N Ireland

[Lancs Harp]

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N Ireland are very much seen by folk as the international wing of Der Hun.
Wearing a Hibs jersey at Windsor Park would be crazy and very dangerous.

There is a certain irony in that Agnes with your profile pic being of George Best in a Hibs top.

[Irish Dave]

Good enough for Michael O'Neill good enough for Georgie Best, good enough for Neil Lennon, Ivan Sproule, Dean Shiels, and even Colin Murdoch. Good enough for me.

[Agnes Gordon]

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There is a certain irony in that Agnes with your profile pic being of George Best in a Hibs top.

Good point, Best was one of the finest players ever certainly the best my troubled part of the world has ever produced.
I was lucky enough to see his first game at ER v Partick Thistle.
Unfortunately although the IFA has made strenuous efforts to make Windsor Park more inclusive it still remains a cold house in some respects for the Catholic community with the fan base dominated by Linfield and indeed Rangers fans.

Huge irony here as well given the faith of the current manager and many players past and present.

[Mr White]

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N Ireland are very much seen by folk as the international wing of Der Hun.
Wearing a Hibs jersey at Windsor Park would be crazy and very dangerous.

Not everyone sees it like that. They've become a lot more inclusive in recent years and a lot of people who identify as Northern Irish without any strong feelings either way on the religious or political divisions that exist here have got behind the national side.

While there's no doubt wearing a hibs top to Windsor would provoke a negative response from an element within their support, I would suggest wearing any club top to an international match is a fairly crass move as evidenced by the fact that the only time I remember seeing this with any frequency is by Celtc fans at ROI matches. I didn't see any club tops at Windsor last time I was there, certainly no hun tops and I would suggest the Man Utd and Liverpool fans within the NI support outnumber those that support the huns.

FWIW I was born into an Irish catholic family and married into a Northern Irish protestant one. Like a lot of people here I've got no time for intolerance and I'm sad to see it seep it's way into sport at times. I'm also glad to see NI doing well. I hope they qualify as there was a great atmosphere around the place during the Euros.

[JimBHibees]

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Good enough for Michael O'Neill good enough for Georgie Best, good enough for Neil Lennon, Ivan Sproule, Dean Shiels, and even Colin Murdoch. Good enough for me.

Spot on.

[Agnes Gordon]

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Not everyone sees it like that. They've become a lot more inclusive in recent years and a lot of people who identify as Northern Irish without any strong feelings either way on the religious or political divisions that exist here have got behind the national side.

While there's no doubt wearing a hibs top to Windsor would provoke a negative response from an element within their support, I would suggest wearing any club top to an international match is a fairly crass move as evidenced by the fact that the only time I remember seeing this with any frequency is by Celtc fans at ROI matches. I didn't see any club tops at Windsor last time I was there, certainly no hun tops and I would suggest the Man Utd and Liverpool fans within the NI support outnumber those that support the huns.

FWIW I was born into an Irish catholic family and married into a Northern Irish protestant one. Like a lot of people here I've got no time for intolerance and I'm sad to see it seep it's way into sport at times. I'm also glad to see NI doing well. I hope they qualify as there was a great atmosphere around the place during the Euros.

Yes a lot of good work has been done and songs like The Sash are no longer heard at NI games although the no surrender add on is still evident during GSTQ.
Sadly politics seeps deeply into football at times and still some work to be done to encourage more folk here to embrace and support their local team

[Keith_M]

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Appreciate that and you're there, I seldom am. Did you partake in the Glentoran game or indeed take in much football at all over that way? Prejudice was prevalent that day, no question. I could not get out fast enough.

TBF Iggy, if you were dressed like you are in your avatar, you should expect at least some reaction.

[Iggy Pope]

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TBF Iggy, if you were dressed like you are in your avatar, you should expect at least some reaction.

[Crazyhorse]

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Yes a lot of good work has been done and songs like The Sash are no longer heard at NI games although the no surrender add on is still evident during GSTQ.
Sadly politics seeps deeply into football at times and still some work to be done to encourage more folk here to embrace and support their local team

I think you are right that things are changing although there still seems to be a lot of myths surrounding sport and who feels included and excluded in Northern Ireland. The anecdotes people are recounting are all very well and offer an insight into their experience perhaps. However I see there is some recent academic research on this issue based on a representative sample in the 2013 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (n = 1210). A couple of quotes are interesting:
“…more Catholics (71%) than Protestants (65%) felt that the Irish Football Association was taking active steps to welcome all traditions. Two-thirds of Catholic respondents said they would like to see more Catholics supporting the NI international team, while only a slightly higher proportion of Protestants (60%) than Catholics (56%) said they would be willing to attend Windsor Park if offered tickets.”

And it seems that the GAA is bit more of a cold house for protestants than the IFA/Windsor Park is for Catholics:
“…40% of Protestants agreed that the GAA was taking active steps to welcome all traditions, compared to 72% of Catholics (…) 39% of Protestants said they would attend a match in Casement Park if offered tickets compared to 78% of Catholics.”
Casement Park is the main GAA stadium in Belfast.
I took those quotes from the Executive Summary but there is lots more interesting data here:
https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/ofmdfm/social-exclusion-and-sport-in-ni-exec-summary.pdf

[HibsNI]

I went to a Northern Ireland game not long after I moved over here from Edinburgh, It was the last warm up game before they headed to the euro's and the atmosphere was decent enough! I like Michael O'Neill and think he's done a great job the way he's got them playing and competing at such a high level.
I watched a Hibs v Rangers match a couple of seasons ago ( in a boozer with my future father in law and his hun supporting mates. It was in one of the more loyalist areas outside Belfast and it was fine until Hibs ran out 2-1 winners (Paul Hanlon scored a header IIRC). Once the comments of 'Are you a prod or a taeg?' started being flung my way from a few people who weren't in our company I knew it was time to drink up and leave.
It's a shame because I love Belfast and I love living and working over here but it does my head in how some people can't just see it for what it is......A game of football!

[Mr White]

Decent effort here from a DUP representative. A bit more of this wouldn't go amiss although I had a chuckle at his response to being asked if he'd go to a Republic match.

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/wel...tics-1-8135954

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

I was in Northern Ireland on business a wee while back and on the subject of Celtc and The Rangers the boy driving my taxi said that their sort were more humoured than welcome over there.