Brennan Tours

[Glynncommando]

Edit - deleted.

[Shan]

I'd suggest to TPC that if he only wishes to support a 26 county team then he should stick to association football.

The fact that he refers to "Republic of Ireland" seems to suggest he has no respect for the Irish Constitution.Bunreacht na hÉireann states:

Article 4

The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.

What I and a lot of people I know call the 2 entities are Ireland and Northern Ireland.I'd usually only incorrectly use Republic of Ireland when talking about the 26 county football team of that name.Otherwise it can be lazily used for clarity reasons.


I wish people who have no interest in our 32 county Ireland Rugby team and all it stands for and against would feck off and stop trying to interfere and force their narrow views on us.

Ironically since the inception of Ireland's Call we have had our greatest ever period of sustained success.I wonder why that langer TPC failed to mention this.

[stickinout]

I'd suggest to TPC that if he only wishes to support a 26 county team then he should stick to association football.

The fact that he refers to "Republic of Ireland" seems to suggest he has no respect for the Irish Constitution.Bunreacht na hÉireann states:

Article 4

The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.

What I and a lot of people I know call the 2 entities are Ireland and Northern Ireland.I'd usually only incorrectly use Republic of Ireland when talking about the 26 county football team of that name.Otherwise it can be lazily used for clarity reasons.


I wish people who have no interest in our 32 county Ireland Rugby team and all it stands for and against would feck off and stop trying to interfere and force their narrow views on us.

Ironically since the inception of Ireland's Call we have had our greatest ever period of sustained success.I wonder why that langer TPC failed to mention this.

Thanks Shan,
That explains why some people down here don't think of a 26county Republic but i thought that Article 19 changed everything after the Good Friday agreement? I guess the old ways of thinking change slowly in all parts of Ireland.

As a good Munster man and an honorary Ulsterman, what is your view on A na F being played? Would it really be the X factor in getting the blood pumping for the majority of the team? Or is it just a final part of the whole preparation?

As for Ireland's Call and our Golden Era, purely a coincidence or not?

[stickinout]

stickinout, well said, I'm in the same boat but I have the guys in work using the phrase Gods Country when referring to NI. It's a bit of a joke but it does make the point that there are two sovereign states sharing this wee island but we have one team representing both.

Good to read you colleagues realise NI is God's Country. I'd take that as a complement.

[Rooster]

Take a look at the book titles Tim Pat Coogan has written and it will explain his political affiliations and thus his comments.

[stickinout]

Take a look at the book titles Tim Pat Coogan has written and it will explain his political affiliations and thus his comments.

Absolutely, but do his political affiliations make him close-minded? I think it's more than that Rooster, he's been rattling on about this on a variety of radio shows for years at any opportunity. He's just a p$%ck. I've no problem with his political inclinations, it's his lack of understanding and empathy of the Irish conundrum that annoys me.

[stickinout]

I wonder why Brennan has been so vocal in all this flag and anthem kak? I hope it wasn't because he was told "thanks but no thanks" by the Irish English legends people due to a lot of Ulster complaints?

[Rooster]

I wonder why Brennan has been so vocal in all this flag and anthem kak? I hope it wasn't because he was told "thanks but no thanks" by the Irish English legends people due to a lot of Ulster complaints?

And English complaints as well

[stickinout]

I wonder why Brennan has been so vocal in all this flag and anthem kak? I hope it wasn't because he was told "thanks but no thanks" by the Irish English legends people due to a lot of Ulster complaints?

And English complaints as well

Interesting. Never heard about this. Any chance of a pointer?

[moondance]

Interesting. Never heard about this. Any chance of a pointer?

forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10626

[TMHG]

Here is the full article from Tim Pat Coogan (where you will see that he cites Brennan because he lives and played rugby in France and understands what La Marseillaise means to French people and not some anti-Ulster agenda.

I never ever thought of The Marseillaise as being anti-Ulster

Its the anthem of a republic (and republics don't seem to be popular entities in these parts )

[Rooster]

I wonder why Brennan has been so vocal in all this flag and anthem kak? I hope it wasn't because he was told "thanks but no thanks" by the Irish English legends people due to a lot of Ulster complaints?

And English complaints as well

Interesting. Never heard about this. Any chance of a pointer?

Take it from me it happened, scared of adverse publicity if he had played, a ban could not have been upheld due to it not being under IRB or ERC jurisdiction but some senior players thought he should not be included.

[TMHG]

Take a look at the book titles Tim Pat Coogan has written and it will explain his political affiliations and thus his comments.

No great crime being a blueshirt? In fairness you have to admire him for editing a newspaper owned by the De Valera family and then write a biography of De Valera which is fairly critical of him.

[stickinout]

Take a look at the book titles Tim Pat Coogan has written and it will explain his political affiliations and thus his comments.

No great crime being a blueshirt? In fairness you have to admire him for editing a newspaper owned by the De Valera family and then write a biography of De Valera which is fairly critical of him.

I don't care about the man's political beliefs but i do mind his narrow minded Irishness. I prefer to think of Irishness to be all-embracing, welcoming to all and able to change for the betterment of all. But maybe this is where Irish and French Republicanism differs.

THMG, don't be too impressed by Coogan, being a Controversialist and Unionist hater isn't that hard a line to do.

[Shan]

Thanks Shan,
That explains why some people down here don't think of a 26county Republic but i thought that Article 19 changed everything after the Good Friday agreement? I guess the old ways of thinking change slowly in all parts of Ireland.

I don't want to appear like I'm having a go here but I'm afraid you are picking this up incorrectly.There is no state called The Republic of Ireland.The 26 county state is called Éire or Ireland by decree of the constitution of a sovereign state and that will not change and doesn't need to unless there is ever a time in the future where the whole Island becomes one political entity or some other fundamental change occurs.The 19th Amendment has nothing to do with the name of the state and only relates to the removing of Éire's territorial claim on Northern Ireland.

I think there was a great thinking change evident when 94% of the voters passed the 19th Amendment.Granted there are some people who voted in favour with the sole thinking that the Belfast Agreement would eventually lead to a new 32 county state but at least it was a totally democratic way of attempting to achieve the objective.

There is nothing at all wrong with referring to Ireland or Éire and Northern Ireland.It may appear to some as holding on to the territorial claim but it clearly is not.That does not mean I am blind to some people's views and particularly the views of extremists but they'll always be lurking no matter what.

As a good Munster man and an honorary Ulsterman, what is your view on A na F being played? Would it really be the X factor in getting the blood pumping for the majority of the team? Or is it just a final part of the whole preparation?

My view of Amhrán na bhFiann is that it should not be played for Ireland rugby matches.I can see the reasons why it is played at Lansdowne because of the President in particular and also An Taoiseach usually being in attendance.I have to admit as it is my national anthem I would be extremely lukewarm to the idea of a protest against it being played.Sometimes it is very difficult even for those of us who try always to be balanced, moderate, liberal etc etc not to have a little emotional blinker however hard we try not to.

As to whether it would pump up the team I just can't see how it would.Granted I have never stood for an anthem before a match so I cannot know for sure but how many times do we see the Italians looking all passionate about their anthem and then get destroyed.It is the same with Scotland, although to be honest I can't stand the tune of Flower of Scotland but they seem to sing with gusto only to then go and lose the majority of the time.I think people read too much into the first Croker meeting v England when Amhrán na bhFiann was sang with tremendous passion but this was not an ordinary day and the emotion had been building for weeks at least.The singing of it didn't stop us throwing away victory v France the week before.

If a player cannot enter the match arena with the right frame of mind for the ensuing battle he has no business being there.No anthem is a substitute for the will to win and the will to inflict defeat on your opponent.It is not a substitute even for the will to give everything you have for yourself, your team and your supporters, community etc.

As for Ireland's Call and our Golden Era, purely a coincidence or not?

A coincidence without a doubt but one which illustrates perfectly the absurdity of the perceived power of the anthem.