41 Comments

• allan07 | Jun 23, 2012, 05:25 AM EDT

  @sirpeter why dont you lot in the free state stick to playing gaa sports as you cant play the so called foreign sports such as cricket, rugby or football? I am so glad the free staters ended up with 0 points and the first homeward bound. Still i told you so. The Republic is pants is every area of life. Economics, sports, culture except for causing violence. Take the Olympic torch going to the peace bridge in Londonderry and a few SF caused it to be detoured. What were they complaining about? Hardly sports related or friendly was it? (Even although the torch was taken to Dublin as a peace gesture despite it being a foreign state). It just shows how petty the Nationalist really are. No-one has explained to anyone why they were protesting or what it was about. Does anyone know? Can anyone explain? Answers please @sirpeter @IrelandNorth

• jacersagain | Jun 19, 2012, 05:32 PM EDT

  @citizen69 – good points again, which I grudgingly accept and respect because my own differing view is that, with a bigger pool of players to choose from, Irish players might make their presence in soccer Internationals of bigger impact – just might. Some pundit in the media recently made a scary prediction: that all the FA countries’ teams in the UK, plus the Republic, are so lacking in talent that they may soon become just titbit players on the European and World Cup soccer stages. The reason for that he says is that there are too many world class players from other countries playing at top level in the UK, preventing more native born players making it into top level teams to gain the necessary experience. Hard to disagree with that, so one can only hope he is wrong. It is ominous that many Nth & Sth Irish clubs are struggling financially – Monaghan FC is the latest casualty after Sporting Fingal to drop out of the LOI and Drogheda Utd are struggling to stay in business. The influence of UK matches on TV has sadly captured the average local soccer fans attention more than the real thing on the local pitches. Mine included… *shamed to admit*

• jacersagain | Jun 19, 2012, 03:12 AM EDT

  Ah yez eejit Wou’nee and BTB!! – that language thing I gave is one of the oldest American jokes around Ireland and the internet. Where d’yez think I got it? Fair dues to the Irish soccer team for giving Italy a real game last night, what a fright night the Italians lived through!

• jacersagain | Jun 19, 2012, 03:11 AM EDT

  Ah yez eejits Wou’nee and BTB – that language thing I gave is one of the oldest American jokes around I Ireland and the internet. Where d’yez think I got it? Fair dues to the Irish soccer team for giving Italy a real game last night, what a fright night the Italians lived through!

• Bythebay | Jun 17, 2012, 07:09 PM EDT

  WoundedKnee, you need glasses or literacy training. Not your concern what teams we support. You have none in South Dakota or the US we have any interest in.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 17, 2012, 05:02 PM EDT

  "We support our teams"... Which teams are those, Ciara? Manchester United? Glasgow Celtic? Bolton Athletic?

• Bythebay | Jun 17, 2012, 02:56 PM EDT

  WoundedKnee, citizen69, etc. no one in Ireland asked you to watch our matches. We don't watch your US matches and could care less about what your teams or you do. If you don't like it watch something else. We support our teams and supporters in their thousands were there for them.

• Bythebay | Jun 17, 2012, 02:52 PM EDT

  jacersagain, Americans speak hundreds of languages. You must be living under a rock.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 17, 2012, 12:26 PM EDT

  My wife, who knows as little about soccer as does sir peter, observed to me that the Spanish players were to a man better-looking than their Irish counterparts. I had to agree with her. That Irish team needs to try out for that old TV program The Swan.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 17, 2012, 12:19 PM EDT

  jacersagain: "A person who speaks one language is called an American". Dumb remark. Especially when you remember that the Irish can't even master two sentences in Irish, after maybe 14 years "learning" the language! Cad iad na teangacha atá ar do thoil agat féin? La verdad es que no te creo, apenas hablas inglés. Je suis bien certain que tu mens.

• citizen69 | Jun 17, 2012, 11:09 AM EDT

  @jacersagain:... I can't help feeling though is that what we would end up with is a watered down Irish team in sense of identity that neither set of fans would be very happy with. Republic of Ireland fans like to wave their tricolours and sing their national anthem and Northern Ireland fans like to wave NI & Union flags and sing their anthem and there's nothing wrong with that. It's all about pride in your country. The thing with football is it has a much more working class support base than rugby and that is a section of society that i think is more polarized in terms of nationality, identity & politics. To be honest i don't think it would even improve the prospects of the team very much over the level at which the Republic's team is at now. Northern Ireland's IFA were still the only official Ireland team up until the 50's when a complaint from the Free State team promoted FIFA to rule that neither team could be called Ireland. the Republic pressured players from the south not to play for the IFA's Irish squad and banned transfer certificates for anybody that did. FIFA then ruled that players born in the Republic could not play for the North... pity that rule doesn't stand the other way around today! Too much water under the bridge i think. probably best left as is.

• citizen69 | Jun 17, 2012, 10:36 AM EDT

  @jacersagain:... Now getting to the kit. Best to stick to the green & white as that's the colours both teams play in today, no need for a flash of orange as it would look like the tricolour! Maybe a green home kit and an orange away one, or is that going too far!? I understand your point about the Aviva stadium being the bigger & better stadium and that Republic fan's already travel from all over Ireland to see home games in Dublin but i guess they've always been used to that. It's not only about the length of travel though, it's about ownership as well. Seems a bit strange having to always travel to another country to see you 'home' team. In rugby they used to alternate between Dublin & Belfast where alternate anthems would be played depending on which territory they were in. Belfast was soon dumped though and even in a friendly game in 2007 when the Irish team played in Belfast after a long absence the IRFU refused to acknowledge it as a home game and stated that the team were playing "outside Ireland"!! Double standards if you ask me. Even when Windsor park gets redeveloped it probably wouldn't be considered for a home game...

• citizen69 | Jun 17, 2012, 10:17 AM EDT

  @Jacersagain: Yes regarding the anthem, if there ever were a single Irish football team then Ireland's call or similar neutral anthem would be a good contender in place of any national anthem. Regarding the flag, i think your suggestion of the blue harp flag both interesting and inspired. This flag would possibly appeal to unionists as it is also part of the royal standard flag of the British royal family. As for your point that unionists in NI should never feel left out of the Republic’s Tricolour, well that's just the point... while everyone in the North is aware of what the orange stands for it's still the REPUBLIC's tricolour and that is it's only use in an official capacity. Unionists strictly see it as a flag of the Republic, a different country...

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 11:53 PM EDT

  @ ciaradexy, you dearie-ex - the person you call “little Anne there” is a living human person, like you. For all you and I know, she might be 6’6” tall and not at all, not atall atall atall ‘little’, well used to hard and kind work for her family. I invited you, if you were a decent person, to apologise to her for your derogative comments about her if you and that other non-appreciative person, Bythebay, were decent people. Neither of you did. No, don’t attempt to flip over things: it’s a fact that you didn’t apologise up to now. No! Don’t give me and other ICentral readers your poor excuses. You didn’t apologise. Does that mean that I, and a lot of other ICentral readers, should slot you both in to the “indecent’ class of people in the world that we share with grannie Anne?

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 10:44 PM EDT

  (…finally may I say that) Personally, I think it’s a shame that the 26-county Football Association of Ireland broke away from the original founding 32-county body for soccer in Ireland, the Irish Football Association. It should have remained one body just like the Golfing Union of Ireland, the Rugby Union of Ireland and other sports did. As a Dubliner I'd say, in sport terms, that it should be the FAI that should be going back to the IFA, cap in hand like a prodigal son. That 32-county soccer selection that played against the mighty Brazilians in the ‘70s (4-3 to the Samba dancers) showed what could be achieved if they had remained as one soccer association. Things have changed meantime and it’s true that the granny-rule has brought a lot of English-, Scottish- and Welsh-born players playing for Nth Ireland and Rep of Ireland teams (why don’t Irish-American soccer players like Landon Donovan declare for Irish teams??? Eh?). All Irish soccer is now just a feeding ground for mainland British clubs, where few native-born players make it to international standard. If only we could leave politics out of sport altogether, all would be much grander… My view would be that we should push for a change in sporting anthem to ‘Ireland Calls’, dump the oul’ ‘olé, olé, olay olay’, maintain the shout “C’mon you boys in green!” and fly the Harp-centred blue flag instead of the Tricolour at these international events. At least then, perhaps, we all Irish can avoid annihilation such as we suffered in Gdansk. Just don’t get me going about the Irish rugby team’s performances in New Zealand… please! Just pls don’t!

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 10:35 PM EDT

  (…more) However, apart from rugby, we must remember that boxing is also a 32-county association, as are those of hockey, swimming, cricket, cycling, golf, motorsport and squash, to mention a few of our sports. The GAA of course is the biggest 32-county association in Ireland but it’s not involved in international games unless you view the International Rules game shared with Australia as international (I don’t regard it as such; it’s really just an inter-games hybrid game; fantastic sport to watch when played without the ‘get them back’ blood-letting that’s crept in! And I really do wish that American Football Administrators, since that game is a hybrid of rugby and good oul' Irish Gaelic football, would explore and pick up on its international potential and join in). Then you have the 32-county selection of GAA All-Stars that play in America each year and the internationals of Hurling and Shinty between Ireland and Scotland but you couldn’t really call them real internationals ‘cos again no other countries are involved. Handball, a GAA game that I fiercely loved playing as a teenager, is truly international but gets little media coverage; I don’t know what anthem is played or what flag is raised when an Irishman from Nth or Sth Ireland wins, ‘cos we don’t see it on TV. (And finally…)

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 10:29 PM EDT

  (…more) On the matter of the main rugby venue being in Dublin, I can’t disagree with you citizen69 on that - but you have to remember that it’s the size of the stadium that matters for supporters and for the business end of the various sports. I’m sure if Ravenhill was developed as well as Croke Park or Lansdowne Road, there would be internationals played there, possibly agreed for alternate occasions. Don’t forget that the original home ground for Irish soccer internationals (pre-FAI) was Dalymount Park until Dalymount, like Windsor Park, fell into disrepair and the rugby and soccer bosses got their heads together and opted for joint re-development of Lansdowne Rd as the place for the matches. Supporters of rugby travelling from Belfast or Derry are no different from those travelling from Cork, Limerick and Galway to Dublin. It’s the same for supporters travelling to GAA All-Ireland finals. If O’Chaoimh Park in Cork was the biggest stadium, All-Irelands would be played there. And let’s not forget that thousands of Dubliners and NI GAA fans travel all the way to Thurles in Tipperary for the Munster finals, just to enjoy the fantastic spectacle and atmosphere of the games, especially the hurling final. Tickets for the Munster Finals are usually at premium prices. (More…)

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 10:23 PM EDT

  (…more) As for a flag, I suggest to citizen69 and other NI people, if you’ll pardon me saying so, that the blue flag of the President of Ireland should be flown at these events. Not many know that the President’s flag is an aspiration for a united Community of Ireland, being a mixture of the colours of the Nth Ireland orange and Sth Ireland green, with the uniting symbol of the Irish Harp in the centre (the Harp is actually of Ulster origin). And I don’t think people of Unionist persuasion in NI should ever feel left out if the Republic’s Tricolour is flown at international events, say like at the Olympics: it does, after all, include the orange of William and the green of the South with the white of aspiration for peace in between. I think we should stick to green as our national jersey colours, splattered with white and orange, to reflect our green and fertile land; otherwise maybe we should pull the red cross of St. Patrick out of the Union Jack and use that on a white or green background and never more allow the UK to use it in their flag… *chuckling… as if that’s gonna happen soon!* (More…)

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 10:13 PM EDT

  @ citizen69 – Thank you for response, one with very fair, good points and a perfectly understandable sense of pride and home loyalty aspects as you’ve given. In raising the question, I was speaking as a sportsman and a continuing sports lover, not raising it as a political issue. Your response actually galvanised me into a long reply so pls bear with and read what I think. >>> On the matter of a national anthem, as you know, the united Irish rugby crowd brought in ‘Ireland’s Call’, composed by (London)Derry man Phil Coulter, as a new, neutral anthem that has been adopted by the cricket, hockey and motor sports as well. I remember it being sung by Andrew Strong, singer in the famous movie ‘The Commitments’, accompanied by a Portadown Choir in Nth Irl, on a joint TV link-up between Nth Irl’s ‘Kelly Show’ and Sth Irl's ‘Late Late Show’. I don’t see anything wrong with that as a nation’s neutral sports anthem… it is a suitably rousing song for the teams and supporters alike in any competitive atmosphere. It is ridiculous to hear both ‘Amhrán na BhFiann’ and ‘Ireland’s Call’ being sung in Lansdowne Rd when one song would do. (More…)

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 06:01 PM EDT

  Mea culpa Wou’knee (I like calling you that 'cos it rhymes with Rooney, my Man Utd soccer team's star player) – I did check for ‘scrimmage’ in the dictionary to make sure anneduffy11 wasn’t mistyping but it doesn’t appear in our ‘proper’ English version so I honestly guessed she mistyped an ‘i’ for a ‘u’. But you’re right: I’ve now found the word and its meaning in online American dictionaries. This is an honest mistake of mine, not nonsense or ignorance. I’m ignorant of little but much learned about many things. For instance, I’m multilingual; I speak three languages and can read and understand two others. A person who speaks two languages is bilingual. A person who speaks one language is called an American. Americans are also think that a fast version of the children’s game ‘Donkey’, where you pass the ball by hand and not the feet, is called Football.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 16, 2012, 03:25 PM EDT

  "(it was a typo error on her part to put scrimmage)" Jacersagain, it's not the first time you post nonsense about something you're ignorant of, tho I guess that only puts you in company with sir peter, lynch, ciarabythebay etc. Just what is it with you Irish? An opinion about everything but knowledge about nothing. For your information the term scrimmage comes straight from football (American). It can mean a casual game, a "friendly" or "kickaround" as they say in soccer. I think this is the sense in which AnneDuffy used the word. Also, it can refer to the line of scrimmage, which is akin to the off-side line in rugby. Either way, the poster Anne Duffy knew exactly what she was saying. You didn't, so don't be so quick to correct "errors" that you know nothing about.

• citizen69 | Jun 16, 2012, 03:07 PM EDT

  @jacersagain: in answer to your question... As a Northern Ireland supporter i wouldn't welcome a joint Irish team as i believe the south would dominate and dictate to the north as they do in rugby. What would be in it for Northern Irish fans if, as in rugby, all home games are played in Dublin, the only national flag flown is that of the Republic's and the only national anthem played is that of the Republic? Sure it might be a slightly better team but i don't support NI for the glories but for the pride in supporting my home team. I don't wish the Republic ill, in fact i like to watch them when they are on tv as they contain many English premiership players but they are not my team. I don't see a single team ever happening to be honest.

• misneac | Jun 16, 2012, 12:25 PM EDT

  I was delighted at the result .I am sick and tired of the media lauding overpaid sissies .Not alone did the likes of Keane not score , he had 2 shots at an opponents goal in two matches ! The much vaunted "fans " are primarily social welfare clients who drink excessively and bawl repetitive moronic chants across Europe while their "partners " collect the dole at home .Thankfully ,we can now look forward to some real sport for the rest of the summer .

• ciaradexy | Jun 16, 2012, 08:49 AM EDT

  jacers dear, even if little Anne there was talking about american football, they are two different sports. i dont pretend to know anything about American sports so little orphan Annie really shouldnt pretend she knows anything about football. Its unlikely she even saw the match!

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 06:35 AM EDT

  Bythebay – annieduffy11 made a good comparison in speaking about American football scrummage (it was a typo error on her part to put scrimmage). The theme of the Euro tourney is ‘RESPECT’. Show some to grannie annie – if you’re any way decent you and ciaradexy should apologise to her for yr unnecessary disparaging posts.

• jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 06:33 AM EDT

  ciaradexy – that’s no language to use in criticising grannie annie. She mistyped the word scrimmage. Look at your keyboard… the letters ‘u’ and ‘I’ are beside each other, easy to hit the wrong button. We intellugent posters know a typo mustake when we see ut; you clearly don’t have the intelligence to see ut. Un fact, many of yr own posts (tho’ not all) lack intelligence, so pls lay off grannie annie who made a good valid point.

• Bythebay | Jun 15, 2012, 08:48 PM EDT

  The Irish fans stayed until the end of the match and sang the entire time. A great time was had by all. We showed brilliant sportsmanship. Our supporters are the best in the world. The Polish people welcomed us and sang our praises. We're not losers at all, the critics are. We gave it a good go.

• Bythebay | Jun 15, 2012, 08:43 PM EDT

  anneduffy11, you obviously have no idea what Irish football is. You're stuck in the narrow rut of American football, entirely different and not comparable.

• ciaradexy | Jun 15, 2012, 08:39 PM EDT

  AnneDuffy, what the hell is a 'scrimmage'? We knew we were never going to beat the best team in the world so stop acting as though you know anything about football, please, youre mortifying yourself! Greensod, young Irish sportsmen ARE all over the world, the thing is, they decide to stay abroad. This country is far too small to produce a great top class squad but hopefully in a generation or 2 we will have improved.

• jacersagain | Jun 15, 2012, 07:20 PM EDT

  I like anneduffy11’s post… scrimmage *chuckling*. Yez all heard about the paranoid fella who couldn’t go to rugby matches? ‘Cos every time there was a scrummage, he thought the players were all talking about him…

• sirpeter | Jun 15, 2012, 07:02 PM EDT

  allan07.Empty vessels do make the most noise.So when did NI make the European finals?? That would be a NEVER wouldn't it?So how does it feel for Sudan to be ranked higher than NI by FIFI?LOLOLLOLOL.Ireland is ranked 18th.What are NI ranked again? Oh yeah 101st.Well at least ye are better than Antigua and Barbuda.lololol..just about.

• jacersagain | Jun 15, 2012, 06:17 PM EDT

  I wonder what allan07 and other NI posters would think of re-uniting the two Football Associations in Ireland. As history has it, the FAI broke away from the 32-county IFA to form an association within the 26 counties (the FAI), leaving the IFA with just 6 counties. During the 70s, a united Ireland team played a blinder against Brazil (Pat Jennings in goal, Derek Dougan centre-forward, both NI Internationals) beaten 4-3 by Brazil. Jennings even saved a peno while Dougie scored a brilliant goal. Maybe a combined pool of Irish players from Nth and Sth would fare better in International soccer. If Irish Rugby can do it, why not have the soccer guys unite too?

• jacersagain | Jun 15, 2012, 05:50 PM EDT

  @JBRAF… you’re right of course. I heard today that Spanish teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid have a 6-second rule: if you lose possession of the ball, get it back within six seconds. Our Irish lads wouldn’t know of that philosophy. Mind you, the way the Irish lads gave the ball away so easily throughout the game was a pain to watch, so there wasn’t that much call for the Spanish to employ their 6-second rule!

• Bythebay | Jun 15, 2012, 04:59 PM EDT

  ireland made the championships which was an excellent accomplishment. The supporters were there every step of the way cheering them on.

• PhlutiePhan | Jun 15, 2012, 04:11 PM EDT

  Annihilate is a good word to describe what happened. Given actually had a very good game. Torres went around Ward like he was standing still and Givens was at his mercy. It is the Italian style to play defense and then counterattack. The Irish looked old (oldest team at Euro) and slow. As good as Robbie Boy is, he was not a factor and barely touched the ball. What was Duff doing on the left flank? The Irish only previous success was when it involved Duff on the right wing. The Irish had no one who could shoot the ball on net. Dunne and St. Ledger were great. The rest of the defense were pretenders. Bring on Roy Keane who has passion for the squad. Trappatoni ran the squad like a "cookie jar" that he was carrying around close to his chest and afraid that he would drop it and it would shatter into a thousand pieces. Well, that is exactly what happened!

• anneduffy11 | Jun 15, 2012, 02:20 PM EDT

  Did the Irish team forget that they were supposed to be playing to win? My 5 year old grandson's team looks better when they are having a scrimmage.

• JBRAFTREE | Jun 15, 2012, 02:13 PM EDT

  Ya need to have the ball in order to score. Spain's possession was probably 3X that of Ireland's.

• jacersagain | Jun 15, 2012, 01:47 PM EDT

  Football is full of ups and downs. This Irish team had been unbeaten over 14 consecutive games before this tournament, so Trappatoni and the team were doing something right up to now. Well done to the Irish lads for qualifying, tough luck they got the toughest group to qualify out of for the play offs. We’ve hit a big trough in this Euro Championship. It must be LOUDLY said that none of the teams of Nth Ireland, Wales or Scotland managed to qualify for but our Irish lads did. Hah!

• greensod | Jun 15, 2012, 11:28 AM EDT

  Well no surprises,with more of the same against Italy.Lessons learned. Sack Trap,Do not put a bunch of old men on the field at this level of the game. Start all over,rebuild,send young Irish born Players to teams all over the world so they learn the total game.The days of the old English long ball are over.Do this and Ireland will be back in ten years.One point worth a word.Given looked much better in goal.Keep the spirit and the flag flying,there are better days ahead.

• citizen69 | Jun 15, 2012, 01:36 AM EDT

  Dont be so petty allan07. Supporting your home team shouldn't mean hating others.

• allan07 | Jun 14, 2012, 06:49 PM EDT

  Not many of the famous on here. @Bythebay, @Seanomelbourne @IrelandNorth. Still empty vessels make the most noise when it suits and zip it up when they are proved wrong. The Republic Of Ireland were pants. No defence. I am over the moon they are knocked out and so is the majority of Northern Ireland. They deserved what they have got - nothing. They stole a few of our players from Northern Ireland and then use the Good Friday Agreement as if its about football. Your out and even the first out. How sweet is that to hear? Hope the Italians give you a got stuffing to kick you were it hurts.