South Belfast North of Ireland Supporters Club

[donalmac99]

Would anyone like to see one irish team competing in the soccer team in the olympics (possibly London 2012)?

I personally think it would be a great idea, and the whole island could get behind one team.

Can't happen.

The qualifiers for the Olympics are the European Under-21 Championships.

(And NI in football terms is affiliated to the BOA, not the OCI.)

Im sure if theres enough public support there can be a way.
If a boxer from belfast can fight in the olympics under the irish flag, why not a belfast footballer?

If there was enough public support we'd have the 6 counties back , period.

as for the boxing, isnt there a certain irish pride that is unique to nordies representing Ireland that is not present within any other olympic sport. Im just stating what wayne mcullough claims.

[donalmac99]

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.  [

please, there is no need for personal abuse, something that is against forum rules I believe.

[Evil Genius]

Would anyone like to see one irish team competing in the soccer team in the olympics (possibly London 2012)?

I personally think it would be a great idea, and the whole island could get behind one team.

Can't happen.

The qualifiers for the Olympics are the European Under-21 Championships.

(And NI in football terms is affiliated to the BOA, not the OCI.)

Im sure if theres enough public support there can be a way.
If a boxer from belfast can fight in the olympics under the irish flag, why not a belfast footballer?

If there was enough public support we'd have the 6 counties back , period.

as for the boxing, isnt there a certain irish pride that is unique to nordies representing Ireland that is not present within any other olympic sport. Im just stating what wayne mcullough claims.

Actually, Boxing is a shining example to all other sports in Ireland (at Amateur level, at least). NI boxers have proudly represented Ireland (the island) in international competition down the years, under the auspices of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.
In return, the IABA has always granted reciprocal respect and recognition to them. The best example is to be found in the Commonwealth Games, where the IABA allows its (9 counties) Ulster Council to organise and enter a Northern Ireland team, including even boxers from "The Three" (best-known, but not unique, example being Barry McGuigan).
Contrast this with e.g. Tennis. A couple of years ago there was a promising young NI girl (can't remember the name) who sought funding from the NI Sports Council. They were happy to do so, but were stopped by "Tennis Ireland", since the latter felt that allowing a (UK) body to give her a grant would compromise their (all-Ireland) jurisdiction.
Which might be fair enough, if TI were prepared to match the SCNI funding. They weren't. Consequently, the only way this young girl could have availed of funding from the Government to which her parents pay their taxes, would have been to move to England, Scotland or Wales and apply to the respective Sports Councils over there. Obviously this was not practical, which effectively means that a young Irish tennis prospect will likely see her career suffer, purely down to petty, political prejudice.

Anyhow, a much happier situation exists in Boxing in Ireland, as this profile of Belfast's Paddy Barnes indicates. Note how he is proud to represent Ireland in Beijing, having been equally proud to have represented NI in Manchester two years earlier:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/olympic-countdown/BOXING-FEATURE-Paddy-Barnes.4273530.jp?articlepage=1

[his holiness nb]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

[T Fearon]

Advantage...no, game set and match to his Holiness!

More Balls Please, Evil Genius

[Evil Genius]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

Eh? I never used the term "bigotry" or "hatred" 

Following a reference to Boxing by another poster, I was merely pointing out the benefits of the IABA's admirably non-political stance when it came to supporting Irish boxers, in contrast e.g. to another all-Ireland sport, Tennis, which demonstrated that it can be "petty" and "political" (small "p"), even when the effect is to deprive Irish tennis players of support. Instead of Tennis, I might have chosen one or two other Irish sports to illustrate my point.

Anyhow, I've got to go now, since there's an annoying wee mutt yapping at my heels...

[Evil Genius]

Advantage...no, game set and match to his Holiness!

More Balls Please, Evil Genius

If I want more "Balls", I need look no further than your posts.

P.S. The usual phrase is "New Balls, please" - even if you are happy to recycle the same old balls time after time...

[his holiness nb]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

Eh? I never used the term "bigotry" or "hatred" 

Following a reference to Boxing by another poster, I was merely pointing out the benefits of the IABA's admirably non-political stance when it came to supporting Irish boxers, in contrast e.g. to another all-Ireland sport, Tennis, which demonstrated that it can be "petty" and "political" (small "p"), even when the effect is to deprive Irish tennis players of support. Instead of Tennis, I might have chosen one or two other Irish sports to illustrate my point.

Anyhow, I've got to go now, since there's an annoying wee mutt yapping at my heels...

Evil Genius, if you took my last post as anything other that a joke (and not even at your expense, at the expense of tennis ireland) then there really is no hope.

Relex them there cacks 

And once more, for about the millionth time, please cut out the personal stuff. Or at least keep it for when theres a reason for it!

[Evil Genius]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

Eh? I never used the term "bigotry" or "hatred" 

Following a reference to Boxing by another poster, I was merely pointing out the benefits of the IABA's admirably non-political stance when it came to supporting Irish boxers, in contrast e.g. to another all-Ireland sport, Tennis, which demonstrated that it can be "petty" and "political" (small "p"), even when the effect is to deprive Irish tennis players of support. Instead of Tennis, I might have chosen one or two other Irish sports to illustrate my point.

Anyhow, I've got to go now, since there's an annoying wee mutt yapping at my heels...

Evil Genius, if you took my last post as anything other that a joke (and not even at your expense, at the expense of tennis ireland) then there really is no hope.

Relex them there cacks 

And once more, for about the millionth time, please cut out the personal stuff. Or at least keep it for when theres a reason for it!

I'm afraid i didn't see it as a joke - maybe that says something about my sense of humour. Or yours.

Rather, I saw it as (yet) another case of your having nothing whatever constructive to say about the topic in question, but on noticing my comment, being unable to forebear from intervening to distort the point I was trying to make.

(Post Edited, on seeing request by Mod3)

[his holiness nb]

Understood, maybe theres a slight paranoia there when you see a mail from me. Some of them havent got hidden motives you know. It was a simple joke at the expense of tennis ireland, not even yourself.

But at the request of the mods I reckon we leave it be.

[Rossfan]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

Tennis, which demonstrated that it can be "petty" and "political" (small "p"). Instead of Tennis, I might have chosen one or two other Irish sports to illustrate my point.

you could start with Soccer 

[Evil Genius]

surely you already knew "tennis ireland" was a bastion of bigotry and hatred?

Tennis, which demonstrated that it can be "petty" and "political" (small "p"). Instead of Tennis, I might have chosen one or two other Irish sports to illustrate my point.

you could start with Soccer 

Nice try, RF, but my original point doesn't exactly apply to "Soccer" [sic], since it is not an all-Ireland sport like Amateur Boxing or Tennis.









Or GAA. 

[Rossfan]

[to "Soccer" [sic],

Soccer makes me sic(sic) alright 

[Evil Genius]

[to "Soccer" [sic],

Soccer makes me sic(sic) alright 

Whereas GAA makes me gag and Hurling makes me, er, hurl...

[Our Nail Loney]

Called into this establishment on a pub crawl, just 3 of us, the only ones at the time not wearing gaa gear.

Got a quick vodka and blackcurrant, they had no ice and the blackcurrant musta been sitting for a month or so, it hissed when the fella opened the bottle of diluten!

Some spot, highly recommend!