East Belfast welcome soccer teams from nationalist areas?

[T Fearon]

This doesn't appear to be gaining widespread media coverage up here (unlike say a Hunger Strike commemoration at a GAA ground) but just to make you all aware. The other night two young soccer teams (average age 12) from Ardoyne and Short Strand (both nationalist areas of Belfast) met in a friendly game at the only available venue, Victoria Park in East Belfast. When the natives got wind of this a crowd gathered and wrecked one of the mininbuses and heaped torrents of sectarian abuse on young kids.

Have you heard the condemnation from Mr Mc Causland? Me neither.

Incidentally Victoria Park is near the peoposed location of the new North of Ireland soccer stadium. And they claim to attract catholic support?

[Rois]

It was reported on Radio Ulster this morning, and they had one of the guys involved in the team on speaking about it. 

[Gnevin]

Compare these

[Billys Boots]

Tony has a point.

[brokencrossbar1]

Tony has a very valid point.  If a "protestant" soccer team had their bus stoned driving through a nationalist area there would be uproar and given the fact that this incident happened near the proposed stadium shows a serios lack of insight into the planners of the said stadium.  It is time for people to take the blinkers off and stop seeing it through the eyes of the Unioinist organised media. 

[Gnevin]

Tony has a point.

Has usual he has a point but taints it by trying to link it into totally unrelated issues .

[Evil Genius]

This doesn't appear to be gaining widespread media coverage up here (unlike say a Hunger Strike commemoration at a GAA ground) but just to make you all aware. The other night two young soccer teams (average age 12) from Ardoyne and Short Strand (both nationalist areas of Belfast) met in a friendly game at the only available venue, Victoria Park in East Belfast. When the natives got wind of this a crowd gathered and wrecked one of the mininbuses and heaped torrents of sectarian abuse on young kids.

Let me see. Some people in other parts of East Belfast don't like the people in the Short Strand. Wow! Next you'll be telling me that there are people in the Short Strand who don't like people in the rest of East Belfast.

Where have you been living for the last 40 years, eh?

As for the lack of "widespread media coverage" which you claim, notwithstanding the despicable nature of such an incident, what is really new or newsworthy about (relatively) low-level sectarian disturbances in NI? I mean to say, were there eg masked men with replica weapons in attendance? Or possibly, say, several of NI's best known political figures?

Have you heard the condemnation from Mr Mc Causland? Me neither.

Have you heard McCausland refuse  to condemn it? Do you know whether he is even aware of this incident? Given the lack of "widespread media coverage", has it occurred to you that no journalist has yet bothered to ask him for his views?

Incidentally Victoria Park is near the peoposed location of the new North of Ireland soccer stadium. And they claim to attract catholic support?

Re the proposed new NI football stadium, the site to which you refer (Blanchflower Park) is not anyones preferred location (bar one developer with a financial interest in BP). Oh, and Victoria Park is actually closer to the Odyssey than it is to BP. Presumably that is because the Belfast Giants don't want Catholic support, either...

P.S. Back in the real world, I recently came across one small item of soccer news which also received little media coverage. When Paddy Kelly, a stalwart of Donegal Celtic FC from the heart of Nationalist West Belfast was awarded a testimonial, guess which club provided the opposition? A Glentoran "Legends" team, no less. Yep, that's Glentoran FC from the heart of Loyalist East Belfast, just up the road from Victoria Park in fact.
Amazing, really. I suppose next someone will be claiming that the Glens frequently field as many Catholic players as Protestant, including even well-known GAA players - as if that could ever happen! 

http://www.dc-fc.com/news_story.php?ID=272
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/dual-dilemma-cannot-hide-mccabes-impact-1432202.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/mccarthy-was-first-soccer-and-gaa-star-13913011.html

[Evil Genius]

Tony has a very valid point.  If a "protestant" soccer team had their bus stoned driving through a nationalist area there would be uproar and given the fact that this incident happened near the proposed stadium shows a serios lack of insight into the planners of the said stadium.  It is time for people to take the blinkers off and stop seeing it through the eyes of the Unioinist organised media.

Actually, it is a regular occurrence after NI internationals for cars carrying supporters to be stoned when passing through Nationalist areas, most notably the Markets or the Westway etc.
I myself was on a chartered fans bus which was pelted when swinging round into Boucher Road before a game, presumably by "concerned local residents".
Such events never receive police attention, never mind any media attention.

Perhaps I should compose an anti-GAA rant on the back of it and start posting it on websites, or firing it off in letters to the local newspapers? After all, they'd be sure to print it, seeing as they're all part of the "Unionist media conspiracy" which means they never include any contribution from Nationalist readers etc. 

[Billys Boots]

Such events never receive police attention, never mind any media attention.

Well media attention will only be on the basis of selling advertising, so I'm not sure it should be a gauge of anything, other than cynicism.  It's very poor form (irrespective of who they are) that kids (or indeed folk of any age) playing football, of any code, should be subjected to this barbarism. 

I often wonder who makes the call on whether an event like this will raise enough hackles to get people to buy a paper/watch the news/log on to a website, in enough numbers to keep the advertisers happy. 

[lynchbhoy]

This doesn't appear to be gaining widespread media coverage up here (unlike say a Hunger Strike commemoration at a GAA ground) but just to make you all aware. The other night two young soccer teams (average age 12) from Ardoyne and Short Strand (both nationalist areas of Belfast) met in a friendly game at the only available venue, Victoria Park in East Belfast. When the natives got wind of this a crowd gathered and wrecked one of the mininbuses and heaped torrents of sectarian abuse on young kids.

Let me see. Some people in other parts of East Belfast don't like the people in the Short Strand. Wow! Next you'll be telling me that there are people in the Short Strand who don't like people in the rest of East Belfast.

Where have you been living for the last 40 years, eh?

As for the lack of "widespread media coverage" which you claim, notwithstanding the despicable nature of such an incident, what is really new or newsworthy about (relatively) low-level sectarian disturbances in NI? I mean to say, were there eg masked men with replica weapons in attendance? Or possibly, say, several of NI's best known political figures?

Have you heard the condemnation from Mr Mc Causland? Me neither.

Have you heard McCausland refuse  to condemn it? Do you know whether he is even aware of this incident? Given the lack of "widespread media coverage", has it occurred to you that no journalist has yet bothered to ask him for his views?

Incidentally Victoria Park is near the peoposed location of the new North of Ireland soccer stadium. And they claim to attract catholic support?

Re the proposed new NI football stadium, the site to which you refer (Blanchflower Park) is not anyones preferred location (bar one developer with a financial interest in BP). Oh, and Victoria Park is actually closer to the Odyssey than it is to BP. Presumably that is because the Belfast Giants don't want Catholic support, either...

P.S. Back in the real world, I recently came across one small item of soccer news which also received little media coverage. When Paddy Kelly, a stalwart of Donegal Celtic FC from the heart of Nationalist West Belfast was awarded a testimonial, guess which club provided the opposition? A Glentoran "Legends" team, no less. Yep, that's Glentoran FC from the heart of Loyalist East Belfast, just up the road from Victoria Park in fact.
Amazing, really. I suppose next someone will be claiming that the Glens frequently field as many Catholic players as Protestant, including even well-known GAA players - as if that could ever happen! 

http://www.dc-fc.com/news_story.php?ID=272
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/dual-dilemma-cannot-hide-mccabes-impact-1432202.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/mccarthy-was-first-soccer-and-gaa-star-13913011.html

o jeezuz
a usually large link punctuated piece to try and sidetrack away and equalise here

it was soccer thugs wrecking things for 12 year olds match.
contrastingly different perspective and rant than what you were trying to imply on the GAA (and the weird yet peaceful commemoration at galbally)

yer empty content again fools no one. showing your true colours again. sickening.

[Evil Genius]

Such events never receive police attention, never mind any media attention.

Well media attention will only be on the basis of selling advertising, so I'm not sure it should be a gauge of anything, other than cynicism.  It's very poor form (irrespective of who they are) that kids (or indeed folk of any age) playing football, of any code, should be subjected to this barbarism. 

I often wonder who makes the call on whether an event like this will raise enough hackles to get people to buy a paper/watch the news/log on to a website, in enough numbers to keep the advertisers happy.

Media attention is NOT only on the basis of selling advertising - otherwise no paper would ever print anything remotely controversial which might upset some of their advertisers.
The fact , however, that they do regularly print such stories (in fact, they go out looking for them) is because "news" attracts readers to buy their newspaper.

Sadly, however, such is the state of NI that even despicable acts like these are so commonplace ("Dog Bites Man"), that they are not considered to be newsworthy ("Man Bites Dog").

Either that or it's all part of the great "Unionist Media Conspiracy"...

[Evil Genius]

o jeezuz
a usually large link punctuated piece to try and sidetrack away and equalise here

it was soccer thugs wrecking things for 12 year olds match.
contrastingly different perspective and rant than what you were trying to imply on the GAA (and the weird yet peaceful commemoration at galbally)

yer empty content again fools no one. showing your true colours again. sickening.

No attempt to "equalise" or "sidetrack" in anything I posted.

For the record, I condemned the events at Galbally GAC, just as I condemn the events in Victoria Park.

I only added my other comments in order to rebut Fearon's (typically prejudiced) attempt to "spin" the events at VP and also to explain the relative lack of media coverage over VP with that of Galbally (remember, the organisers of Galbally actively sought publicity, the hoods at VP did not).

Meanwhile, you intervene as usual to conduct an ad hominem attack on me, without any attempt to address or rebut the points I made (other than the usual parrot-squawks).

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Have you heard the condemnation from Mr Mc Causland? Me neither.

Have you heard McCausland refuse  to condemn it? Do you know whether he is even aware of this incident? Given the lack of "widespread media coverage", has it occurred to you that no journalist has yet bothered to ask him for his views?

McCausland as Minister for CAL should have made a statement on this matter, your sad attempt at trying to justify his silence proves you to be the blinkered donkey we all suspected.

[lynchbhoy]

o jeezuz
a usually large link punctuated piece to try and sidetrack away and equalise here

it was soccer thugs wrecking things for 12 year olds match.
contrastingly different perspective and rant than what you were trying to imply on the GAA (and the weird yet peaceful commemoration at galbally)

yer empty content again fools no one. showing your true colours again. sickening.

No attempt to "equalise" or "sidetrack" in anything I posted.

For the record, I condemned the events at Galbally GAC, just as I condemn the events in Victoria Park.

I only added my other comments in order to rebut Fearon's (typically prejudiced) attempt to "spin" the events at VP and also to explain the relative lack of media coverage over VP with that of Galbally (remember, the organisers of Galbally actively sought publicity, the hoods at VP did not).

Meanwhile, you intervene as usual to conduct an ad hominem attack on me, without any attempt to address or rebut the points I made (other than the usual parrot-squawks).

'your points'  - you post virtually nothing of contextual value on threads, though it is constructed well !

if you were not so incorrect in the stuff you post I wouldnt comment (as in I somewhat agre with you on the celtic thread) - so this 'attack on poor me' girly stuff is an amusing whinge !

anyhow your equalising/defending and not coming out with huge outcry as you do if you think you can get a dig in at the GAA is conspicuous!
true colors and all that.
soccer for all right ? 

[boojangles]

Actually, it is a regular occurrence after NI internationals for cars carrying supporters to be stoned when passing through Nationalist areas, most notably the Markets or the Westway etc

From the man who loves to back everything up- Your missing a link or evidence EG. Quit the equalising- if the shoe was on the other foot Im sure you'd be on the 10th page.