Ok CP , i will give you the benefit of the doubt with regards to Unionists players being welcomed to play for the ROI , as to be fair , it will probably never happen anyway.

Sorry to throw up the old debate again , but i have a question.

If the IFA stopped playing GSTQ and stop flying the flags etc , would you support Northern Ireland and not the ROI? Does it not fill you with sadness and a bit of regret that you being from NI (or the North of Ireland as nationalists like to call it) that you cannot attend an International football match in Belfast? Its a bad situation to be honest and i hope something gets sorted soon for all sides of the community. We had an opportunity to move from Windsor (which is a terrible venue for international football standards), and the IFA passed it up. Could have been a fresh start maybe , or are the seeds of suspicion , the sectarian devide between the 2 communities too much? 95% of the people who go to the NI matches are good people , just there to see the team win or lose , of course the other 5% are going to be backwards idiots who give the place a bad name.


Just interested to hear a nationalist viewpoint if they did happen to change the anthem and flags etc, would you support NI?

sorry for that wall of text in the middle of my question lol

Alex

you, like many other NI fans, just simply refuse to discuss the elephant in the room

which is the multitude of reaosns why nealry 50% of the north support the now all-ireland team.

You and most other NI fans seem content NOT to change, but whinge when nationalists simply go anf play for a team which DOES represnet them.

you cant have it both ways, either change all the symbols or lose the players.

As it is I firmly believe there will be one team, in a few years anyway and look forwrad to it immensely

I dont refuse to discuss anything BC. Look at my previous posts on here , i know the symbols and anthem offend the nationalists and i wish they would change them for the good of ALL the people of NI.

I have not "whinged" once about players who go and play for the ROI , visit the ROI board and look at the McClean thread if you dont believe me.

No offense mate , but there will not be 1 team. Deal with it and stop living in cloud-cuckoo land. The IFA need to change their ways and start wondering WHY players from the nationalist communties are going to play for the ROI. Put it like this , if "I" was a nationalist , i wouldnt want to play in a stadium which had symbols and an anthem which offended me. I DONT blame them for going to play for the ROI at all. Good luck to them.

The IFA need to wake up and move from Windsor, change the symbols and anthem to something for ALL of us. If not , we wont be challanging for any qualifcations to the Euros/World Cups. Or the other hand if change does come about ,then it is up to the "Nationalists" to want to play for NI as well and for that choice to be accepted in nationalists areas too.

Dont state that I dont want to see change or i just sit there and accept whats going on with anthems/flags etc , when you havent read my posts before BC. Cheers

ALEX:
Agree with you wholeheartedly that the IFA need to change the pre match rituals. I think there is a good chance that this will eventually happen, though quietly. O' Neill strikes me as an intelligent person. Im sure that he will recognise the potential value to his team in bringing about such a change. I always feel slightly embarassed at Windsor when they call for the National Anthem and everyone stands up. Im uncomfortably aware that there may be RCs in the crowd/team who do not feel particularly keen on GSTQ. I think its unfair that they are being "forced" to stand for it. We need to be more inclusive.

Regarding moving from Windsor, Im not so sure. Its a question of being realistic. I just can not see any practical alternatives at the present time. Also, its important to bear in mind that though Windsor is in the Village, it is also in South Belfast, a very mixed area which enjoys excellent community relations and has been represented by SDLP and Alliance politicians as well as Unionists. All this stuff about Windsor being in a huge bigotted Loyalist area is all a load of EXREP tosh! Windsor is in South Belfast and the Village is a very small area of South Belfast. South Belfast itself is probably the most progressive integrated area of our capital and is perfectly suitable as a site for the National Football Stadium!

Your comments show the usual openmindedness and fairness of the average NI fan and are in sharp contrast to those of your EXREP interlocutor who seems unwilling to answer your perfectly reasonable question. Whats new!

Well put Reiver and Alex.

I have mates and colleagues from diferent religous and political backgrounds who support NI and attend Windsor...........some who used to live in Dublin.

BC

No way do 50% of people in NI support the ROI team and there will not be a so called all Ireland team any time soon.
If some folk want to wrap themselves in ROI colours,work away,but do not blame NI fans,the NI team or IFA for doing so.

NI wlecome all support and all players.Leave the nasty stuff to the politicians.

Incidentally,the Rocket,aka ja606 McElduffus,claims to be a Celtic fan.
I have been on the SPL forums for ages and have not witnesses his work.Some bhoy?
Too busy wumming NI fans and spouting political bile.

^^^^^^^

the silence from BC is deafening ffs

Alex

Forget the jelly and ice cream,it's jam tarts today man.Hence the silence of the bams.Only joking,I just said that cos it rhymes.
What a hat-trick though.Killie,Rangers and Hearts gubbing wee lenny's mob.

the silence from BC is deafening ffs
...................................................................

hi alex

im sorry but i was out yesterday...

gutted about yesterday but hey ho, looking forward to euros then a wee euro run hopefully for the super hoops

at least this season has seen a spread of the wealth in the spl

Cant see any Scots club going for a run anywhere in Europe. Think the Irish Hoops from Tallaght have more chance of doing that.

BELFAST CELTIC:
If you really cherish the idea of a genuine All Ireland team, I think you and other Nordie based FAI fans should reflect seriously on the following sentiment held by many people in NI, including quite a few Republicans --- "The biggest obstacle to attaining an All Ireland team is the entrenched views and sectarian stance taken by many NI based fans of the ROI team. They have become in the minds of many NI fans the biggest reason for NOT joining an All Ireland team! This paradox is mirrored in the political arena where among Protestants the violent, senseless actions of Republican terrorists(RTs) during the last 40 years have completely turned most Protestants off the idea of a United Ireland. One leading Republican stated that he thought the RTs had put the cause of Irish unity back at least 50 years and added that he did not find it surprising that many people thought they were in the pay of British intelligence who employed them expressly for this purpose."

Reiver

I sit with folk from Dublin at Windsor,supporting NI.I work with guys from Catholic and gaelic backgrounds in Belfast and South Derry and they support and go to NI games.
As you state the Nordie chuckies who back the ROI,often for political rather that football reasons,put any notion of 32 county team on the back burner.
Some of the stuff fron ROI fans up here is simply political propaganda and at times overtly sectarian.
The sectarian campaign by the RT's divided people and made so called unity virtually impossible and unthinkable for a million odd Ulster citizens.

Making up stuff again I see. I sit with Loyalists at ROI games you know. They support them you know.

Shortly after the IFA rejoined FIFA in 1946, the FAI stopped selecting Northern players. The IFA stopped selecting southern players after the FAI complained to FIFA in 1950.

A gentleman's agreement was forged. Guess which association broke this agreement first?

If the IFA stopped playing GSTQ and stop flying the flags etc , would you support Northern Ireland and not the ROI?

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Alex, sorry for the delay in replying, I haven’t been on for a few days. Now I know you’re a genuine bloke but to be honest I think the question is a bit of a red herring, still, I’ll answer it anyway. The answer is unsurprising no, of course I wouldn’t, I’ve grown up supporting Ireland and to be frank I don’t really care what the IFA do. Now if I was paid to advise the IFA then of course I would advise them that if they ever wanted to attract supporters who consider themselves Irish Nationalists in the future then the anthem and flags would have to go.

Does it not fill you with sadness and a bit of regret that you being from NI (or the North of Ireland as nationalists like to call it) that you cannot attend an International football match in Belfast?
--------------------------------------------------------

Quite honestly? No. I’m well used to it, Dublin is a good trip and not far away, for example people from Newcastle who support England have to travel a lot further than I do to watch their country. I don’t consider myself Northern Irish, I just see myself as Irish pure and simple.

Its a bad situation to be honest and i hope something gets sorted soon for all sides of the community. We had an opportunity to move from Windsor (which is a terrible venue for international football standards), and the IFA passed it up. Could have been a fresh start maybe , or are the seeds of suspicion , the sectarian devide between the 2 communities too much? 95% of the people who go to the NI matches are good people , just there to see the team win or lose , of course the other 5% are going to be backwards idiots who give the place a bad name.


I see after you asked the question Shen was on further down the page trying to spin the Windsor is in South Belfast, the village is small etc, etc routine but of course you are correct Alex. Whatever about South Belfast being the most progressive part of our city (and it is) the Village isn’t and Windsor is in the Village. That’s before we go into some of the infamous incidents that have occurred at the ground (and I won’t because my answer is already so long and boring I’ve split it in 3!). Tbh, one of the things that surprised me at the time of the proposed move to Long Kesh was some of the people who told me they would’ve went to a ‘big’ game there (Spain, Germany, Italy etc). Now ok, they wouldn’t have been going to support NI but they would’ve been taking their kids along and of course if the kids enjoyed who’s to say they wouldn’t have badgered their parents into going again even if a ‘big’ team wasn’t in town?
Still, it wouldn’t have been fair to leave Linfield without their yearly cash injection………….

Completely pogued, as with my other threads on this topic, its allwell and good knowing what you don't want to see & hear at NI matches........how about what could be seen & heard that would swing it for the fence sitting potential fans. Let's put the ball on the plaintiffs court.........

Mango

Why so bitter?Mates are married and go out with girls from Dublin,and they go to games,as do their children.
My wife is Catholic and backs NI as do many Catholics I know.No biggie man.
We do not exist in bubbles of bigotry............do you?

Shortly after the IFA rejoined FIFA in 1946, the FAI stopped selecting Northern players. The IFA stopped selecting southern players after the FAI complained to FIFA in 1950.

A gentleman's agreement was forged. Guess which association broke this agreement first?
--------------------------------------------------------------


Now I know the IFA are into long term contracts (see their 100 year lease with Linfield FC) but are you really crying about the fact that a 50 odd year old ‘gentleman’s agreement’ is no longer in place?

FFS, most of the people who ‘agreed’ it are probably 6 foot under! Is it really so hard for you to understand that the FAI are tapping into talent from a community that grew up supporting the ROI team???

how about what could be seen & heard that would swing it for the fence sitting potential fans
-----------------------------------------------------

You'd have to ask some fence sitting fans.

Who are they? Where can they be contacted? Do they have a voice? Do they have suggestions?

I only ask because we hear what shouldn't represent NI. We never hear what should represent NI...

Is it really so hard for you to understand that the FAI are tapping into talent from a community that grew up supporting the ROI team?

____________

Will this, or will this not lead us towards an all Catholic ROI team?