COMMENT

We’ve got to drop our grudge against the neighbours

IRISH begrudgery is alive and kicking in this World Cup.

How could there be any other explanation for the amount of people here who are appalled at the thought of England winning the biggest trophy in sport?

An Irish Mirror/dublin Live online poll revealed 51% us want England beaten. “We will have to listen to them for the next 20 years”, “it will be like 1966 all over again” are just some of the comments

I’ve heard.

Yet for nine months of the year we Irish are glued to English football.

We are fanatical supporters of Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, and now lately, Man City. We flock to the pubs to watch the games on Sky Sports Super Sunday. Liverpool and Manchester derbies are part of our DNA. Many of the players we admire are playing for The Three Lions in Russia. Yet we can’t bring ourselves to wish our neighbours well.

I lived in London for five years. The Republic of Ireland was the second team of the vast majority of English people.

They loved the Boys in Green but could never bring themselves to support Scotland. They cheered us on in tournaments like Italia 90 and USA 1994. They could name most of our players. So can we end all this hypocrisy and get behind England please?

Remember, almost three million people of Irish descent live in the UK.

One more thing – Harry Kane. The English captain’s father is an Irishman from Connemara, Co Galway.

And if the Republic ever won a World Cup we would be talking about it for the next 100 years.

Need I say any more?