Sir, – While I did mis-spend the Sundays of my youth on terraces from Tolka Park to Kilcohan Park, I have largely avoided following the Irish team abroad in recent years, but somehow made an exception for the Euros and drove across Poland in the middle of the night listening to Ger Wolfe and Luke Kelly to be in Gdansk in good time last Thursday. It was like arriving in the middle of a very jolly lunatic asylum where thousands of inmates were endlessly rehearsing their Christmas show.
Fears that their larynxes might give up come show-time proved to be unfounded. Truth be told I was determined to slip out of the ground early before it dawned on me that something very special was taking place. We were four-nil down and the penny had well and truly dropped that the 11 men on the pitch, with the best will in the world could not match the craft of Spain, no more than the rebels on the streets of Dublin in 1916 could hold out against the might of the British army.
However, there was something magnificent about the way the Irish fans deployed the tactics of peaceful resistance and the power of song to banish disappointment and show pride in their country and empathy for the sorry plight of the lads on the pitch. I am proud to say I was there. To paraphrase the great Con Houlihan, Roy Keane missed the Euros, he was in a television studio. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – International sporting tournaments are always about more than sport. It is a chance to represent our country on the world stage. Although the players fell short, the passion and commitment of the Irish fans has won us many new admirers.
Since the game against Spain many friends here in Barcelona have told me how much it impressed them. I thought that perhaps they were trying to find ways to not mention the game itself, but during the half-time break of the England-Ukraine game the Spanish commentators on the Cuatro channel spent about five minutes discussing how impressed they had been with the Irish fans and how they set such a great example. They especially love the song Los Campos de At-enree. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I wish to record a personal note of thanks to the Irish soccer team for providing us with a diversion from austerity etc during the past few months and weeks by qualifying for the Euro 2012 Finals.
It was great to have the opportunity to again proudly fly our national flag and join with and admire our wonderful fans in “hoping and dreaming”. I suggest this is as a suitable mantra to help us collectively rebuild this wonderful country. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – All is not lost as Ireland exits the European Championship. As an Irish citizen, now living in the town of Leiria in Portugal, I took great pride in my country while watching the game against Spain on Portuguese TV.
Translating the commentary as I watched, I suddenly recognised the English words “fair play” being used over and over again. The Portuguese could not stop congratulating the Irish fans on their sense of “fair play” and they were quite blown away by the cheerful and good-humoured singing coming from the Irish stands. Talk about positivity. If we could bottle it . . . we would see the tiger rise again!
Nice to know we have such respect amongst some of our fellow Europeans. As the Portuguese say, “Força Irlanda”! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Like it or not, Roy Keane has a point, which sadly puts him one ahead of the entire soccer team. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Does this mean that John Delaney will take a €20,000 salary cut to bring him down to just double the Taoiseach’s? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I have just arrived back from Poznan after an amazing experience at the well-run and very friendly and enjoyable tournament.
The atmosphere created by the Irish supporters at the matches was breathtaking – and it was very moving to be a part of it. We were not celebrating defeat when we sang. We were celebrating being Irish. We were celebrating the green. It was like we needed to somehow let off some sort of collective steam after the last number of depressing years. The football team was so inept, badly managed, badly selected, and in fact I thought lacked spirit at times, that the singing was the only thing we had to keep us going. Any time they managed to put any kind of move together we immediately were lifted.
Anyway, we were the best advertisement this country has had in quite a number of years. There was a lot of drinking, (at times it got messy and resembled an Oxegen music festival melee) but it was never violent and always joyful. And with that, I don’t want to sing or hear any of the songs for a quite a while. – Yours, etc,