Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Northern Ireland go top: Stan to get reprieve?
Yep, heard the cheering from down below, now it’s all quiet because it’s all over... (till the pubs get out)… They just expect Healy to score and he does... Meanwhile, with a 1-0 against Slovakia, maybe some of the blatantly pernicious salami slicing of Stan will stop…
Mick Fealty @ 08:51 PM
“Is it just me or does anyone else think the “IRISH NEWS” let itself down badly today.
The headlines and front page were about some house prices in North Belfast and the NI match was relegated to the bottom left hand corner of the back page.
I know they think their market is a nationalist one but they are still a BELFAST BASED newspaper ffs.”I don’t see why the Irish News should give any major page space about a story that is of little interest to its readership.
The IN always provides excellent pre & post match coverage of Ireland games with today’s paper being no different. The back page headline story was Ireland’s defeat of Slovakia naturally.
The Irish News sports team have always provided us with indepth coverage of Ireland games and were superb during the World Cup campaigns.
To be fair, they reported on the n.i & Scotland games as well.
Good to see the paper running competitions to win tickets to the Wales & Slovakia games last week, giving the readers the chance to attend international games.
p.s. Great colour pic of Duffer & Doyle on the back page today, by the way, pretty much sums up the new & old breed starting to knit together.Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 08:12 PMChris Donnelly
Surely the story was worthy in itself ?
ie High drama in Belfast, 3rd big team to be humbled at Windsor Park on a Wednesday night, David Healy bags another two goals following a hat trick on Saturday to make him the highest scoring striker in the entire tournament.
His Manager Dennis Wise shows up to see how he can exploit this talent and possibly save Leeds United from relegation to effectively the third divsion.
NI hammered in the first game and now top of the Group.Are you telling me that a newspaper BASED IN BELFAST where all this occurred could not find journalists to make a story out of this ?
Instead Irish News Readers are more intersted in House Prices in Alliance Avenue ?
They could have run the Alliance Avenue story on Friday.
You have a cheek calling me small minded - lets face it the only reason this was not considered news worthy because it was NI - sorry but that says it all to me about the Irish News and its readership when it comes to petty minded begrudgery.
As I said Shame on them and they really need to take a good long look at a mindset that prevents them from getting into a piece of drama like this.
I am very interested in the Staunton and England stories - it is drama and sport - a potent mix.
The Irish News is introducing the prejudice but at the sametime giving us regular editorial lectures on how we need to move forward.
Think of the good they could have done by running this story ?
Do they really think they would have lost thousands of readers ?
Instead they chose to emphasise our division
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 09:49 PMJEB
Oh dear, where to start?
Instead of ranting, you need to try to escape from the narrow mindset that doesn’t allow for the fact that nationalists are primarily interested in the footballing fortunes of their own national football team- end of story.
Try chatting with a nationalist and that will become quite evident in no time.
Of course the fortunes of Lawrie Sanchez’s team are fascinating, and to be fair to the Irish News, they did feature an article on the Belfast game on the back page alongside that of the more important (in the minds of IN readers) Croke Park match.
To be honest, I find the inability of Northern Ireland supporters to accept that they can’t control the hearts and minds of northern nationalists to be quite revealing.
Fair play to you and your ‘wee country’, but our loyalty lies elsewhere.
Now, you can bemoan that fact, issue pathetic little condemnations of the Irish News for organising its stories to suit its readers, or you can take the more sensible road of simply accepting that as fact.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 10:02 PMJEB,
The day that the IFA stop playing GSTQ is the day that you’ll have a point.
The above comment is not intended to take away from the good work done to improve the atmosphere at Windsor, or the fantastic support that the GAWA give the team.
But Windsor remains an unforgiving place for nationalists.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 10:05 PMJohn East Belfast,
just an FYI: the Northern Ireland match got a lot less coverage than the England game against little Andorra did in the Irish Independent, this island’s largest selling daily newspaper. It got about as many words as the Scotland game against Italy.That’s just the way it is these days. The majority of people simply aren’t interested enough for it to get a bigger spread.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 10:10 PMJEB
I can understand your point but the way to look at this is that getting moved further up the Irish News is a work in progress. Previously NI was mentioned in a paragraph at the end of the ROI story. Now its got its separate story.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 10:19 PMchris
“ranting” ?
I am not ranting.
I am just pointing out that a fascinating (your words) story appeared on the Irish News patch and they chose to ignore it because their readers are Nationalist.
I am not asking them to put every NI match on their front page but it was a David and Goliath story here last night.
Anyhow lets develop this issue of Nationlist heads facing two ways -
If John O’Dowd gets the Enterprise Ministry and he is aware of a major US multi national thinking of locating in Belfast or Dublin are you telling me that because his “heart and mind” is with the 26 Counties he is going to encourage the company to go south of the border ?
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 10:42 PMJEB
I’d imagine John would argue for a location in the six counties in the first instance, and, as an Irish republican, be more than content to lose out if the investment at least went to another part of the country.This is hardly controversial. Politicians right across the globe will look to secure financial investment into their own patch in the first instance- in the USA there are 50 states. Are you saying because the Governor of Idaho wants jobs for his state that he is somehow acting to subvert the Federal Union??
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 11:07 PMChris
What I am saying is if he can act as cheer leader for NI business over ROI then I see no reason why he cannot cheer on NI over ROI in soccer.
I am sure the Idaho Governer is not cheering on any other State other than his own in the NFL or NBA despite being a good American
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 11:39 PMNot that it matters but Healy is not a Catholic.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:13 AMAaron: The day that the IFA stop playing GSTQ is the day that you’ll have a point.
I’m inclined to agree. If the IFA can’t manage to be vastly more inclusive than the FAI will ever be, then the IFA won’t really deserve cross-community support either.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:22 AMWhy should the IFA request that the National Anthem be barred from NI matches to be replaced by ‘The men behind the wire’ or ‘Oh Danny Boy’.
If people have a problem with the National Anthem then thats their problem not the IFA’s.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:41 AMDave, I don’t have a problem with GSTQ. That said, I wouldn’t have a problem with it being changed if it turned out to be something that a lot of potential fans would like.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:45 AMFor me if its changed that certain patriotism is lost and the National team simply becomes just another team. The anthem for me is an essential ingredient that helps to define the country.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:48 AM“If people have a problem with the National Anthem then thats their problem not the IFA’s.”
Should the IFA not at least be asking for the thousands of supporters who shoout ‘no surrender’ during the English anthem to stop.
Where does ‘no surrender’ fit into the less sectarian atmosphere ?
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:49 AMLockers
It doesn’t and I agree with you but lets be fair the IFA has worked hard to erradicate this sort of thing from the National game and done a good job of it if you ask me.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:52 AMDave, I respect your point of view and share that patriotism. On the other hand, if I thought it was putting off a lot of potential fans then I would consider alternatives if rousing alternatives. Ideally an alternative that is both rousing and distinctively Northern Irish which a lot of people could unite under.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 12:55 AMSlug were not miles apart.
But I would never be happy with some of the proposed songs such as ‘Oh Danny Boy’ or ‘Days like this’.
I think education in the fact that people don’t necessarily have to agree with the National Anthem but to understand that there is no need to be threatend or put off by it.
If you take away the National Anthem then you need to remove Northern Ireland flags as well as the Union flag. The team would need to be renamed the ‘Ireland’ and then one community feels more isolated while the others still supports the ROI anyway.
Remove sectarism and continue to educate is what I feel to be the only solution.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 01:09 AMThe boys in green are on a roll.
Looks like it’s a battle for 2nd place now between Spain and Sweden !!! :o)
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 08:06 AMI think the FAI should maybe apply to rejoin the IFA, help the bridge building and all that. Would financially suit everyone too. They seceded from the IFA in 1921.....
http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=47
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 08:48 AMGOF, no prob with that in principle, aside from everything else we’d reduce the number of gobshites holding official positions in Irish soccer by half. And Lawrie might stay then to manage the team.
(JEB, Dave et al, no offence guys, but I don’t think you get it as to why northern nationalists don’t support the NI team).
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 10:13 AMJust by way of nothing but mischief, does anyone else think that the FAI logo is just atrocious? I know that England and Scotland have made minor changes from the 1970s, but this is the third new FAI badge since the 1980s. Compare this with the elegant IFA celtic cross, virtually unchanged since 1950-aprt from a brief 1977 style disaster
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 10:17 AMTo be honest if nationalists want to support n ireland great,if they dont thats fine as well,but i will be dammed if im going to beg them to support n ireland.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 10:27 AMMore Nationalists support NI that this thread would allow you to believe.
I am completely against the emergence of a United Ireland football team for numerous reasons.
1. I wouldn’t support it.
2. NI and the ROI are seperate coutries
3. Most NI players wouldn’t get into an all Ireland team e.g. Gillespie and Healy.
4. It would be called Ireland and represented by Irish tricolours as is the case with the Rugby.I think two seperate footballing teams on this Island is a good thing and while I’m always a NI fan 1st I do take more than a passing interest in the ROI.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 11:27 AMApologies, for reposting this from the Equlaity thread but I believe it has more relevance here.
How exactly is ‘No Surrender’ sectarian?
Surely, it is just a stock Ulster-British catchphrase since the 1700s. It is merely a reflection of identity.The problem is, Ulster protestant identity is perceived to be inherently sectarian and therefore all expressions of it is termed sectarian. I think that reflects more on the people who proscribe to that view, rather than the Ulster Protestants themselves.
No Surrender is not aimed at Catholics. It is a statement derived from history that reflects and reinforces an identity. It may appear on loyalist murals but loyalists do not own it. The same way the Tricolour does not belong to the IRA.
Shouting No Surrender at the start of a football game is a very good thing! It shows intent.
Look at the faces of the ROI players and fans at the England game at Croker as they belted out the SS. It was pride, it was an expression of identity. It was not sectarian, even though to many Prods the SS has overtly Republican sentiments. No Surrender chants are the exact same thing.
Pride not prejudice.
Posted by on Mar 30, 2007 @ 11:55 AM
