Irish Footballer Refuses To Wear Poppy

[mushroom25]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/wigan-james-mcclean-poppy-bolton

does he have a point? has the poppy come to mean - for the irish - the blood on the hands of those that perpetrated bloody sunday?

[Gromit]

Yes it is either grandparent, but it is commonly referred to has Grandfather rights.

It is clear that the Poppy is not a British Army symbol, nor even a British Government symbol. It is a symbol remembering the dead in the World Wars and recent conflicts.

It may have been misrepresented by Republicans and Nationalists for political reasons. It sounds like he is making a political gesture rather than one truely respecting his countrymen.

If the British to him represents oppression of his people, surely it is rather hypocritical to ply his trade for English Football Clubs.

[Gromit]

Ummmm

Grandfather Rule

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_rule

[vulcan42]

Gromit, the hip pocket is the last part to be converted.

[Gromit]

he has renounced the national team of his birthplace, so renouncing a Poppy is easy.

The financial rewards of playing for the Republic team are probably greater than playing for the North which might have speedied his decision.

[kvalidir]

It's just common sense considering where he is from. I bought a poppy because I think we ought to acknowledge those who died in WWI and WWII. The army have been involved in all sorts of conflicts that I am not in favour of and some individuals have done things I think they ought not to have done but I am not going to politicise poppies by over thinking it. I would wear one on the mainland but coming from a Irish Republican family wouldn't wear one in Ireland ( north or south) because I wouldn't want anyone mistaking my opinions. I imagine it's somewhat similar for him, a poppy in Belfast is not the same as a poppy in Birmingham.

[THECORBYLOON]

Conscription applied only to Great Britain in both World Wars so those from what is now Ulster and Eire, did so as volunteers. In WWI, the split was 50/50 between Ulster/Eire soldiers but in WWII when Eire was neutral, they had about 20% more volunteers than Ulster.

The events in Londonderry were tragic but I think it wrong to associate the poppy with that and place more weight on that than the millions who died or were injured in the various conflicts, some of whom would have been Roman Catholic and from Ulster or Eire.

[ichkeria]

"the Republic team are probably greater than playing for the North which might have speedied his decision. "


Unfortunately the Republic has a habit of poaching our better players, a source of great aggro between the two associations (IFA and FAI). IFA are trying to push for a rule that stops players being allowed to swap if they've come up through the youth ranks of the other

[ludwig]

jno // he should be free to wear a poppy or not wear a poppy without having to offer any explanation at all. //

I completely agree.

[Peter Pedant]

Like a lot of people I think he opened his mouth before he had realised what he was saying

poppy has nothing to do with Irish independence

I was talking to a colleen and she said - "der was no one in Oireland who fought for de English King"
and I said to the ex-service man who was in the room when she left ( clumped out, probably on the way back to Katleen ni Houlihan ) - she was wrong 186 000 times

yes boys and girls 186 000 Irish fought for King George of various numbers. If you signed up for the Croatian army would you specify that all the same, you dont owe allegiance to the president of croatia ?

Irish like a fight apparently and dont mind much who it is for

[Peter Pedant]

// In WWI, the split was 50/50 between Ulster/Eire soldiers but in WWII when Eire was neutral, they had about 20% more volunteers than Ulster.//

um sorry completely wrong in part

WW1 -Eire didnt exist. You might specify " from the counties that later became the Irish Free State in 1922. "

de Valera by a narrow majority introduced a new constitution in Dec 1937 - and the Irish Gaelic name for that state was Eire.

and in WW2 I was surprised to read when I checked, conscription did not cover N I.

[flobadob]

The poppy has come to symbolise the British Army in general rather than just the war dead. The British Army killed innocent people in Derry, where the footballer is from, in 1972, in an event known as Bloody Sunday. That is why he cannot wear the poppy.

Does that make sense?

[sandyRoe]

PP, conscription didn't cover NI but that didn't stop many, many, thousands rushing to join the B Specials. A bit like Dad's Army, they spent their time patrolling the muddy lanes that led to the south where it was thought a German invasion might be mounted.

[DaisyNonna]

His choice.

[ludwig]

The poppy may or may not have anything to do with bloody Sunday. Who gives a ***? If he doesn't want to wear one he shouldn't have to wear one. Christ on a bike, we're not living in North Korea.

[sandyRoe]

It's not so much whether he wears a poppy or not as why he feels he needs to explain. Sometimes speech is silver, silence is golden.

[PankySmooch]

Well said sandyRoe

[Peter Pedant]

sandy

The Irish also turned up and killed Germans ( and others)
39 VCs in the first war and 8 in the second

The bit I cant understand as I am a Brit is joining a foreign army - that would be King George's - and THEN saying, oh I dont want to sign the allegiance.....

surely you dont join in the first place ( as there is no conscription )
[O I have Irish relations - they dont make much sense either ]

sounds a bit Irish to me....

[ChillDoubt]

As an aside, I would like to thank the teams of the Dallas Cowboys and Jaksonville Jaguars, currently in a match-up live at Wembley Stadium.
Both teams to a man(generally 45 per team) have a poppy symbol stitched onto their team jerseys.