gov ' t instituted this very easy path to citizenship in order 1 . To entice the diaspora back home , because Ireland ' s still so very depopulated 2 . To strengthen the connection with all those plastic paddies in America who like to take their vacations in the old country , and drink Guinness instead of Budweiser , and pester their congressmen to make sure American foreign policy is favourable to Ireland , and fund terrorism , and all the other things that put the Irish in IrishAmerican . The first motive is very respectable , but not the second one . Of course , I am just speculating here . Maybe there was nothing cynical about the policy at all . And I certainly don ' t think speaking Gaelic makes a difference . The Irish language is for fags . I went to Dublin once , I saw it on all the street signs and such , I was like , who the fuck are you kidding ? Taoiseach , or however you fucking spell it ? Just call him the prime minister , you all know that ' s what he really is