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From the Bleachers by Cormac Eklof

Irish fans sing The Fields of Athenry, Spain v Ireland Euro 2012: VIDEO

Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 05:39 PM

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So tonight Ireland's Euro 2012 effectively came to an end. Sure we still have to play Italy, and who would bet against the Irish playing out of their skins and causing a huge upset, this team has a lot of pride and will want to go out on a high, not just for themselves but for their loyal fans too. Tonight however they ran up against possibly the greatest team in the world in the Spanish, and the result was a predictable 0-4 trashing.

Bizarrely, what most will remember from the match will be the absolutely incredible display of support the magnificent travelling Irish fans showed, as the clock ticked down first to 90 minutes and then through the last three minutes of added time. With the match dying out, the masses of Irish fans ripped out a six minute long, stirring rendition of 'The fields of Athenry'. Several TV shows (I hear German, Dutch and even Spanish) deliberately didn't speak over the singing to allow their viewers experience it properly.

There are going to be plenty of cynics who try and bring this wonderful little moment down, but just ignore them. Crank up the volume, sit back and enjoy the 6 minutes video from German TV below. This is just a wonderfully unusual moment in sports, a moment of goodwill, kindness, passion and loyalty.

Enjoy it for what it is. Support, in the truest sense of the word. No Nazi banners, no bananas thrown on the pitch, no angry, hateful chants. Just pride and passion, displayed in a dignified, moving way by literally thousands of Irish who refused to let the score get in the way of their support for their boys.

We live in what can be a nasty, brutish world, it is heart warming every now and then to find an oasis of goodwill and humanity. Low lie, the fields of Athenry..

Update - Friday15th June
The morning after

So UEFA have forced YouTube to take the original video in all its brilliance down. Congratulations to UEFA for trying to stop people enjoying a wonderful sporting moment. Brilliant minds at work in there obviously. Fear not. We have trawled the web and come up with the below alternatives.

This is a simple, short one with excellent audio.

Another short, grainy one that nonetheless has superb audio. Notice this is well after the match has finished and the Irish are still singing!

Finally, a top notch video and audio rendition, however I am not confident UEFA won't swoop on this one also.

There we go. Big Brother can go take a hike. We will make sure a working video of the amazing Irish supporters stays up on this come hell or high water! Enjoy.

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33 comments

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WoundedKnee | Jun 18, 2012, 05:53 PM EDT

Hey Sekator, thanks for the invite. But instead of Irish going to Poland, why don't the Poles go to Ireland? After all, parts of Dublin are already Polish occupied territory! You'll feel right at home!

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WoundedKnee | Jun 18, 2012, 05:41 PM EDT

How come the Irish fans boo the other team so much? That don't sound like sportsmanship to me.

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brunsben | Jun 18, 2012, 04:59 PM EDT

This page contains the complete 6 minutes: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/hauptnavigation/startseite#/beitrag/video/1664644/Sangesfreudige-Iren-zum-Genie%C3%9Fen

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sekator | Jun 18, 2012, 04:40 PM EDT

Dear Irish fans of football. Me and hundreds, thousands or even millions of Poles would like to thank you for amazing atmosphere you have created during your stay in Poznan. I am the citizen of this town, I have a lot of frieds in Ireland and I was proud to be your host in my city. All the time we can hear, watch and read in newspapers that the most amazing group of fans in Poland were Irish !!! Thank you very much for giving a lessons of dignity and proud to your team, even it does not reach 1/8 of finals (as well as Poland). We have learned a lot from you, that game is only a game. The spirit you have showed us is amazing. There is claim, we are very similar nations ! We love you and please come back to Poznan any time. You all are warmly welcomed in Poznan and any other city of Poland. I hear now your fans sing at Poznan stadium for your team after the game with Italy. You are incredible. Come back again to us,come back...

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mario | Jun 18, 2012, 03:15 AM EDT

hello from croatia and i just wont to tell.. you are the best and i love ireland more then croatia where are i born..irelan and croatia is my life and just win the italians thans and you are the the best fans ever!!!

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ciaradexy | Jun 17, 2012, 12:11 PM EDT

jacers, catholic ireland is killing itself off! it doesnt need any help from Britain! just look at the numbers that turned up for the Eucharistic Congress plus 23% of the population attend mass? So long, farewell!

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jacersagain | Jun 17, 2012, 07:02 AM EDT

I agree w/ Cyn… no one can kill Catholic Ireland either. Protestant Britain has been trying for centuries to do so too, even these days now as more and more West British appear in our lying Irish media. Never gonna happen… ask Roy Keane, the greatest practicing, charitable Catholic Corkman alive. He’d rightly bollick you back to true Catholicism. If the Catholic Church had any sense of righteousness, he shuda been appointed a Cardinal by now or voted “Pope Keano” without the Fields of Athenry verses. He’d give Cardinal Dolan a run for his – erm - I was gonna say "money", but I think run for his mouth would be better.

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gwy444 | Jun 16, 2012, 02:57 PM EDT

To all Irishmen, especially those, which have provided this absolutely wonderful moment at the end of the match. If you like to really enjoy this moment again without any comment of a moderator, have a look here: http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/hauptnavigation/startseite#/beitrag/video/1664644/Sangesfreudige-Iren-zum-Genie%C3%9Fen This is the best recording, I have found in the net. Many, many, many thanks to all the irish fans. With honor and respect best regards from germany Gerhard and Jutta Weyers

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Cyn | Jun 16, 2012, 02:35 PM EDT

angrypaddy, no one can kill Ireland. Been trying for ages now. Never going to happen.

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sirpeter | Jun 16, 2012, 09:09 AM EDT

angrypaddy.They don't sound dead to me or anyone else.The only person dead inside appears to be you Mr.Angry.I bet I'm not far off been right there.

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jacersagain | Jun 16, 2012, 06:53 AM EDT

There are almost a thousand posts here praising the Irish fans for the “chins up” they gave the Irish team in the closing minutes of the Spanish game, loads from Polish people and from other countries like Germany, Holland, Ukraine and even from Africa (thanks, you people!). One poster suggested that the Irish fans be rewarded for their support by being given an open-topped bus reception on their return home. That’s a great idea – I’m sure FAI boss John Delaney could organise 300 open-topped buses for the occasion, let the fans who were there give Roy Keane their answer to his criticism of them.

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jacersagain | Jun 15, 2012, 05:39 PM EDT

Nah, Wou’knee… during the 14-game unbeaten run before this Euro tourney, the Irish fans constantly sang “You’ll never beat the Irish…”. But I hafta say I was left astounded that they would sing ‘Olé, olé, olé olay olay olay’ during this Spanish match!

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Kendall | Jun 15, 2012, 03:41 PM EDT

Very proud today great show of support by our fans.

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WoundedKnee | Jun 15, 2012, 03:27 PM EDT

Is that the only song they know?

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Attila | Jun 15, 2012, 04:42 AM EDT

I just wanted to say a Big Thank You to these Irish guys for this. I am not Irish but you gave me a heart warming moment I will not forget in my life.

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