Messages

Mr Hepburn, who is convenor of the Scottish Parliament cross-party group on human rights, said the rule was aimed at preventing supporters from waving the Tibetan flag.

He said that people who had travelled from England, Wales and Northern Ireland would also be prevented from waving their national flags.

Why would Northern Ireland visitors be prevented from waving the UJ?
The loyalist banner is not the national flag.

Looks like this flag will do just nicely for all the athletes who compete for Ireland.

Imgaine in Cathy Freeman was still around and won gold - what's that, you want to carry an Aboriginal flag as well as an Australian flag? Certainly not...

read the article
medal winning Athletes can fly /drape whatever they want (not tibetan) on a lap of honour.

Why is it bitter for people who consider themselves part of the uk to prefer other uk teams?

Dear God, it's almost as if nationalists see Ireland as their nation and unionists see the UK as their nation...

Ah Tony's groupies on patrol.
Don't all get in each others way now.
Is there nothing going on on the OWC board?

If you don't mind folks this time I am just communicating to Tony.
It's a bit of information for him.
If you don't mind please just backing off for a second. 
Make a wee bit of space there.

Tony won't be back tonight so you can all go and rest now.

If you're "just communicating to Tony" you can do it via private message.
If you post on a public forum, people have the prerogative to respond, and if you don't like it you can just fecking lump it

You don't get it, it is not a question of my liking it or not liking it.
I have the preogative to call it as I see it.
But that takes no special skill as I am remarking on an obvious weird obsession.

Sometimes 'tis better not to feed that tedious obsession






I

Why is it bitter for people who consider themselves part of the uk to prefer other uk teams?

Dear God, it's almost as if nationalists see Ireland as their nation and unionists see the UK as their nation...

Ah Tony's groupies on patrol.
Don't all get in each others way now.
Is there nothing going on on the OWC board?

If you don't mind folks this time I am just communicating to Tony.
It's a bit of information for him.
If you don't mind please just backing off for a second. 
Make a wee bit of space there.

Tony won't be back tonight so you can all go and rest now.

Once you are old as Orior, what's another decade or two 

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/roots/roots.htm

Disgraceful performance by Rangers, unfit, unambitious, tactically naive and outplayed by a minnow team.

At least this anti-football won't have a european stage this season

Rangers go 2 up front now
The Lithuanians  still attacking, they just don't know how to play the corner.

 
GOOOOAAALLLLL.

awful awful defending by Rangers

Is Donal Mac Sammy G?

Sammy must be about 90 years old, this lad (supposedly from the GAA community ) is going through his teenage Barry George phase of acute TF stalking which I suppose afflicts all visitors from the OWC to different degrees. 

If (I know, don't laugh) the IFA produce an environment that is politically neutral (ie devoid of exclusively unionist symbols etc), I will happily acknowledge genuine progress, extend my goodwill and would not be averse to supporting the side in certain circumstances (ie if it has no impact or has a positive impact on the FAI team as a consequence), as I would feel the team is at least trying represent me and my community, which sadly I am unable to say at present.

I have been to many North of Ireland games in the past, and would go again tomorrrow if there was a particualr team or player I wanted to see. Sadly I have never felt any affinity with either the team or its supporters and never will until the aforementioned changes are effected.

Until that day arrives, FFA will remain not ony a farce but an insult to people's intelligence.

In 1990 there was a survey done of soccer fans allegiances in Belfast I think,  catholic soccer fans,  90% of them put the  FAI team at nr.1 with the NI in second place.
90% of protestants put NI first with Ro  Ireland in last place behind Scotland Wales and England.

Interesting stuff indeed, whilst the catholic lads supported the FAI team they did not small mindedly wish the IFA mal fortune. Whereas the pre-owc crowd were a bitter bunch indeed

At the same time, flags or not, it's not the kind of place to get passing trade. With very little in the way of windows, it's one of those places where you wouldn't know what you're walking into - not the most inviting.

Sounds like it could be one of those cold places for Nationalists.

Tony could be right

The game does pose a dilemma should Kaunas go a goal up.

It's risky depending on the Danes to beat Rangers, if they meet in the 3rd round.
Bad scenario is Rangers in the CL losing all their games but taking a share of Celtics TV money and adding nothing to Scotlands co-efficients.

Strange enough, the Uefa games give the same co- efficient value as the CL games, Rangers could do a lot of good work there, ploughing a lonely furrow, to improve Celtics CL position.


Whatever will be will be.

Usually there's an upset. So of the teams you selected, which game do you think there is the best chance of an upset.

For me Armagh v Wexford.

and Tyrone winning would also be an upset. So you have 2 upsets there Ziggy


I´ll go for a Wexford upset, on the basis that the Leinster Final was a freak perf.

Its a trail of tears for Ulster this year

If you count the  bould Daragh O'Se hitting the ground in "agony" or was he laughing his head off, should have been 10 minutes.

There must be some psychological hangover thing since the GAA added the extra 10 minutes of play to games, the idea that that takes care of most of the stoppages.

Heard it on live Eurosport tv coverage.

Of course change was coming in.  Could have been the live threat of a sponsors embargo in the early 1990's also stimulated change.

Considering the poisonous athmosphere before that game, considering the noise of the booing, Lennon should have walked off after 5 minutes and given his manager a kick up the árse. Here was a guy, a class player who turned up to play in a friendly (when NI were shíte) at a great personal risk and getting roundly booed for his troubles. His courage and dignity was clear. The "normal" fans rallied around to support him. 

Not enough credit is given to the players who continued to play for NI with a 100% professional  committment in the face of this hostility from their own so called fans. And in all probability, many if given the choice, would have chosen to play for the FAI.

Pat Jenning's experiences receiving abuse at Windsor Park are a matter of public record. Why would such experiences not be well known to be a matter of public record?

'Pat's great regret from his fabulous career is that he never got to play for an All-Ireland team at international level.  'If they can do it for Rugby, why not for soccer,' he ruefully reflected.

Referring to sectarian abuse (that, for example, recently caused Neil Lennon to abandon his dreams of representing Northern Ireland) Pat stated,

'The supporters are more concerned with religious and political differences than the players.  Some gave me a hard time.  I was appalled at the remarks hurled at me.  It's ordeal enough for a teenager to turn out for his country, without that!  I found it a nasty shock that my home crowd, or a section of it, was not exactly rooting for me.  But I was finally accepted.  Maybe the die-hards despaired of getting rid of me,' he concluded.  'Maybe', I thought, 'they knew no one could replace you!''
http://www.newryjournal.co.uk/content/view/74/38/

The "veto" I was referring to was from the AI agreement when Thatcher introduced the referendum idea for a United Ireland.
That was not legislated for previously.  As we know this referendum idea made it onto the GFA.

The parliamentary veto that is a part of power sharing will ensure that the NI Assembly, as it is constituted, will not work.

[already]

You've got a lot of that ass about face.

Lennon was booed by a very small minority of a couple of hundred at most. The great majority of us deplored such behaviour (for my part, I wrote on the subject in the fanzine I was contributing too at the time and actually designed its front cover with Lennon on) - at the next game Lennon received full support and no booing.

Also it was actually a few matches previous to this (2 or 3) that finally the tiny vocal minority that used to sing "party tunes" was completely silenced - by efforts of the fans, not least OWC, and to a certain extent the IFA. The Lennon booing was already a throwback when it happened at that Norway game.

Despite attempts to minimize the accounts of the booing I do prefer to quote Lennons own account especially when it matches what I heard.
If you want to play down the bravery of Lennon then so be it.
The main significance is that the dignity of Lennon in the face of such abuse and hatred out in the society towards him and his determination to carry on playing for NI, was the catalyst for change. A real lion in the face of ugly death threats.
Not forgetting of course to the dignity and bravery of Jennings.