How the rest of the world see us....

[Wolfie]

Yeah, I wouldn't trust a Nordie if my life depended upon it. How on earth have the Nordies escaped our wrath after this Euro debacle? They should be the first to go.

What's a sectarian song these days, 'Come on you boys in green'? 'The boys of the green brigade'? 'A Trap lullaby'? 'I love 442' ?

I knew it!! I knew it was the Nordies!!!

Even when they said it wasn't the Nordies, I knew it was them!!

Nordies out!!!

[sullanefc]

Deary me.

Sad.

Care to address the rest of the post?

Sad.

[Not Brazil]

Care to address the rest of the post?

Not much point in addressing anything when you believe that chanting about having sexual intercourse with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and in support of a terrorist organisation that killed and maimed thousands of Irish men, women and children would only be offensive to "Royalists" and is not sectarian.

Are you saying, for example, that there would be no problem with chanting "F**k the Pope" and songs in support of the UVF - as it is only likely to offend Republicans?

[sullanefc]

Not much point in addressing anything when you believe that chanting about having sexual intercourse with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and in support of a terrorist organisation that killed and maimed thousands of Irish men, women and children would only be offensive to "Royalists" and is not sectarian.

Are you saying, for example, that there would be no problem with chanting "F**k the Pope" and songs in support of the UVF - as it is only likely to offend Republicans?

Not Brazil, you clearly don't understand "southerners" or you are a WUM. I won't give you a history lesson, but there are a lot of Irish people who would not be the queens biggest fans over the behaviour of the british state over the last 800 years. Singing about it on a street in Poland is not clever or mature perhaps but my point was that these guys singing these songs were not sectarian. It is, as I said, 5 or 6 drunk lads, doing the whole look at us we are Irish aren't we great routine. Immature, Celtic fans, peacocking if you ask me. They would probably sh*t themselves if they had to walk down a loyalist street in Belfast.

For me sectarianism is wronging people who are different to you. Whether that is bombing them, beating them up on the street, refusing them jobs, not allowing them to vote, not allowing them to stand for election etc.

As I said, if these same guys met an england fan or a NI fan, then they would more than likely, drink with them and have the craic with some banter perhaps.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Not much point in addressing anything when you believe that chanting about having sexual intercourse with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and in support of a terrorist organisation that killed and maimed thousands of Irish men, women and children would only be offensive to "Royalists" and is not sectarian.

Are you saying, for example, that there would be no problem with chanting "F**k the Pope" and songs in support of the UVF - as it is only likely to offend Republicans?

You don't read what other people post on here, do you?

Instead relying on the view from a one-dimensional bubble.

Sad, indeed.
:rolleyes:

[Not Brazil]

Not Brazil, you clearly don't understand "southerners" or you are a WUM. I won't give you a history lesson, but there are a lot of Irish people who would not be the queens biggest fans over the behaviour of the british state over the last 800 years. Singing about it on a street in Poland is not clever or mature perhaps but my point was that these guys singing these songs were not sectarian.


I do understand "northerners" - I believe the gentlemen in the clip (who also appear in other clips venting their bile) are from Northern Ireland.

I don't need a history lesson, thanks.

They are certainly not the type of "fans" I would want to be "having the craic" with.

Will you be answering my question in post #153?

[sullanefc]

Are you saying, for example, that there would be no problem with chanting "F**k the Pope" and songs in support of the UVF - as it is only likely to offend Republicans?
I would consider them to be immature unionists. If they were singing it in Dublin, I would think that they were deliberately trying to provoke Irish fans. If they were singing it on the streets of Poland then I would consider them to be peacocks who were trying to show off and display their britishness in an immature way.


Will you be answering my question in post #153?
Ok pet?

[sullanefc]

They are certainly not the type of "fans" I would want to be "having the craic" with.

You are obviously very easily offended. How do you survive at Glentoran V Linfield matches. :rolleyes:

[Not Brazil]

I would consider them to be immature unionists. If they were singing it on the streets of Poland then I would consider them to be peacocks who were trying to show off and display their britishness in an immature way.


Not sure what such bile would have to do with "showing off and displaying Britishness" - I would call them sectarian neanderthals.


How do you survive at Glentoran V Linfield matches.

What do you mean?

By the way, I do find base sectarianism to be somewhat offensive - I'll not be making any apology for that.

[boovidge]

In what way is saying "f**k the Queen" a sectarian act?

[Bungle]

Is it? Were your ancestors sectarian?



Which one would that be and how do you distinguish between the activities of the "modern" and the "old" of which your ancestors were members?



Whilst this is true, and it might be unsavoury for many, is it strictly indicative of sectarianism?

The old IRA fought British soldiers. They did what they had to do against the likes of the Black and Tans and in some cases it was gruesome. However, there was a campaign of hate against the Irish people and the IRA stood up to them through the use of guerilla warfare to defeat them.

I have a huge degree of sympathy for how northern Irish catholics/nationalists were treated after partition and I can totally understand how thousands of young men in the ghettos of Derry and Belfast would end up in the IRA of the late 60s/70s/80s. However, it still doesn't take away from the fact that countless atrocities were carried out against Protestants up North in this period against the innocent. Often, the IRA indiscriminately bombed such as in Omagh where many Catholics were killed. I cannot bring myself to sing and glorify about these scumbags.

When I lived in Guildford, I just missed the bombing by hours. The pub was a known military pub, but alot of Irish navvies like myself and Irish nurses would often be in there. I could so easily have as well. They didn't give to much of a toss though did they. Anyone who is old enough to remember what it was like to live in mainland Britain after the bombings will tell you what it was like. You found yourself trying to justify what the IRA did in the context of what the British had done to us for centuries, while at the same time feeling shame for the loss of innocent men, women and children. Try tell that to the bombers who had probably fled back to their safe houses in the South of Ireland, while you and your mates were being interned for hours and questioned about being part of the IRA.

From my experience, the modern IRA are drug dealers and involved in other criminal activity. They are so far removed from the IRA of the past, it is not even funny.

It is true that very very few of our fans sung and glorify about the IRA and long may this continue. We have the best fans in the world and this is why the Poles want to play us in a friendly.

[Not Brazil]

In what way is saying "f**k the Queen" a sectarian act?

In what way is saying "f**k the Pope" a sectarian act?

[Stuttgart88]

Can we not just drop this nonsense? So we have a few morons in our support? A bunch of lads behaving offensvely on youtube isn't representative of anything, much as NB would like it to be.

[boovidge]

It's not, necessarily.

[Wolfie]

yep, all three were top seeds in qualifying, and we were the only 3rd seed to qualify
Second seeds that didn't qualify were Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia and Romania.

all here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012_qualifying#Seedings

To be fair, thats a revealing stat.

Only 3rd team to qualify.

Am I experiencing the first green shoots of acceptance and moving on to the next tournament with renewed delusion / optimism ??????

[Not Brazil]

A bunch of lads behaving offensvely on youtube isn't representative of anything, much as NB would like it to be.

It is representative of the fact that you have a small minority of "lads" amongst the South's support, mainly from Northern Ireland, who like to indulge in bigoted, sectarian, chanting.

The majority of your fans are top quality.

[paul_oshea]

In what way is saying "f**k the Pope" a sectarian act?

Did the pope ever rule northern ireland or the republic of ireland?

Its completely different NB, i agree with the FOA, but this is nothing else other than a few goons.

Its like the immature peado one about wegner, it is NOT sectarian.

[Not Brazil]

Did the pope ever rule northern ireland or the republic of ireland?


Of course not - why do you ask?

Do you consider chanting "f**k the Pope" to be sectarian?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Er, do you?

[paul_oshea]

Of course not - why do you ask?

Do you consider chanting "f**k the Pope" to be sectarian?

You are taking it as being the Queen as the head of the Church of England, and the Pope being the head of the Catholic Church. It shows how unimaginative those are that felt the need to invent something like F the Pope in retalliation to F the Queen the head of the Armed Forces and Occupied Terrirtory.

Do you understand now? It is not like for like because F the Queen represents all that enveloped and repressed the Irish people.

The pope did no such thing to the good folk of NI or ROI or the Island of Ireland.

Its like comparing apples and Oranges....oh wait.

If you do understand, then your attempt at playing the sectarian card, is laughable in the extreme, not even worth considering.

[Not Brazil]

You are taking it as being the Queen as the head of the Church of England, and the Pope being the head of the Catholic Church. It shows how unimaginative those are that felt the need to invent something like F the Pope in retalliation to F the Queen the head of the Armed Forces and Occupied Terrirtory.

Do you understand now? It is not like for like because F the Queen represents all that enveloped and repressed the Irish people.

The pope did no such thing to the good folk of NI or ROI or the Island of Ireland.

Its like comparing apples and Oranges....oh wait.

If you do understand, then your attempt at playing the sectarian card, is laughable in the extreme, not even worth considering.

So, basically, you're saying that chanting things like "f**k the Pope and the IRA" is not sectarian?

"Occupied Territory":D

[DannyInvincible]

Of course not - why do you ask?

Do you consider chanting "f**k the Pope" to be sectarian?

It depends on the intent behind it, no? On the face of it, it appears to be a expression of anti-Catholicism and is often used by unionist/loyalists/Protestants in possession of some bitter grudge against Catholics in order to insult the latter, so I would imagine it probably is in many/most cases.

I have a Protestant uncle through marriage who, with a bit of drink in him at family gatherings, has pointed his finger across the table at my mother and accused "you Papists" (yes, he did use the word "Papists"!) of being complicit in the abuses of the Catholic Church, as if my mother had covered up child abuse or something. That's also sectarianism in my book.


The old IRA fought British soldiers. They did what they had to do against the likes of the Black and Tans and in some cases it was gruesome. However, there was a campaign of hate against the Irish people and the IRA stood up to them through the use of guerilla warfare to defeat them.

Did what they had to, so were right? But those from nationalist communities who joined the IRA feeling threatened and alienated within what was a Protestant state for a Protestant people were indulging in struggle for luxury? Some moral simplification/historical revisionism there. At what point does something become the justified and necessary absolute last resort?

The Irish state indulges in similar revisionism and double standards on this to a nauseous degree every Easter and Ryan Tubridy's laughing off of the matter with an "ah, c'mon!" when Martin McGuinness once raised it with him on the Late Late Show - given Tubridy's grandfather(?) was in the IRA - was typical of this southern revisionism. Another relative of mine wrote this (http://judecollinsjournalist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/being-nice-is-not-enough.html) a month or so ago:


Probably the first person to be shot dead in the Easter Rising was a fourteen-year-old called Gerald Playfair. He was the son of the commander of the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park. He was running to alert the authorities that the fort had been seized when a pursuing Volunteer shot him dead. And the Irish Times on Monday carried an article about a historical dispute going on at present about whether in Cork in 1922, the shooting dead in 1922 of 13 people all Protestant, aged between 16 and 82 years, was motivated by sectarianism.

They're just two examples of what might be construed as "old IRA foul-play", but all violent struggles become tainted or dirty to a degree by their nature. The pre-southern independence one is no exception. Not everything they did was what you might consider "above board". In fact, the volunteers of the Easter Rising were mocked and jeered through the streets of Dublin upon their arrest. The Dublin media even berated them in holding them responsible for the mass destruction of the grand local architecture of the day. There was no widespread public support for violent revolt pre-1916. Just as the modern IRA have no claim to a democratic mandate, neither did the IRA of old.


I have a huge degree of sympathy for how northern Irish catholics/nationalists were treated after partition and I can totally understand how thousands of young men in the ghettos of Derry and Belfast would end up in the IRA of the late 60s/70s/80s. However, it still doesn't take away from the fact that countless atrocities were carried out against Protestants up North in this period against the innocent. Often, the IRA indiscriminately bombed such as in Omagh where many Catholics were killed. I cannot bring myself to sing and glorify about these scumbags.

Nobody's saying something like what happened in Omagh should be glorified. That was a disgraceful, tragic and clumsy mess of the highest order, but I'm not sure it can be painted as sectarian or that the IRA's general campaign can be understood as such (I acknowledge splinter groups and volunteers within the IRA may have deviated from the "official line" on this from time to time, but the IRA's command were always very clear that their struggle was political rather than sectarian). A memory that has stuck with me to this day is of first hearing the news of Omagh. I was on holidays in the US with my family as a boy and my father, who grew up outside Omagh, woke us up in a state of panic to tell us the news after getting a phone-call from home. I was too young to fully comprehend the magnitude of what had just happened but I could sense my father was visibly upset as live footage of what was unfolding in the aftermath started filtering through via the American news channels on the television. Or maybe what did that to him was the anchor interviewing, of all people, Bono!

In seriousness though and more to the point, the main problem I have is with this idea that it's all terribly easy to make a moral distinction between the "old" and "modern" versions of the IRA. That's not to say that either everything one or the other did was all right or all wrong respectively either; just a wish for some to acknowledge moral ambiguities instead of avoiding facing up to some hard truths.

[paul_oshea]

So, basically, you're saying that chanting things like "f**k the Pope and the IRA" is not sectarian?

"Occupied Territory":D

Occupied Territory isn't NI, before you go off thinking it is. It could be IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, SYRIA, wherever :) But seriously i meant it in terms of the State of Eire.

One last time NB. The Pope is not a head of armed forces that ever occupied the territory of Ireland.

[ArdeeBhoy]

I'd say you genuinely taught him something there, Paul...

[Not Brazil]

One last time NB. The Pope is not a head of armed forces that ever occupied the territory of Ireland.

Is chanting "f**k the Pope" sectarian, or not?

Is chanting in support of the UVF sectarian, or not?

Yes or no will do.

[BonnieShels]

:D That's an "n" at the end of queen, not an "r". :D

Edit: Looking forward to giving you boys a hammering tonight when "what's it like to have a queer queen" will get an airing I'm sure. :D

Ah sullane, You need a crash course in Homosexual nomenclature 101.

Agree with your post. But as you say, mountain out of a molehill. Nothing to see here folks. nothing at all...

[sullanefc]

Some great posts above on politics and the history of the situation from different points of view. I agree with many of them. I didn't want to get in to it for fear of getting the thread closed for talking politics in a football forum.

I don't think its sectarian for having a political opinion on the history of our Country and I'm pretty sure that while the guys in the youtube clip are drunk and being immature, they are not sectarian.

You know if we were all discussing this in a bar with NB in our company, there would come a point where we would say, ah fe*k the politics and we would start talking football. I would ask NB how do Linfield keep winning the league almost every year? Is he as disappointed in IL attendances as we are of LOI attendances? Is he dismayed at the number of people who go across the water for matches with football on their doorsteps? We might tell dirty jokes, ogle the hot bird in the corner, drink beer, smoke cigs and head off to a club for more.

We all have our political views, but the majority are reasonable people who treat everyone, no matter where they're from or their religion, with respect. I don't think that is sectarian. No matter how much I dislike the queen or wish for someone to have sexual intercourse with her as NB put it.

[geysir]

But as you say, mountain out of a molehill. Nothing to see here folks. nothing at all...
A molehill suggests something you can visibly observe without the aid of a magnifying glass.

A majority of fans - eh, sorry, let's try that again - the vast majority, no that's doesn't quite explain it either, how about - 99.999% of fans behave themselves for what passes within the confines of public decency at a major sporting event.

A small minority, sorry, lets try that again, a miniscule nr of fans, so small as to be almost invisible, some .0001% behave themselves with indignity.

[bennocelt]

I have some English friends that wouldnt be great fans of the queen. Are they self haters? Is it any wonder that some nationalists dont want to play for NI

[Not Brazil]

It depends on the intent behind it, no? On the face of it, it appears to be a expression of anti-Catholicism and is often used by unionist/loyalists/Protestants in possession of some bitter grudge against Catholics in order to insult the latter, so I would imagine it probably is in many/most cases.

I have a Protestant uncle through marriage who, with a bit of drink in him at family gatherings, has pointed his finger across the table at my mother and accused "you Papists" (yes, he did use the word "Papists"!) of being complicit in the abuses of the Catholic Church, as if my mother had covered up child abuse or something. That's also sectarianism in my book.


In my experience, most of those who would chant "f**k the Pope" would not have the first notion as to what aspects of Catholicism they have theological issues with - basically because they would not be religious per se.

I don't, therefore, understand what their "grudge" would be on theological grounds.

[Not Brazil]

Is it any wonder that some nationalists dont want to play for NI

Absolutely no wonder at all.

Why would an Irish Nationalist/Republican want to play for a British Association? Hardly a shock that some don't.

Whether you, me, your English friends, like it or not - The Queen is Head Of State in this part of the world known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland.

[mypost]

totally agree - support Ireland end of - all this sectarian/political **** has no place in our support

Thread suspended at 94 Posts. Re-opened at 182 Posts.

The rest of the world likes us because we are nice people who don't win. The Germans are hated for being clinical on the pitch and efficient off it, as other top countries are.

[Not Brazil]

The Germans are hated for being clinical on the pitch and efficient off it

The Germans are superb fans.

[DannyInvincible]

In my experience, most of those who would chant "f**k the Pope" would not have the first notion as to what aspects of Catholicism they have theological issues with - basically because they would not be religious per se.

I don't, therefore, understand what their "grudge" would be on theological grounds.

Antipathy towards Catholics because they are Catholic would be sectarian surely, irrespective of whether or not the harbourer of such antipathy was knowledgeable of the doctrine of transubstantiation or not. Why else would someone be shouting "f*** the Pope" if not to insult Catholics in a sectarian manner?

[DannyInvincible]

Thread suspended at 94 Posts. Re-opened at 182 Posts.

We've been discussing how our fans were viewed. Some buffoons sought to paint our support as sectarian, which influenced the direction of the discussion between those posts.

[Not Brazil]

Antipathy towards Catholics because they are Catholic would be sectarian surely, irrespective of whether or not the harbourer of such antipathy was knowledgeable of the doctrine of transubstantiation or not. Why else would someone be shouting "f*** the Pope" if not to insult Catholics in a sectarian manner?

Oh, I've no doubt it is meant to offend - and, of course, it is base sectarianism.

It grates with me that people who chant such stuff would not have the intelligence to explain their hatred.

I also think chants of "f**k the Queen" are sectarian.

The FAI showed solidarity with the families of innocent victims who were slaughtered at the hands of cowardly thugs.

I would assume that the fans of the FAI who see fit to roam European streets chanting their support for the IRA would have been against such an act by the FAI - on the basis that they show support for an organisation responsible for equally henious crimes.

[Stuttgart88]

All half dozen of them might have been against it, or not. Or 200 of them, whatever. Some Republican bigots follow Republic of Ireland team shocker. It's got nothing to do with the rest of us, you know it so why labour the point? Danny, you should know better too. You know what each other think, stop antagonising each other and ruining yet another thread.

[DannyInvincible]

Danny, you should know better too. You know what each other think, stop antagonising each other and ruining yet another thread.

But the eligibility thread's been quiet of late. :p

[Not Brazil]

Danny, you should know better too. You know what each other think, stop antagonising each other....

Danny has not "antagonised" me - and I have no intention of "antagonising" him.

The thread is about how the rest of the world see you - I presume that those who post clips of your fans on You Tube don't mind the rest of the world commenting on their behaviour.

[Stuttgart88]

They can comment all they want, you seem very keen on it. If anyone cares or notices outside your circles they'll probably think 'oh, there's a few bigots in the ROI's ranks'. Hopefully they won't think we're all like that because they'd be wrong and I suspect anyone without an agenda would know that.

[O'Shea's Boot]

I agree that there were very different dynamics at play in the two aforementioned contexts compared to Irish Manchester United fans booing Balotelli in Poznan. So, is it justified/more justified (?) if political so long as it's not sectarian/racist or moronically related to British club rivalries?



What was the sectarian stuff being sung? And can you be sure it was only northerners?

Danny - the stuff being sung mostly FTQ and glorifying IRA murders - have to say very little in the Stadia but more at fans meeting places . as for was it Northerners - well yes in my experience over there it was.

Ireland has come so far over the past 15 years and surely we dont want this bile associated with our team

[O'Shea's Boot]

They can comment all they want, you seem very keen on it. If anyone cares or notices outside your circles they'll probably think 'oh, there's a few bigots in the ROI's ranks'. Hopefully they won't think we're all like that because they'd be wrong and I suspect anyone without an agenda would know that.
While off course I agree with the gist of your post SG88 - while SOME our fans allow themselves to be filmed behaving like bigots then we all get smudged - tarred with the old sectarian ticket unfortunately.

I know ive gone on a bit in this thread but its only because I care

[ArdeeBhoy]

Is chanting "f**k the Pope" sectarian, or not?

Is chanting in support of the UVF sectarian, or not?

Yes or no will do.

Not necessarily to the first part. Met more than a few Irish people with a Catholic background who have been more than somewhat disparaging towards the Pontiff and his representatives. So what?

And, yes to the second part. Probably.
It depends though on where and who to...


Whether you, me, your English friends, like it or not - The Queen is Head Of State in this part of the world known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland.

Any chance of telling us something we don't know?
:rolleyes:


The Germans are superb fans.

Hmm, even their neo-Nazi contingent? And they have more than the odd hooligan in the background.
Still not that it should put us off 95+% of them.


I also think chants of "f**k the Queen" are sectarian.
You do know there are numerous English & Scottish people who are not too keen on Mrs.Windsor Snr?
And wish her rather worse.

Are they also 'sectarian'??



The FAI showed solidarity with the families of innocent victims who were slaughtered at the hands of cowardly thugs.

I would assume that the fans of the FAI who see fit to roam European streets chanting their support for the IRA would have been against such an act by the FAI - on the basis that they show support for an organisation responsible for equally henious crimes.

Whereas you choose to ignore the reactions to Irish fans of the Polish, Germans, Spanish, Croats, Italians etc.
We don't see their 'outrage' recorded, do we?

Or the dignified response of someone like Colin Parry today commenting on Marty meeting the said Mrs.Windsor Snr.



The thread is about how the rest of the world see you - I presume that those who post clips of your fans on You Tube don't mind the rest of the world commenting on their behaviour.

Except that's just like saying every person from the North on those YT videos in February are 'crazed loyalist bigots', which by your logic they are....

[Stuttgart88]

Anyway, I see the Queen is to visit Belfast and meet McGuinness next week. Hopefully she'll make any bigots on the Republican side look as churlish as she made some people look south of the border last year.

[geysir]

While off course I agree with the gist of your post SG88 - while SOME our fans allow themselves to be filmed behaving like bigots then we all get smudged - tarred with the old sectarian ticket unfortunately.

I know ive gone on a bit in this thread but its only because I care
You've protested above and beyond what is regarded as too much, to make one very suspicious, in fact it's beyond farcical now, it's just that farce has already been stretched beyond previous known boundaries in another thread about the singing of the FOA a the end of the Spain game.

You're not the full shilling are you? This is the only thing you have ever posted about? I seriously doubt you were even were at the Euros. Plenty of members here went to the tournament and have reported back on their experiences and reception from the locals. What happened? did you read something somewhere? on a forum? a newspaper? searched you tube to get offended and full of shame?
Some syncronised move between you and Not Brazil?
What a crew! you guys are hard up, in serious need of something else to focus on in life.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Back in the real world...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poland-Ireland-after-Euro-2012-lets-make-a-friendly-match-xxxx2012/186636648120682

A group started by, er, Poles.

And

http://www.facebook.com/events/238317902938368/

[Not Brazil]

If anyone cares or notices outside your circles they'll probably think 'oh, there's a few bigots in the ROI's ranks'. Hopefully they won't think we're all like that because they'd be wrong and I suspect anyone without an agenda would know that.

Of course there's a few bigots in your ranks - mainly Nordies, it seems.

The majority of your fans are top quality - as I stated previously.

[backstothewall]

I think the real scandal was the stadium PA guy playing an IRA song before the game. Our (obviously sectarian) players all stood to attention for it, and if there must have been 20,000 people singing it :p

I honestly don't think people outside the British Isles understand that we have artificially developed a concept of the good IRA from before 1968, and the bad IRA from after it. And I don't think they care much more about it than the average Irishman cares about whether a Barcelona fan is singing a song about the Spanish Civil War or the more modern Catalan separatist movement. As long as everyone is having a good time it scarcely matters.

To the rest of the world the IRA is something cool from the movies, or something they have never heard of. This thread has turned into a debate about how we see ourselves, but we all know that anyway, and no one is changing their mind.

The behaviour of the fans has been a credit to the whole country, and that credit will be extended to NI, as most people don't understand why there are 2 states in Ireland, think its nothing more than some sort of historical anomaly, and that we are all much of a muchness.

And they probably aren't far wrong.

[magicman]

Having watched all three games live in Australian pubs over the last couple of weeks, it was something special to see our support in Poland. To be honest, I don't even remember the end of the Spanish game, not from drink, but because I was overcome with pride listening to what our fans were doing in the stands.
In Melbourne, every person is a die-hard support of AFL/Cricket or NRL. Every conversation you have with an Aussie revolves around sport but not one person who watched any of the Irish games could believe the type of support that was shown. They taught it was incredible.

However, and this is not an attempt to tar those fans, there is an element of this IRA/f*** the Queen rubbish seeping into the FOA. To say it is only a couple of people is worrying. I assume most people on this site are grown up and don't resort to it but apart from that amazing rendition of the song at the Spain game, I cringe when I hear it being sung on tv. It is clearly audible to hear IRA being sang. Now it is not a majority but what I cannot comprehend is why people can so easily say "oh it's only a few" and sweep it under the mat.

We, rightfully, slate fans in Eastern European countries(or wherever else) when they resort to monkey chants/Nazi salutes/rioting but isn't that only a minority too?

Trying to explain to people why some of our fans are singing about a terrorist organisation is embarrassing.

[O'Shea's Boot]

You've protested above and beyond what is regarded as too much, to make one very suspicious, in fact it's beyond farcical now, it's just that farce has already been stretched beyond previous known boundaries in another thread about the singing of the FOA a the end of the Spain game.

You're not the full shilling are you? This is the only thing you have ever posted about? I seriously doubt you were even were at the Euros. Plenty of members here went to the tournament and have reported back on their experiences and reception from the locals. What happened? did you read something somewhere? on a forum? a newspaper? searched you tube to get offended and full of shame?
Some syncronised move between you and Not Brazil?
What a crew! you guys are hard up, in serious need of something else to focus on in life.
youre talking absolute ****** - I been a member on here since 2009, and as I stated at the outset Ive been living away for the past year and a half - Im not a big forum user and you are superman - what a dull ****in life you must lead.I was at the Euro's - most of our fans were brilliant - some were a disgrace ...i was drawn to you tube by other peoples comments, especially mates ...doesnt make nice viewing and confirmed what I saw first hand