Rep. of Ireland v Sweden

[tigertim68]

I'm really hoping Sweden win!! My wife is Irish, and I love her and her family for lots of reasons. However, their desire for England to lose in any sporting event, has made me equally blinkered where ROI are concerned!!
Have to go there for a wedding in a few weeks and just hope we have had a better tournament than them!!!

I agree with the above . What also really annoys me is that BBC and ITV both treat the ROI as part of the U.K. And it's bloody not , I am not slightly interested in the Irish , so why do they get so much coverage ?

 

[ManOfSussex]

I agree with the above . What also really annoys me is that BBC and ITV both treat the ROI as part of the U.K. And it's bloody not , I am not slightly interested in the Irish , so why do they get so much coverage ?

It was worse during the 1994 world cup. If I recall correctly Brian Moore referred to them as 'us' during commentary.

 

[oneillco]

I'm really hoping Sweden win!! My wife is Irish, and I love her and her family for lots of reasons. However, their desire for England to lose in any sporting event, has made me equally blinkered where ROI are concerned!!
Have to go there for a wedding in a few weeks and just hope we have had a better tournament than them!!!

I don't get that... my family and I are Irish and we wish England no ill will, after all we support the English league teams week in week out. I generally find that the Scots and Welsh are less well disposed towards England.

 

[oneillco]

Bloody boghoppers!
Toothless simpletons and men with eyebrows on their cheeks.

Hmmm...I wonder if your perception of the Irish is shared by the rest of Europe after 30,000 of them had a lovely time in Paris over the last 2 days with the Swedes, Croatians, and French locals without a hint of tear gas. But maybe your comment says it all...

 

[Wardy's twin]

Well there are a lot of Irish (or part Irish) people in the UK so to me it makes sense that they are treated as' US' by the BBC and ITV and that is compounded by the BBC being watched in EIRE. I was impressed with Wes Hoolahan I wonder if he will become available if there is a 'firesale' at Norwich..

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Come on English people - you have to allow us Irish have a little bit of fun.

Remember all the stuff about 700 years of British domination in Ireland (not historically accurate by the way) - well the 'hatred' of English national sports is our little bit of payback.

The irony of course is that most football fans in Ireland support English league teams and more Irish people travel to English club matches every week than attend League of Ireland games. Traditionally Irish people have supported teams based in areas with large Irish emigrant populations (part of the reason why Man U and Liverpool are so popular in Ireland) but in the era of TV saturation pretty much any team can be supported. The reality is that most Irish people have some English blood in them - my grand-mother was a Ramsey from Liverpool - my wife's mother was English etc. Many Irish people are direct decendants of Norman invaders in the 12th and 13th centuries (Power, Roche, Fitzgerald etc) or from later English settlers in Ireland.

As for the BBC and ITV - I can assure you it annoys Irish fans more than the English when the British TV channels refer to the Irish teams or Irish sports people as 'us'. For decades Irish fans had to listen to British TV claim Irish sportspeople as British when they were winning and Irish when they were not. One thing that for many years that was of particular annoyance for Irish football fans was when British media claimed that the first non-British team to defeat England on English soil were the 'Mighty Magyars' of Hungary in 1953 - when in fact the Republic of Ireland defeated England 2-0 at Goodison Park in 1949.

At the end of the day the vast majority of Irish fans like to use the opportunity of an English defeat to take the p*ss out of England (the ould enemy) - we really enjoyed the late equaliser by Russia over the weekend. Myself - I actually dislike the USA more and would gladly cheer for England if they were playing the Yanks.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

Well there are a lot of Irish (or part Irish) people in the UK so to me it makes sense that they are treated as' US' by the BBC and ITV and that is compounded by the BBC being watched in EIRE. I was impressed with Wes Hoolahan I wonder if he will become available if there is a 'firesale' at Norwich..

Hoolahan is talented but is now 34 and an option for a contract extension has just been taken up by Norwich - he will see out his playing days there.

I have a lot of admiration for the guy - he learned to play football on the streets in inner city Dublin and was constantly told he was too small to play professional football. The guy has a big heart and bucket loads of talent and proved the doubters wrong.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I'm really hoping Sweden win!! My wife is Irish, and I love her and her family for lots of reasons. However, their desire for England to lose in any sporting event, has made me equally blinkered where ROI are concerned!!
Have to go there for a wedding in a few weeks and just hope we have had a better tournament than them!!!

It is "written" in the stars now - when I attend the above wedding, it is the 3rd July, the night of a Quarter Final : could be England vs Ireland... (unlikely on paper, but......)