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British TV support of Republic of Ireland


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Old 23-06-2016, 15:46
johnF1971
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Can anyone explain the obvious favouritism and support shown by British TV commentators and pundits (both ITV and BBC) towards the Republic of Ireland?

I've got nothing against the Irish at all. They put up a spirited performance last night, had some great fans and deserved to beat Italy on the night. But why all the hysteria by British TV? They're not part of Britain or the UK, but you'd think they were based on the general reaction. Why should we be any happier about their success than we are about say Iceland or Hungary?

I know there are a lot of British people with Irish heritage, but there are also many British people with Italian and Turkish heritage who would have been hoping for a quite different result last night.

Also do Irish TV celebrate England victories in the same way as we seem to do theirs?
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Old 23-06-2016, 16:31
celesti
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Ireland are as closely linked to the UK as two countries can be, it makes sense to include them.
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Old 23-06-2016, 16:38
Eurostar
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Ireland are as closely linked to the UK as two countries can be, it makes sense to include them.
And look at many of the pundits employed by the BBC and ITV : Mark Lawrenson, Andy Townsend, Kevin Kilbane plus Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have done a lot of punditry.

Besides it works both ways. RTE and TV3 have been devoting huge coverage to England, Wales and Northern Ireland - giving their matches longer build ups and more airtime than any of the other nations.
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Old 23-06-2016, 16:40
carnoch04
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It's really not that difficult. Ireland is the only country to share a land border with the UK.
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Old 23-06-2016, 18:50
The Exiled Dub
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You've also got to remember that Ireland was once part of the UK. The links and similarities between the UK and Ireland are far, far greater than the differences.
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Old 23-06-2016, 19:19
Eurostar
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You've also got to remember that Ireland was once part of the UK. The links and similarities between the UK and Ireland are far, far greater than the differences.
Less than 100 years ago in fact. There are still working post boxes all over Dublin with the royal crown on them.

This "foreign country" thing is something of a red herring. TV ratings for the games involving England, N.Ireland and Wales are far higher on Irish TV than for any of the other teams.
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Old 23-06-2016, 19:22
mattlamb
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And look at many of the pundits employed by the BBC and ITV : Mark Lawrenson, Andy Townsend, Kevin Kilbane plus Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have done a lot of punditry.

Besides it works both ways. RTE and TV3 have been devoting huge coverage to England, Wales and Northern Ireland - giving their matches longer build ups and more airtime than any of the other nations.
Of cours only the latter two are really Irish!
(and Martin O'Neill is Northern Irish)

Mark Lawrenson and Kevin Kilban are from Preston
Andy Townsend is from Weymouth
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Old 23-06-2016, 19:47
yellowlabbie
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I thought the commentary was totally embarrassing and biased. Andy Townsend is pathetic.
Ireland could do no wrong.
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Old 23-06-2016, 19:54
degsyhufc
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I thought the commentary was totally embarrassing and biased. Andy Townsend is pathetic.
Ireland could do no wrong.
That's just a given.
and the main commentator was just as bad.

Robbie Savage was as bad or worse commentating on Wales.
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Old 23-06-2016, 20:00
jeffiner1892
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Of cours only the latter two are really Irish!
(and Martin O'Neill is Northern Irish)

Mark Lawrenson and Kevin Kilban are from Preston
Andy Townsend is from Weymouth
Whatecer about the other two, go and call Kevin Kilbane English and see what he thinks. People might make comments about Irish players being English rejects but Kevin Kilbane turned England down, not the other way round.
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Old 23-06-2016, 20:15
yellowlabbie
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Whatecer about the other two, go and call Kevin Kilbane English and see what he thinks. People might make comments about Irish players being English rejects but Kevin Kilbane turned England down, not the other way round.
Kevin kilbane is English, he was born in England. He can choose to play for who he likes but he is still English.
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Old 23-06-2016, 20:17
The Exiled Dub
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Whatecer about the other two, go and call Kevin Kilbane English and see what he thinks. People might make comments about Irish players being English rejects but Kevin Kilbane turned England down, not the other way round.
As far as I am concerned, Kevin Kilbane is Irish, and entitled to the passport as much as any of us.
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Old 23-06-2016, 20:43
Jerryn
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Talksport has been just as bad, always referring to them as a home nation. Is there the same joy on Irish TV when England win? Just wondering.
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Old 23-06-2016, 21:07
jeffiner1892
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As far as I am concerned, Kevin Kilbane is Irish, and entitled to the passport as much as any of us.
Yep. Although we're in dire straits when he was one of our record cap holders People talk about Thierry Henry in 2009 but if Kevin hadn't had successive rushes of blood to the head in qualifying we'd never have met France.
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Old 23-06-2016, 21:08
jeffiner1892
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Talksport has been just as bad, always referring to them as a home nation. Is there the same joy on Irish TV when England win? Just wondering.
I'm not sure but I think in 1994 most of the rest of the UK supported them until they went out.
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Old 23-06-2016, 22:48
Eurostar
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Kevin kilbane is English, he was born in England. He can choose to play for who he likes but he is still English.
Both of Kilbane's parents are Irish, he says he grew up as a ROI supporter and refused a call up to England's under 18s (prompting Sam Allardyce to kick him out of his office on being informed by Kilbane of his decision).
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Old 23-06-2016, 23:07
celesti
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Does anyone genuinely get annoyed when Ireland are referred to as a home nation for the purposes of a football tournament?
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Old 23-06-2016, 23:17
Jokanovic
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I don't really care either way about Ireland but I hope they beat France...
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Old 23-06-2016, 23:35
alfamale
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Can anyone explain the obvious favouritism and support shown by British TV commentators and pundits (both ITV and BBC) towards the Republic of Ireland?
In a word - No.

I understand with the shared border, lots of us having some sort of connection to Ireland and many englih league players being in the team that when Ireland play most of us would like to see them win.

But i agree that offers no excuse for the brtish/english tv output to adopt them as one of our own and romanticise absolutely everything about them. What really annoys me is if England play just ok and scrape a win the commentators, tv anchor and all the pundits just sit their moaning and slagging us off. Yet if hypothetically Ireland play absolutely useless and fluke a draw the very same presenters will be praising them like mad and saying how unlucky they were not to win and didn't the boys do everyone proud.
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Old 24-06-2016, 01:18
Eurostar
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In a word - No.

I understand with the shared border, lots of us having some sort of connection to Ireland and many englih league players being in the team that when Ireland play most of us would like to see them win.

But i agree that offers no excuse for the brtish/english tv output to adopt them as one of our own and romanticise absolutely everything about them. What really annoys me is if England play just ok and scrape a win the commentators, tv anchor and all the pundits just sit their moaning and slagging us off. Yet if hypothetically Ireland play absolutely useless and fluke a draw the very same presenters will be praising them like mad and saying how unlucky they were not to win and didn't the boys do everyone proud.
Well one reason for that is that England are top seeds for the tournament and the Republic (and Northern Ireland) are fourth seeds, so expectations for England would be much, much higher ie. as top seeds, you'd expect them to win the group.
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Old 24-06-2016, 01:21
jeffiner1892
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Well one reason for that is that England are top seeds for the tournament and the Republic (and Northern Ireland) are fourth seeds, so expectations for England would be much, much higher ie. as top seeds, you'd expect them to win the group.
Plus population and footy not actually being our national sport.
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Old 24-06-2016, 02:21
alfamale
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Well one reason for that is that England are top seeds for the tournament and the Republic (and Northern Ireland) are fourth seeds, so expectations for England would be much, much higher ie. as top seeds, you'd expect them to win the group.
I take your point, but i disagree. If Rep Ire was on british tv and lost to Faroe Islands the tv pundits would still be waxing lyrical and almost no criticism. Where UK tv coverage is concerned there's all the 'home team' bias and support but none of the objective analysis or even acknowledging shocking performance afterwards. The pre and post-match coverage of Rep Ire matches is just odd
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Old 24-06-2016, 03:41
WhoAteMeDinner
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As Jeffiner just pointed out, we have just five million in our country and in Ireland football is about the fourth most popular sport. Given all that, our performance in qualifying for and progressing in major tournaments is flippin' amazing.

And to the original poster, shared political, social and cultural heritage since a Norman bloke called Strongbow landed in Ireland in 1170 explains the blurred sense of whether the Rep. of Ireland is a "home nation".
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Old 24-06-2016, 06:21
mattlamb
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Which sports are more popular in Ireland than football?

Horse-racing, Gaelic rules football and hurling are my guesses
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Old 24-06-2016, 13:51
Terry N
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I understood it when they were full of top players from the old Division One but not now.
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