Notre Dame Dublin game could be worth close to $100 million to Irish economy

I also was sitting in the transit area of Shannon when the American troops were gathering around. I felt nothing but good thoughts for them, however I could not talk to them, or even acknowledge any of them. It was a not great reminder of Ton Son Nhut in 1968. I was just seeing it all over again. I kept my mouth shut. I did not want to offer an opinion, and remained anynonomous.

$100 million is a nice chunk of change. The Brits actually found a way to lose money on the Olympics. I'm sure Flipper enjoyed that news. Great that the Irish are feeling a boost from the Navy Game. GO IRISH!

acemaker: Irish people by a great majority were opposed to our attack on Iraq. I think 100.000 demonstrated against it in Dublin. I assume these service personnel were not in uniform? The only place I saw US personnel in uniform was one day when they were transiting thru Shannon, in route to Iraq. I too was transitting, tho on a Continental flight. There were some American tourists in the transit area who started clapping and cheering when they saw the US military coming thru. I was torn between my loyalty to the US and my sympathy and pity for those young men and women heading into harm's way, on the one hand, versus my isolationist and pacifist political principles and opposition to the crazy neocons' onslaught on a defenseless nation. In the end, principle won out, and I refused to join the clapping.

Joan has a good point. I know some U.S, solders who stopped over in Ireland a few years ago on the way back from Iraq and were treated very badly. Alot has happened since '96. My only explanation to the young men, who were completely baffeled by their experience, was that we, THE USA are seen as invaders of other countries and Ireland has been the victim for centuries.

welcome all and have a great time

@Joan. I was at the '96 game and it was a true experience!I was in a pub(Bruxelles, great lunch) with well over 150 ND fans when 6 midshipmen walked in and were treated to a standing ovation. Notre Dame and Navy bands marched through town on alternating days and the local crowds lined the sidewalks applauding each team equally. There will be expections but on a whole I think you will find the Irish will treat our midshipman with respect and courtesy.

GO IRISH! PhlutiePhan: Please explain one way in which Backup College is "the real Irish Catholic squad." Not only is Notre Dame the Fightin' Irish, but the history of our University is deeply intertwined with Irish/Irish-American history. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Irish-Americans across the U.S. who identify with the FIghtin' Irish for that very reason. When is the last time you saw Irish-Americans in NYC, Chicago, Buffalo, San Fran, Philly, or even Boston repping a SuperFan t-shirt? That's right, they're all rockin' the Leprechaun. There's a reason the ND ticket office sold 35,000 seats to this game, which is higher than the average home attendance for 40% of D1 programs...

With the way that Ireland feels about our military, I am surprised at Navy especially with the midshipman being in their uniforms and won't that cause the a problem for the Irish government especially with the anti-war crowd. This should prove to be interesting as I have never seen Navy's midshipmen out of uniform in any game I have ever seen.

Or maybe not! This game was supposed to be an annual event. BC, the real Irish Catholic squad, played Navy in like 1996 in Dublin. The following year, Rutgers played somebody. It was called the Emerald Bowl and it then went into hibernation. ND played in the third game and this is game number four in 2012. The only fans will be those who come in by plane. Football is soccer in Ireland and Rugby and similar sports are draws and not American football. There may very well be an economic impact but it will be sudden and then gone.

word: ND pep rallies are themselves the stuff of legend... tune in (or by all means GO) if you can...

Gee,byethebay said about this very issue that "no one even cares"!

Anyone know how to get a ticket?