Call to end 'Ireland's Call' anthem at rugby matches

pilib04:Natives of all Ireland are Irish citizenz, but those living north of the British-imposed Border aren't allowed to vote in Dáil elections. However, in some sports sport, one Irish team represents the whole irish nation in international competition. This is true of rugby, cricket and hockey. Also, Northern boxers have represented Ireland at Olyimpic Games. In all cases every attempt shoul be made to make Northern players, including those who consider themselves British, feel at home in any Irish team.

Play both anthems. Rugby fans are a respectful bunch of people and I was proud to be at the Ireland V England match in Croker a few years back with Irish and English friends. It was a brilliant day and an amazing feeling to be there. The atmosphere was electric. The bigots can go to their Celtic, Liverpool and Man Utd matches and the rest of us will support our lads.

an anthem make-up for a dysfunctional divvied up island, a porpourri of the sick coming together for what, pride. me ass. laughing stock of planet earth.

Perhaps we should try to be a little more inclusive. If all of Ireland is part of the team, the anthem needs to represent all of Ireland. I thought the 4 Provinces flag was a nice touch. I would be much happier about getting the vote and then maybe we can talk anthems. Right now 1.7 million Irish born, Irish bred and residents of the island of Ireland cannot vote in Irish elections which was supposed to have been addressed indirectly by the Good Friday Agreement. Think this might be addressed before anthems???

Downunderyan, if you count golf as a representative sport, Irish amateur golfers ALL belong to the Golfing Union of Ireland if they want a handicap. It represents ALL of the Provinces under one body. Here is a recent statement from them when publicizing the Home Internationals as played in Sligo, "Since that championship’s inception, spectators have been witness to many memorable moments, delivered by the greatest Irish players of their time, from Cecil Ewing, to Joe Carr, to John Burke, and in the recent past, among others, Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry." If you know your golfers, you know who is from the south and who is from the north but the GUI is blind. I was a member of Carrick on Shannon while living in Boyle one winter.

The Irish rugby fans are such hypocrites. They refuse to play Ireland's national anthem, yet they brandish the Irish Flag. You've no right to wave the Tricolor, you creeps, you've just told us your team doesn't represent Ireland! Go Wales! At least the Welsh know their anthem, and sing it beautifully.

Rugby and Boxing are the only two All-Ireland representative sports. However, the people from Northern Ireland are not going to be swayed towards peace and unity by a pathetic excuse for an anthem any more than the athletes themselves will get a 'lift' from it to improve their game, to stir the athletes' spirits before an engagement. It's a 'downer' not an 'upper'.

I have the utmost respect for Tim Pat Coogan and I agree with him here. We must keep going forward for the Peace that has eluded us for so long.

'Ireland's Call' is a dirge too far to me. We need a more uplifting anthem to lift the spirits of both team and nation. The terrific 'Mise Eire' written by the late, great composer Seán Ó Riada comes to mind. I always thought that this piece would make a great alternative to 'Amhran na bhFiann' as Ireland's national anthem.

you wouldn't ever be shoulder to shoulder with me - I go to rugby games, I support Irish rugby you obviously don't. I tried to post an article from the Indo but this page wouldn't sustain it so I'll post the link. People like you fail to understand the passion & pride we have for Irish rugby, something that overshadows policial and cultural divides on this island. I've been 'shoulder to shoulder' with lads from all over and I wouldn't trade a single memory for anything especially not a trite political viewpoint. I wish you could just once feel the surge of passion when the lads take the park they could play the mickey mouse clubhouse song - it wouldn't matter cause if anyone of us in the crowd could be out there, we would be. http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/look-no-further-for-rugby-heaven-on-earth-685975.html BTW I find your distorted view extremely offensive but thankfully I know you're not representative of anything to do with rugby - and I live in Cork, so yet again your assumptions are as wide of the mark as your views on sport. So did you google SA & sport - find anything interesting ? LOL

Hi Setanta - you seem to have got a bit hot under the collar there. That is quite a rant. Calm down. I see you have just resorted to insults now. I hope you are not representative of NI rugby supporters, I'm not sure I'd want to be standing 'shoulder to shoulder' with you.

People of the ROI funding rugby - you prat Ha ha ha. Re socialism the only socialism you seem to know is national socialism !The roots of socialism LOL if perhaps you understood the all inclusive nature of socialism as opposed to jingoist flag waving you'd be well on your way to enlightenment. IOC rules/guidelines are used for most major international events it's nothing to do with being in the olympics, you fool. So you're a rugby fan because your brother went to the same school as a rugby player, you really are pathetically trying to justify yourself ! Please don't tell me who sang what song and when, put your soap box away. And yes times have changed a lot, self centered arseholes like you think they can get away with all sorts of half witted comments on something you know about and try and put spin on it to make it into a political issue. LOL SA sport !!!! you're a beauty, away back to google and check it out LOL So if I issue a statement demanding that 'Singing in the rain' becomes the IRFUs new anthem will it be banner news here ? or if I want all the Aussies who've played for Ireland to be given their polical right to have Waltzing Matilda as the IRFUs anthem will you back me ? BTW how many times did Dick take the field for Ireland, perhaps you could ask your friend to ask Dicks' sister to ask Dick ????

Belfast Dave - is not "ignoring political divisions" = ignoring the elephant that is in the room. Facts are there are two states involved in this Ireland team. I'm all for both being recognised. Why do you not want to recognise that the reality is there are two states on this island?

Why I know the details about Dick Spring's caps is because he was in the same class as one of my brothers in Roscrea (a rugby school) and Dick's sister used to share a house with a friend of mine when they were in college. As for your Slovakian venture - I bet your team will not be competing in the Olympics (and it will not be due to being unable to reach the standard required). Do you really think Wales & Scotland wouldn't prefer to send their own teams to the Olympics? Why do you think there is all the fuss about the UK football team at the next Olympics? I don't know what brand of socialism you have studied, but I suggest you look up the Labour Pary's brand and see where its roots are before making daft comments about Dick Spring being a socialist which somehow means that this ideology precludes him from wanting 'Ireland's Call'. For the record the Soldiers' Song was sung by the volunteers in the Irish Citizens Army which was the military wing of the Irish Labour Party in the 1913 lockout in Dublin. The interview exists ok - to help you in your research it was on sometime around the Ireland v England game in Croke Park11am-1pm (RTE Radio 1, Marion Finucane does the slot now - they usually have guests in to comment on Sunday newspapers etc and Dick was one of the guests that day). He actually said that he wrote to the IRFU requesting them to not introduce "Ireland's Call". PS - sport has often been used for the betterment of society - boycotting apartheid in SA is just one example (and of course the very obvious way that Mandela used sport to unite SA). Your comments about I being an "outsider in our sport" says a lot. Times have changed a bit. If the people of the ROI are prepared to put their hands in their pocket to fund rugby on the island of Ireland, its as much their sport as 'yours'.

Irish rugby is represented internationally by both the anthem of Irelands Call and the IRFU flag (which represents the four provinces and by doing so is NOT the tricolour). Neither the tricolour or the Soldiers song have the support of all the people of Ireland, whereas both of these do, something almost unique in our society. Rugby in Ireland ignores political divisions, trying to suggest it should change is going backwards