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Open Letter: Merci les Français

28/6/2016

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The excellent behaviour of Irish fans has made headlines around the world and particularly in France over the past two weeks. Locals have become enamoured with the Irish spirit and craic. And the same must be said for us... The French people have been legends!

Irish-French relations probably hit an all time low after la main de Henry in 2009, but after the last 16 game in Lyon things are well and truly restored. Even though we may have lost, the sight of Irish and French people singing, dancing and even joking about Henry on the streets of Lyon will never be forgotten.

The French have been excellent hosts for Euro 2016. They've been kind, genuine and accepting of the Irish from day one. From people wishing Ireland best of luck when walking past in the street to playing football with local kids in the park, each and everyone has not had a bad word to say about Ireland. Given the terrible events of last November, you could understand if French people might have been a little wary of hosting such a big event. But they've embraced it. Security and organisation have been excellent and the whole atmosphere of the tournament gives a huge middle finger to extremists everywhere.

An abiding memory and one that I think sums up the great French hosts was after the game in Lyon as I walked home alone a little dejected and deflated. I passed a local bar and upon them realising I was Irish they all stood up, walked outside and began chanting: "Stand up for the Irish fans". A great moment.

One French fan told me before the game that the team doesn't have many songs and not everyone gets really involved in the games. Going by the evidence of Sunday night something has changed in France. The French have embraced our crazy Irish antics and I think we may have left a little bit behind for the next generation of French fans.

Merci France et bon chance.
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The French have been excellent hosts for Euro 2016. They've been kind, genuine and accepting of the Irish from day one.
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Ireland 1-2 France

27/6/2016

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What a game and a valiant effort from the Boys in Green. We gave it our all and came so close...you can't really ask for more! We dared to dream for 55 minutes and restored faith in Irish football. Never been more proud! Congrats France.
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Ireland 1-0 Italy

26/6/2016

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What a night! One of Ireland greatest ever performances when it really mattered most! After two nights in Tours and Rouen we rolled into Lille in the afternoon with "Irish roar" blaring and went for a quick game of footy before heading into to the for the night.

Match day was electric in Lille and sometimes words just aren't enough. Here's the full time whistle that really sums up the whole night with grown men crying and kissing! Onto Lyon we go! #COYBIG #FuckSchillachi

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Full time!
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Ireland 0-3 Belgium

21/6/2016

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What a disappointment! After the previous upbeat performance against Sweden where we should have left with all 3 points, Ireland were found out on a sunny day in Bordeaux. But that didn't dampen the mood of the 80000 Irish fans.


We rolled into Bordeaux on Friday evening after two crazy nights in La Rochelle with 10000 Irish fans. The highlights of La Rochelle were: a sing song with a langered Keith Duffy, the Irish flash being hoisted up one of the famous port towers and a tricolour ice cream van rocking up and a three piece band playing into the night! Bordeaux was buzzing with Irish and Belgian fans all in good voice when we arrived but Sam and I were fairly wrecked from the two nights up north that we watched the Spain game in the fan zone and were tucked up in our air bnb by 12... Big day ahead!


We were up nice and early to don our Irish kits and grab some breakfast and began walking into the town with a few cans much to the adjustment of the locals. The original plan was to go to the stadium to buy some tickets from touts but when we heard some of the prices being mentioned we decided to watch it in the fan zone with the majority of Irish fans. In hindsight what a great call! As we entered the fanzone we got roped into a five a side game with five French guys. All was going well until Sam got sent off for slide tackling a lad and the ref ran after security to try kick him out. We managed to stay in just in time for kick off! Both sets of fans were in great voice as the game kicked off in the Bordeaux sun. The less said about the Irish performance the better, but Belgium were the deserved winners (even if the ref was atrocious).


With head in our hands a group of us headed to the local Carrefour for some drinks and then onto the Blarney Stone to drown our sorrows and watch the rugby team throw away the chance to best South Africa again. After a few drinks we headed to the Connemara pub where an Irish band were playing on the roof top. The square was rammed with thousands of Irish fans all giving it whellllie. I don't think Bordeaux has ever seen anything like it.


Next up are a few nights in Tours and Rouen before heading up to Lille. The Irish team have two choices for the Italy game: go hard or go home! #COYBIG
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Ireland 1-1 Sweden

16/6/2016

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What a performance and so unlucky not to walk away with the three points! I don't quite think Paris had ever seen scenes like Monday as the Irish fans were out in full force to take over the capital!

After waking up with heavy heads having sang until the early hours outside O'Sullivans on the Moulin Rouge we made our way over to the Stade de France early. Sam didn't have a ticket so after approaching a free English touts we eventually found a nice French lad who sold us his ticket at a decent price. After a quick subway to celebrate we were off outside the stadium where the party was kicking off. As the beers began to flow the craic between the Irish and Swedish fans was unreal and in stark contrast to the problems in south of France. After a quick interview with Chinese TV we headed to get some drinks, that was until the undercover French police legged it in to shut the shop much to the disappointment of hundreds of Irish fans. 

Into the stadium we headed and were greeted by a huge queue which we promptly skipped and found our seats. We weren't sitting together but it was pretty easy to move around. The first half was stellar by the Irish team and we were so unlucky not to be winning at half time. Early in the second half the stadium erupted as Wes put the Boys in Green ahead with a great finish. The Field of Athenry reverberated around as the Irish team sat back like we always do to soak up the opposition's attacks. Squeaky bum time! Unfortunately we couldn't hold out and Clark nodded into his own net (typical). As the Irish team held out there was an air of disappointment in the stadium as this was definitely a missed opportunity, but at the end of the day it's already an improvement on Poland 2012. Or it could have just been the alcohol wearing off. Many Irish fans learn the hard way but they only serve non alcoholic beers in stadium. The look of disappointment on some of their poor faces!

After the game we headed towards the fanzone nearby where rumours spread that they had ran out of beer. Queue more horror faces! The zone began to fill up as Italy sprung a surprise and beat the Belgians. We decided to then make our way to the Moulin Rouge again. The metro was packed with Irish and Swedes and both were in great form. The Moulin Rouge itself was absolute carnage but we were in great voice until the early hours as the sun began to rise.

Not a bad start!
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The Irish invade Holland

11/6/2016

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Talk about starting off how you mean to go on! First stop on the Euro tour was a one night stay in sin city itself... Amsterdam.

When the alarm went off at 4am I was up and fully decked out in green head to toe, a bit like Father Dougal in his Ireland kit. After a quick sprint to the aircoach and wandering by far too many Coppers victims mashing into their kebabs, I was in T2 ready to board. The flight itself was jammed with Irish fans and the highlight had to be seeing one of the lads from my football being wheeled onto the plane because of cruciate ligament surgery...talk about dedication to the session!

After landing in the dam it was straight to the hostel to drop the bags and then into the town centre. Faint chants of Ole Ole Ole echoed around the red light district as bemused Irish fans strolled around having a gander in the windows..."ah sure they all have lovely bottoms"

After grabbing some food, it was bar hopping for the afternoon as more Irish fans descended on the city. A lot of Northern Ireland fans were also over the Holland and it's the first time I've ever experienced meeting them at a tournament. The moment you both cross paths is one of the most awkward things ever as neither side knows whether to say hello or give a bit of stick. At least with the English or Scottish you can have a bit of craic but we're a bit in no man's land. Best just give a tip of the hat!

We headed off to O'Reillys to watch the Irish rugby match against South Africa which was pretty immense, before I headed off to meet Sam on the other side of town who was out with friends. After a silent disco watching the sun set (bit random) it was kebab time and then onto a club for some dancing to Bieber. The locals were a bit confused to say the least at the sight of a Paddy decked out in green pumping sweat while spinning around like his life depended on it to Love Yourself!

On to Paris we go!
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The 12th Boy in Green Packs his bags

7/6/2016

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One week…just one week to go until the greatest football carnival Europe has ever seen kicks off in gay Paris. And after the ups and downs of Group D, the Republic of Ireland  will be there, giving Irish fans (myself included) another chance to put themselves through the same pain and misery of Euro 2012. However this time things feel a little different. After Leicester's heroics in the Premier League, we all have that extra glimmer of hope that Ireland can go one step further than last time…and score 2 feckin goals over the course of the three group games!

Now most people would assume that all the anxiety, fury, tears and elation happen after the football kicks off in June, but all real BIG fans know we went through all these emotions in the months leading up to the tournament. First off was the group draw back in December when we were praying for a decent group for once and were landed with the big guns. Ah well, better to be there with the big boys than sat on the beach in Torremolinos with the missus. Then came the UEFA ticket ballot. For every ticket available to Irish fans, 10 people applied. Rumours spread like wildfire on Whats App once someone had heard of some lad that their cousin Tommo knew, who got an email from UEFA saying he got 2 tickets to every game. And we all darted to our mails to see if we were in luck. “Ah sure there’s always the resale portal!”.

That’s when the real nightmare began. Hours on end spent watching that feckin red bar load up, to eventually get in and realise that robots were snapping up tickets much faster than any hungover fingers could click on a Monday morning. I think every fan had that moment when they thought they had a ticket only to realise at the last moment that you’d been kicked out because your 15 minute session had ended. I eventually had some luck and got tickets to the Sweden and Italy games and I pray to Gary Doherty that I can get a Belgium one over there.

So with tickets in hand (kind of) came the fun part: logistics for the lads and I. “How can we get to France without investing a small fortune in Ryanair?”. After hours spent on Skyscanner, Irish Ferries and Eurostar we eventually settled on a route: flying into Amsterdam, a train down to Paris and then renting a car for the rest of the trip to make our way around the country. I’ve heard of at least 20 different routes and tactics undertaken by the Irish fans in order to make it to Paris on time for June 13th and return to the site of our greatest football scar, the Stade de France. I’m sure we’ll find time to lay a wreath before kick off.

With almost everything sorted, the packing of bags has begun…well one bag (thanks Michael O’Leary). Jersey, scarf, flowery shorts, random Penny’s merchandise, Ms Doyle’s Understanding Football for Women for any French cailíní we meet and plenty of factor 50 all packed in. No one knows what quiet to expect, but there is an air of belief, blind faith and a voice in our heads that says “we’ll go there and we’ll compete”.  The past few months have put Irish fans through the ringer so whatever happens, Euro 2016 promises to be an epic journey for everyone travelling and I’ll be updating you all daily from inside the Irish fan zone on the roller-coaster of emotions and the guaranteed shenanigans that go on(perhaps even the Nippler 2016).

Come on you Boys in Green!
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    Iain McNamara

    12th Boy in Green

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