catholic football clubs in northern ireland
What a dream. [10] While the team was preparing to set sail for New York, it was announced publicly that Celtic intended to leave the league, pending the final decision of the club's shareholders at their annual meeting in June. Association football in Northern Ireland, widely known as football or sometimes as soccer (to avoid confusion with Gaelic football), is one of the most popular sports in Northern Ireland. Jack Kirwan, who won an All-Ireland football championship with Dublin in 1894, managed the club from 1910-1914. It is so, so sad what happened, he said, my sister was down at the house the other day and my mum has been along as well. The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the national church of Scotland. . Things are changing. An admirable stoicism and perseverance; a toughness but yet an incredible level of loyalty and kindness to those around them. Force attax - register and connect with a. The reality is we need to. In Inventing The Myth, Connal Parr's book on the "Ulster Protestant Imagination", he quotes the north Belfast playwright Gary Mitchell discussing the flag protests of 2013: "It's the easiest thing in the world to go: 'Look at these eejits. The current Northern Ireland team is managed by a Catholic, Michael O'Neill, who played minor Gaelic football for Antrim, my own county. (2013) Football Fans in Pre-Referendum Scotland: Folk Devils, Space and Place. In 2002 Celtic player Neil Lennon announced that he would no longer play for Northern Ireland because he received a death threat,[14] and death threats appeared on the walls of loyalist areas including in his home town of Lurgan, Co Armagh. Ecstatic Linfield fans invaded the pitch and began attacking several Celtic players, including centre-forward Jimmy Jones, who suffered a broken leg and was kicked unconscious, and Robin Lawlor and Kevin McAlinden, who were both seriously hurt. An agency of the Catholic Church established in 1977 as a caring service for those whose pregnancy is or has become a crisis. You cling on. O'Neill intends to talk to Republic manager Martin O'Neill about the issue. They play Days Like This after the final whistle at Windsor Park. It took Michael ONeills over-achieving squad top of their group. [1], Today, a small museum has since been opened in the Park Centre by the Belfast Celtic Society and a plaque reminds shoppers a football team played there. When Lennon joined Celtic, some Northern Irish Protestants were enraged. Of these 10, no less than four, including ourselves, are Belfast teams. I'm confused. Politically, culturally, there are shades of Ulster Protestantism certainly not represented by, for instance, the DUP. Upstairs in their archive diligent librarians have unearthed a gem a small, blood-red book with no decoration on its cover bar the words: Irish Football Annual 1880. A firm sense of reality and yet a twinkle in the eye, a love of parody and irony, a great ability to laugh at oneself and a real, tangible, strong sense of home. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The impression may be otherwise, that those singing anti-Catholic songs are representative of the whole. LIKE Annaclone Parish . Contact PJ Kennedy (Team manager) on 07590 696 220 for more details. "Daniel Devine of Partick Thistle is a West Belfast boy and would have gone to the Euros with us. It is now far easier for someone from the Catholic community of Belfast to support Northern Ireland, to want them to do well. [5], The Milk Cup is a successful international youth tournament held annually in Northern Ireland, in which clubs and national teams from anywhere in the world may compete. There is a huge volume of writing on Parnell and even more on his era. Groups pack the basement of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church during their annual fish fry on the first night of Lent, on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, in the West Homestead neighborhood of Pittsburgh . Celtic's own statement, whilst equally blaming Linfield, focused particular criticism on the police who were present, who remained passive and made no arrests: "During the whole of this concerted attack the protection afforded to the unfortunate players may be fairly described as quite inadequate. That could ring a bell. But I badly, badly want the Republic of Ireland to beat France on Sunday. (Peter Lang). Cliftonville, Donegal Celtic would be the two clubs with the highest percentage of Catholic fans. This incident was replicated in the early 1990s when junior club Donegal Celtic played Linfield in the Irish Cup and players were attacked on the pitch. We have been going through an extremely depressing loss of identity, loss of culture and worst of all, loss of a future.. People are not barred from playing for, or just supporting, football teams based on religion. Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has claimed the Football Association of Ireland targets Catholic players to switch allegiance to the Republic. This is the home town of the murdered Loyalist Volunteer Force leader, Billy Wright. A bunch of urchins emerged from the pub as I walked past, not one of them could have been older than 12. The Holy Cross dispute started on the Ardoyne interface in June 2001, when loyalists started picketing the entrance to Holy Cross Girls Primary School in response to attacks on Protestant homes in the area. Northern Ireland joined FIFA in 1911, and UEFA in 1954. Derry City FC also left the league following security issues arising from the Troubles, eventually to play in the League of Ireland. Traditionally, Rangers supporters are Protestant while Celtic fans support the Catholic Church. Sanquhar (Dumfries & Galloway) seemed pretty orange. It is just a pity that, at the moment, I am prevented from expressing my Northern Irishness in the same way. Catholic involvement in top-level soccer has declined, a factor in this being the withdrawal from the Irish League of clubs with a large Catholic following such as Belfast Celtic (1949) and Derry City (1971). Reported The Times, "The game held the crowd spellbound from beginning to end. In the latest A-Level results, the top seven schools are Catholic schools; there is concern about working class Protestant boys in particular, their motivation, status, future. Are St Mirren Catholic or Protestant? Contact John Tierney (07833 016 014) or manager@eireoglondon.org for more details. The challenge, then, is to establish what works for whom in what circumstances and how programmes work. What makes them different than, say, Manchester United v Manchester City or even Bristol Rovers v Bristol City is that it is not just local pride that is at stake. I don't see any need for exclusivity in terms of who I support. It can still be heard, its an Old Firm weekend. His political career was quite short, just over 16 years, but one of the most momentous in Anglo-Irish affairs. Not so long ago Paddy McCourt, then of Celtic - a club traditionally supported in Ireland by Irish Catholics - was the toast of Windsor after a virtuoso performance against the Faroe Islands. The bar chart below shows the Northern Ireland Premier League ground sizes. However, other clubs are often ascribed allegiances, e.g. Discover our goal is the site in northern ireland and bisexual or lover, iran, wales. And if they played each other? Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com, Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? I can list you 10 players who've made that decision and have never represented the Republic.". The vast majority of Catholics would support Ireland rather than Northern Ireland; the rest just don't follow football at all. Sikhmatrimony - northern . I've only ever met a few & very few at that, that would support Northern Ireland. [4] Some of the major teams include Portadown FC, Glentoran FC and Linfield FC (although Derry City play in the FAI's League of Ireland). [8], The Northern Ireland national football team is one of the oldest international teams in the world, it was founded in 1880. The club left the league for political reasons, as the team and its supporters were largely Catholic and Irish nationalist and its players had been violently attacked by a mob against its main rival Linfield in December 1948. Also there are some Northern Ireland fans that don't make Catholic fans feel especially welcome at Windsor Park. The team were introduced to New York City Mayor William O'Dwyer, a native of County Mayo, at New York City Hall on 4 May. Unless things change drastically, Ireland won't have such a rich seam running through the club over the next eight decades. I am a proud Catholic Irishman. And it was painted blue. . OUR first chance of a league title in 98 years and I am working in England. Last updated on 6 March 20186 March 2018.From the section Irish. To understand the full significance of this a short history lesson is needed. Instead, the throng saw an inspired Belfast combination score once in the opening session and again in the second half to sew up the decision. In the circumstances the directors wish to make the strongest possible protest against the conduct of those responsible for the protection of the players in failing to take measures either to prevent the brutal attack or to deal with it with any degree of effectiveness after it developed. It is eight years since a bullet in the post addressed to McGinn was intercepted. The third place belongs to Sporting Fingal, while Derry City and St Patrick's complete the Top 5 from the national ranking. Only last month two people were shot, one dead, in the Clifton Tavern . And then theres clubs like Ballinamallard which are very cross community. PPB Counterparty Services Limited, Betfair Casino Limited and PPB Entertainment Limited are licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account numbers39439,39435and39426. HVn8}W.R_@f >E-R;9sgoyU7 . In the past the Northern Ireland football team has been more associated with the Protestant community than the Catholic one. Shamrock Rovers is the best football / soccer team in Ireland today. Cliftonville are supported by mainly Nationalists; the other three- Linfield, Glentoran and Crusaders - by Unionists. an examination of the Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian football rivalry in Edinburgh, Scotland, Football: Sociological Questions on Identities and Spaces, Performing Resistance: Sport and Irish Republican Identity in Internment Camps and Prisons, Sport, Memory, and Nostalgia: The Lives of Irish Republicans in Internment Camps and Prisons, 1971-2000. Spaces & Flows: An International Journal of Urban and Extra Urban Studies 2(4): 115-138. Will they all sing it together.. twice? Cookie Policy The Irish League is split up into a Premier and First Division. A few factual inaccuracies. Who are the Catholic supprted teams and the Protestant teams? The Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Ireland have declined to comment. Edwin Mellen Press, New York, USA. Last update : 3/3/23, 12:48 AM. Read about our approach to external linking. [6] Northern Ireland also played host to the 2005 UEFA Under-19 European Championships. Not all writing can be included in the present bibliography though it seeks to achieve a high degree of completeness. That was never going to happen, but the player believes that the ex-Shamrock Rovers boss can . [12] In 2018, the national team began their UEFA Nations League debut, in league B. There was a public uproar in Northern Ireland when a photograph of the team marching behind an Irish tricolour flag before a match in New York was published in the Belfast Telegraph on 11 May. Supports: Leeds United, Sligo Rovers. Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has claimed the Football Association of Ireland targets Catholic players to switch allegiance to the Republic. Is that identity solely British, as in the singing of GSTQ, or partly Irish, as in the name of the Association and the team? And it was painted blue. 1 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 754 0 R /Resources << /ColorSpace << /CS2 761 0 R /CS3 766 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS2 792 0 R /GS3 793 0 R >> /Font << /TT3 781 0 R /TT4 779 0 R /TT5 763 0 R >> /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] >> /Contents 2 0 R /MediaBox [ 0 0 595 842 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 595 842 ] /Rotate 0 /StructParents 1 >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 3 0 R >> stream %PDF-1.4 % Foreign Fields and Foreigners on the Field: Irish Sport, Inclusion and Assimilation, Political Studies Association Conference, Belfast, 2012-Sport and Cultural Nationalism: The Conflict between Association and Gaelic football in Donegal, 1905-1934.. and that the majority of the aristocratic land owners in The Republic are of English descent and live their happily as members of The Church of England or Ireland. Population shifts in North Belfast led to a decline in Protestant support for Cliftonville Football Club and a rise in Catholic support. The governing body in Northern Ireland is the Irish Football Association (IFA) (not to be confused with the Football Association of Ireland [FAI] in the Republic of Ireland). Narratives of northern nationalist footballers in Northern Ireland, Contesting the fields of play: the Gaelic Athletic Association and the battle for popular sport in Ireland, 1890 1906, Sport in Society, Volumer 19, No. [7], The Setanta Sports Cup was set up by its sponsors, television channel Setanta Ireland. oE{1?SPqb %#qbIq~?tjIqnECSCh&H~&rR JQ,Pi"3P. Northern Irelands players warmed up to Alternative Ulster on Sunday at Windsor and if sectarianism is to be challenged, it has to be engaged and alternatives offered. The new Northern Ireland boss, Michael O'Neill, is a Catholic and was keen to change McClean's mind. This review, conducted for Sporting Equals and the sports councils by the Carnegie Research Institute, examines participation in sport and physical recreation by black and minority ethnic (BME) communities as segments of the population identified in the governments equality legislation (as reflected in the remit of the Equality and Human Rights Commission). Now that is a thought. "Half the team is Catholic, the manager is Catholic," the club's . Because as much as you try to convince yourself that everything has changed, that the group traditionally known as Irish Catholics are equal to the group traditionally known as British Protestants (naming the religious group merely denotes the community rather than any actual religious beliefs; young people in the north are as secular as their southern counterparts) in supporting the Northern Ireland football team, the playing of 'God Save The Queen' penetrates your consciousness and reminds you otherwise. The most successful club in Northern Ireland, they have long been accused of hardly being the most welcoming to visit fans from across the divide. The east doesn't get any better as you go toward falkirk too though that goes without saying, Airdrie, salcoats, bits of paisley, motherwell, barrhead seeing more activity/politcal stuff. The politics of sport in Lebanon as a unique case in comparative politics, Irish Rules: Family, Work and Culture in Western Australia, Enacting Irish Identity in Western Australia: Performances from the Dressing Room, 'Networking Structures and Competitive Association Football in Ulster, 1880-1914', Transcending the borders of Irish identity? Niall McGinn, a Republic of Ireland fan and Catholic who . Espech as we've had a thread about the orange order recently. The Big Two derby, also referred to simply as the Big Two or Bel Classico, is the name given to the Northern Irish association football derby between Belfast clubs, Linfield and Glentoran.The derby is also sometimes referred to as the Belfast derby. I am from Northern Ireland. Parnell was a personage of consequence throughout the English-speaking world. Militant Protestant supporters of a Scottish football team have beaten to death a Catholic man in the latest sign of how sports rivalries inspire sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland, police . . By using our site, you agree to our collection of information through the use of cookies. That is the nature of following a club here. Cliftonville and Newry Town are about the only Catholic teams. The Leinster Senior Football League, which operates the city's amateur leagues, has 20 different divisions to suit players of every calibre. Hover over the bar to see the full name and capacity. Surprised they don't spraypaint the grass and trees. The other club, Belfast Celtic, disbanded in 1956 after a sectarian mob invaded the pitch and attacked the players during a game with Linfield. I would enjoy the conundrum. In that act, Seamus Coleman unleashed his pride, his honour, his joy at being Irish. Catholic Churches in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Senior training every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm. East Asian Journal of Sport Thought, Vol 3 (1), pp: 207-229, Social and economic value of sport in Ireland, Culture and the Irish border : Spaces for conflict transformation, Still Hibernia Irredenta? No Surrender. [6] Celtic's support base was strongly Irish nationalist and Catholic but the club also enjoyed significant support from some local west Belfast Unionists and Protestants, who accounted for about 10 percent of the fan base.[2]. Cliftonville FC is the oldest football club in Ireland. Linfield are based in south WEST Belfast , not EAST Belfast . , Vincent Kompany (@VincentKompany) June 12, 2016. FM version FM 22 (22.1.0) Name Rooftop; City Belfast; Founded 1975; Nation Northern Ireland; League NAFL 2C; Reputation 1; So they were cheek by jowl geographically with Belfast Celtic whose ground was on the Donegall Road ( incidentally the first greyhound track in Ireland , nort, The Dark Side of the Pitch - Sectarianism in Northern Ireland football. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/latestnews/Meet-the-councillor-with-the.4375117.jp. By joining a club you can benefit from the knowledge of qualified coaches, as well as the social and . This will make catholic's support Russia . But there are other Protestant boys, other voices. They traditionally face each other on Boxing Day each year . No, this is not true. If you think Motherwell and Wishaw are grim I suspect you have never been to some of those other places. As the world's most popular sport, football (known as soccer in the United States) is truly "catholic." He was 22 years of age, he knew what he wanted. According to The Guardian, the play was performed to acclaim at Windsor Park in 2010, supported by the IFA and Linfield. their football team supporters are into all that same union jack, god save the queen stuff as the rangers fans. "I don't have a problem with James McClean. Dundalk FC are the second best. By the mid-nineteenth century thirty percent of the Old Town ", It is a great statue. But this does not mean that there will be a sudden orgy of delight and exaltation along the Falls Road in Belfast or in the Creggan Estate in Derry (where James McClean is from) if Northern Ireland score on Saturday. Richard Blake and the Resurrection of the GAA, in Rocht na Midhe, Rcords of the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society , Vol. Taking this opportunity, they began creating an image of the city that had rid itself of the problem of sectarian violence, even though the city remains a violent urban environment. It is based precariously in North Belfast in the infamous murder mile. protestant town). Bound to be in Lanarkshire or Ayrshire. How did he feel about it in 2011 and how does he feel when "No Surrender" is shouted during God Save The Queen before Northern Ireland play. Wishaw and Motherwell aren't on that list and imo/e they ARE grim. 'The Development of Gaelic football and Soccer Zones in County Donegal, 1884-1934' in Sport in History, vol.32, no.3, (Sept.2012), pp 426-52. After Celtics decision to quit football, some of their support attached themselves to Distillery FC, which would have been the next closest club to the locale. Four points clear with eight to play. Send Message. Pontifical Mission Societies As he returned to his club, Aberdeen, McGinn may have felt a swirl of reflection and questions. "What is the point of asking a player to change his allegiance, to make a decision about his whole international future, and then not pick him? In this respect, Everton shared an initial religious connection with many of the other new clubs that were to form the Football League back in 1888. Mike Cronin. XXIV (2013), pp. Famous Irish fan: Phil Lynott Conclusion: The top three here have won 29 of the past 40 League titles in England. You must log in or register to reply here. 12th ( NIFL Championship 1 ) Dundela. Info. The rest are either mixed or Huns. Celtic Park continued to function as a greyhound racing stadium until 1985, when it was demolished and replaced by the Park Centre, a small shopping centre. [7][8], Linfield issued a statement in which they blamed the attack on continual provocation from Celtic. In so doing, the Club has managed to collect some strange fellow travellers, not least, ironically, from Ireland. Who are the Catholic football teams in Ireland? The Gaelic Athletic Association, Northern Nationalists and modern Ireland, (with Philip Dine) Exploring European Sporting Identities: History, Theory, Methodology, Glocalization, Globalization and Migration: The Case of Scottish Football Supporters in North America, Back to the Future: An Ethnography of Ireland's Football Fans at the 1994 World Cup Finals in the USA, 'The Migration of Irish-born footballers to England, 1945-2010', War minus the shooting? Distances shown are the miles the fans of the Northern Ireland Premier League clubs would need to travel if they went to every away game, measured as the crow flies Tweet Northern Ireland Premier League stadium quiz Northern Ireland Premier League Football Clubs. Of the major clubs in the Irish League, Ballymena, Coleraine, Crusaders, Glenavon, Glentoran and Portadown are all mainly supported by Protestants, only Cliftonville has a predominantly . A final matcha testimonialwas played at Coleraine on 24 June 1960. Its not a question of a separate football club. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. FM version FM 23 (23.3.0) Name Richhill; City Richhill; Founded 1945; Nation Northern Ireland; League MUFL Intermediate A; Reputation 2; Status . announced plans to revive the 'Belfast Celtic' name.[20]. Distillery were 'in between '. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Yet these really arent questions for Niall McGinn, these are questions for the Protestant community. He has not bought into the top-down peace process and there are days back in non-tourist Belfast when you can understand his doubt. Irish eyes can smile in Belfast too. Northern Ireland Football / Soccer Clubs Ranking Updated after matches played on 26 February 2023. All rights reserved. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949.The club left the league for political reasons, as the team and its supporters were largely Catholic and Irish nationalist and its players had been violently attacked by a mob against its . Fighting for Ireland, playing for England? #4 Irish White, Apr 26, 2013. Northern Ireland Premier League stadium capacity bar chart. PPB Counterparty Services Limited, having its registered address at Level 2, Spinola Park, Mikiel Ang. 256-269. In conducting the review this report is not just concerned with what is, but how opportunities might be extended and improved. The above are not Catholic clubs, in fact they probably have more Protestant fans than they have Catholic however they were, generally speaking, the club of choice for the Irish Catholic Londoner. Uded to have dealings with schools in the. Is it a football team or an expression of identity? The Northern Ireland Football League Premiership is only semiprofessional, leaving O'Neill with a tiny pool of players. and Answer (1 of 6): There's a lot of questions so sorry for the long answer to try and answer them all! This article plays with the different ways urban leaders contextualize violence. A Systematic Review of the Literature on Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Sport and Physical Recreation, From Sands to Sanchez: The Making of a National Sports Stadium for Northern Ireland, 'Sport and Cultural Nationalism: The Conflict between Association and Gaelic football in County Donegal, 1905-1934', (Co-editor with Philip Dine) Sport, Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe, (With Dnal McAnallen) Croke Park goes Plumb Crazy: Path Newsreels and Gaelic Games, 1920-1939, Reconsidering Travel: Reflexivity and Friendship in Anthropological Fieldwork Gavin Macarthur, Skateboarding Spaces of Youth in Belfast: Negotiating Boundaries, Transforming Identities, Racism, sectarianism and football in Scotland, Looking on for centuries from the side-line: Gaelic Feminism and the rise of Camogie, Donegal County Donegal is a county in Ireland. [18], In addition to problems in domestic football, the Northern Ireland international team has also suffered from sectarian problems. Premium Powerups Explore Gaming. Only last month two people were shot, one dead, in the Clifton Tavern, directly opposite our ground, called, would you believe, Solitude. By navigating our site, you agree to allow us to use cookies, in accordance with our James McClean, Shane Duffy, Darron Gibson, Eunan O'Kane and Marc Wilson all played for NI at youth level. (2018) The 'talk o' the toon'? Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. It is an all-island tournament (two groups of four, then semis and final) featuring eight teams, four being from the League of Ireland and four from the Irish League. I am proud to be from that small region of the world, proud to be a 'Nordie'. 14th ( NIFL Championship 1 ) Limavady United. Larkhall. Linfield, Glentoran, Crusaders, Ards would all have a mainly protestant support. "[2], Celtic also felt that the response from the Irish Football Association had been wholly inadequate. In, Hughson, J., Palmer, C. and Skillen, F. [16] Hooliganism and sectarianism have remained problems throughout the Troubles and up to the present day. formed in 1875 by the Catholic Young Men's Society, being the first prominent Irish Catholic football club in Scotland. O'Neill went on to add he did not fear Paul Smyth, a Northern Ireland Under-21 international who scored on his QPR debut in January, would switch to the Republic ahead of an expected senior call-up later this year. And then there's clubs like Ballinamallard which are very cross community. The current Northern Ireland team is managed by a Catholic, Michael O'Neill, who played minor Gaelic football for Antrim, my own county. is on the under-13 all-star team from the South Belfast Youth Football . Valheim . Edwin Mellen Press, New York, USA. It is about cultural identity and more, and, if it goes all the way to the wire, our last game of the season is at Portadown. Cliftonville represent Nationalist hopes in the Irish League by dint of the fact that the other two predominantly Catholic supported clubs are no longer in the league. Copyright 2023. Vibster 10 yr. ago. View Listing. Manager Elisha Scott fastened the club's pin, featuring the team's green and gold harp logo, upon the mayor's lapel. Part of the reason was that it had come to see a highly favored Scots elevena team that had won the British Isles triple crown before 97,000 at Wembley Stadium last monthtake the Irish into camp. They are all senior internationals with Martin O'Neill's Republic side after transferring their allegiance south of the border. stands for football club, and Liverpool plays in the English Premier League. Answer (1 of 6): To keep this simple, No. . 12% of Edinburghs residents describe themselves as Catholic. It is not an established church and is independent of state control.Census statistics. Lisburn Distillery. To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds toupgrade your browser. The Northern Ireland Women's Football Association (NIWFA) is the IFA's women's football arm. ", "Member associations - Northern Ireland - Overview", "Northern Ireland is the most successful country ever in World Cup finals", "Northern Ireland Euro 2016 exit painful but leaves legacy for future success", "Riot police deal with hooligan fans as Linfield beat Glentoran", "Northern Ireland football captain quits match after death threats", List of association football competitions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Association_football_in_Northern_Ireland&oldid=1114264905, This page was last edited on 5 October 2022, at 16:40. They want their flag put up, haha, look at them, they're scum!' How can a girl from Wandsworth end up in North East Scotland? Linfield has won 56 league championships to date, more than twice as many titles as any other Northern Irish club and the highest tally of national top-flight titles won by any club worldwide. Football's power is that it is played and enjoyed by everyone. There was only one pub on the high street. I hope Northern Ireland do well on Saturday, in fact I hope that they win. It is unlikely many copies were printed and, almost 140 years on, survivors must be rare indeed. Ireland, Northern Ireland, remains divided. As I wrote in a piece earlier on in the Euros, a lot has changed since I was growing up in Belfast as a member of the Irish Catholic community. Proudly powered by WordPress | For the LVF, and the majority of the Unionist and Loyalist population, the sight of Lennon captaining Northern Ireland on the same pitch where Linfield - an East Belfast football club associated mainly with the Protestant community - was unthinkable and needed to be addressed.