Revealed how the Irish accent is perceived and why Northern Irish voices are misunderstood

Accent coach Alix Dunmore has lifted the lid on how different Irish and British accents are judged, from the friendliness of Geordie to the challenges of mastering Scottish and Scouse. She also warns that Northern Irish accents remain unfairly misunderstood, even as some classic dialects like Cockney fade from everyday use.

From Irish and Scottish, to the distinctive tones of Scouse (Liverpool) and Geordie (Newcastle), accents are far more than just ways of speaking. Whether on our screens or in everyday life, the way we sound can shape how we’re understood, remembered and even trusted.

Alix Dunmore revealed the most trustworthy accents - with Geordie’s often perceived as "friendly" and Northern Irish represented less positively.

Speaking to Heart Bingo Online, Alix also shares the accent that is on the decline and the reasons behind this, as well as the best on-screen accents, and the one she believes is a ‘struggle to watch’.

Speaking to Heart Bingo Online, accent coach, Alix Dunmore, reveals;

What accent is often misrepresented?

Southern Irish accents are often perceived as warm and trustworthy. Northern Irish accents, on the other hand, are sometimes unfairly seen as more aggressive or confrontational. That may partly be down to upward inflections in the accent, but it probably also comes from the history we have with Northern Ireland. Personally, though, I absolutely love a Northern Irish accent.

What accent is at risk of dying out?

Cockney. People have been pushed out of London because they can no longer afford to live there, and that has definitely had an impact. The overall London accent has changed a lot as a result. When I hear a young person with a really strong Cockney accent now, it almost makes me gasp in surprise. But accents are always shifting. 

With social media, people are constantly exposed to voices from all over the world, and many start to model themselves on people they follow online, whether that’s an influencer or someone they admire. Because of that, people are also more aware of their own accents. Twenty years ago, many people didn’t really notice they had a strong accent until they went to university, if they went at all, and that’s often when they might begin to change it. The same thing has happened with accents like the broad New York accent we recognise from TV and film. You don’t hear it as often in real life anymore. We get asked for it at the school all the time by casting directors because productions still want that sound, but it can actually be quite difficult to find. You can still hear it, of course, but it’s increasingly rare, especially among younger people, to hear what you’d think of as a really broad Brooklyn accent.

What in your opinion is the most unique accent?

The New Zealand accent shares quite a few features with Australian, but there are also some very clear differences. Australian English has a lot of different influences, and you can hear traces of Irish in it, as well as elements from places like East Anglia and elsewhere. With a Kiwi accent, you tend to hear more Scottish influence. Whenever I’m asked to do a Kiwi accent, I have to spend some time walking around the house practising it out loud so it settles in. It’s one of those accents you really have to get your ear into before it starts to feel natural.

Is there an accent you find hard to master?

Scottish. For anyone other than an Irish person, it’s probably going to be really hard. If you’re Northern Irish, there’s a lot of overlap, so it comes more naturally. But I’ve also heard plenty of Southern Irish people give it a much better attempt than most English people. The thing is, there are so many opposite features in a Scottish accent, especially vowel length. In most Scottish accents, vowels are short where we English speakers would have long vowels, and vice versa. So someone might be doing fine, and then they pronounce a long vowel, and suddenly, it sounds like they’re speaking Yorkshire.

How difficult is the Geordie accent to master?

It’s very hard for most people to master. Mainly because every single syllable sounds like a different note. The rhythm is reasonably clipped, so you don’t have a lot of time with it. It’s fast. It’s northern in nature but then it changes the game on some sounds. It has light L’s for example, which is similar to most Irish accents. They use a lot of glottal stops too, which is usually when you drop a T sound. So ‘water’ becomes ‘wa'er’. 

Is it a trustworthy accent in your opinion? 

Yes, I think people do see Geordies in a positive way. It’s seen as a friendly accent.

Is there a film or TV example of a bad actor accent that you struggle to watch?

Ella Purnell in Fallout. I love what she’s doing. I think she’s a brilliant actor, absolutely mesmerising to watch. A lot of people have said, “I didn’t know she was English,” and I’m like… how can you not know she’s English? But, you know, it’s a fantasy world, post-apocalyptic, 200 years in the future. Maybe they sound like they’re doing bad American accents. You just have to suspend disbelief for a second.

What is the best accent you’ve seen an actor do in a film or TV show?

It’s hard to say the best off the top of my head, but Martin Freeman in "The Responder" was great. It was a Scouse accent. It wasn't perfect, but it was like 96% there.