Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Ireland's Identity Crisis

(I invite and welcome debate and external perspectives on the issues discussed in this hub as it is very sensitive and therefore is rarely discussed in the public domain).

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy claimed his first PGA Tour win in some style on May 2 and in doing so he elevated himself into the status of sporting icon in his homeland. Even before his victory at Quail Hollow it seemed like his destiny to become the world’s best golfer, and now even more so. However, many experts were saying exactly the same thing about Sergio Garcia over a decade ago. Despite this win, Rory still has many mental challenges ahead before we start labelling him as heir to Tiger’s throne.

Of course being from Northern Ireland will be a challenge in itself. As yet Rory has remained quiet in terms of where his allegiance lies, whether he considers himself British or Irish, unionist or nationalist. These are decisions he will have to think carefully about because like it or not, the Irish on both sides of the border are obsessed with the subject. His identity will doubtless be a talking point, perhaps not in America and perhaps not publicly either, but people from Northern Ireland, Britain and the Republic of Ireland are already talking about it and will speculate over it until his identity is revealed. McIlroy has been very discreet surrounding his affiliations, if he has any, and it is virtually impossible to find information on this matter.

Irish Sporting Mess

In 2009 Rory McIlroy and newly crowned US Open champion Graeme McDowell participated in the Golf World Cup where they represented Ireland under the Republic's tricolour flag despite both players being from Northern Ireland.

This is in contrast to sports like Rugby and Cricket where Ireland is also represented by players from both the south and the north. However, in rugby and cricket a separate flag is used.

When one Irish team represents the whole island there is much sensitivity surrounding how the team is seen and how it portrays itself in competition. In rugby and cricket the Irish teams use their own unique politically compromised Irish flags. These flags bare little relation to the Republic’s tricolour, the North’s Ulster banner or Britain’s Union Jack.

A similar compromise is made during the playing of the national anthems before these sporting events. When the Irish rugby team plays a test match in the Republic, Amhrain na bhFiann(the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland) is followed by Ireland’s Call in order to respect the Northern Irishmen who are in the team. When Ireland play on foreign soil, Ireland’s Call is the only song played to represent the team.This is a song simply made up to act as a compromise and it is widely mocked by the fans of the team as having no value to supporters from the North or from the South. However, it achieved its initial goal which was to defuse the tension that threatened to split the team.

Whether McIlroy and McDowell knew they were playing for the tricolour I can't be sure but they were in contention to win the golf world cup until they were pipped at the post by the Italian Molinari brothers. The winners celebrated by adorning themselves in their national flag. How interesting it would have been to see how our Northern Irish duo would have celebrated. Would they have wrapped themselves in the green white and gold of the Republic? Would they have contradicted the scoreboard and held aloft the Ulster Banner? More likely, it would have been a careful colourless delight because the two players themselves were unsure who they were playing for.

Rory follows a line of sports people who have been confronted by similar issues. Dennis Taylor and Barry McGuigan both became world champions in 1985 when times were much more difficult. At that time the tension and hostility in Northern Ireland regularly resulted in violence. Taylor won the World Snooker Championship and like boxing champ McGuigan, he sat on the fence, wearing neutral colours, hoping to be a source of pride to both communities, and also hoping to bring those communities together. In essence Rory can do the same. He can remain quiet like his predecessors. However the pressure is not on McIlroy to the same extent. He is younger for a start and the violence in Northern Ireland has subsided. Golf is also not typically a working class sport. However he does live in a world of information. Rory’s website is decorated in the Ulster Banner, surely not by accident. This is a flag with an unofficial status in the North, despite regularly acting as official even though it is rejected by nationalists in the North. In days gone by this would symbolize Rory's acceptance of and loyalty to the British throne, and perhaps it is his way of publicizing his identity. But if, as his website suggests, he is British at heart, why would he agree to play for Ireland under the tricoulour?

Irish or British Identity

The issue I am most concerned about is Irish sporting identity. That is the relationship between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in sports that these grey areas still remain without clarification. It is my belief that two separate states should not be combining their sporting talent in some sports and stealing each other's talents in others. Of course here I am referring to the soccer players from the North who have opted in recent years to play for the Republic. There is genuine hostility between the respective fans as a result, and yet these same fans are obliged to unite together for a 'whole' Ireland in a different sport under some mickey mouse flag with a mickey mouse anthem. This is a problem that will be hugely difficult to navigate. The fact is that Rory will never be afforded the same warmth in the Republic that he gets in the North until he nails his colours to the mast.

The problem of identity is not Rory McIlroy's problem. He know's who he is. The problem of identity lies deep in the hearts of the Irish people, both North and South of the border. As a natural consequence of history, Republicans will find it difficult if not impossible to support a sports person from Northern Ireland who pledges allegiance to the British Monarch. Similarly Unionists will not go out of there way to support Republicans. When a sporting icon withdraws this piece of their identity, support of that sports person will become delicate.

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Comments

Johnc733 on May 08, 2014:

Im not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later. Cheers fdecebbcacef

harhors on January 03, 2013:

damned if he does damned if he doesnt

poor rory--what does he do

brought up in n ireland in a catholic family that endured

sectarian problems it must be difficult for his family to see him embracing britain as his home country

i dont think this is what he is doing

i just think he is trying to declare himself irish being brought up in

n ireland and i think that we should all realise the BOTTLE he is showing

by doing this

he is a tremendous golfer and it saddens me today to read it the press

he is think1ng of not competing in olympics in rio

i am scottish catholic brought up in a similar household to his

my great delight was to see celtic win and the republic of ireland

win as opposed to scotland as all my forebearers come from co monaghan

have a great 2013

DubsforSam on October 01, 2012:

The flag that Rory McIlroy wraps around himself is the flag of a statelet formed contrary to the democratic wishes of the majority of Irish people. "Northern" Ireland was formed under threat of violence from unionists who knew they had the backing of the conservative elements in the British government. As far as I'm concerned it is part of my country that is controlled by a foreign power. Rory McIlroy supports that division and he can go and shit in a hat. I don't care how many majors he wins.

Rubabdub on August 13, 2012:

I suppose the whole thing really boils down to whether you feel that being Irish AND British is compatible. I don't. some Unionists abviously don't but there are lots of people who see it as a kind of grey area. I'm Irish like Katie taylor, Conlon and Barns are Irish. McDowell and McIlroy are British. They may also think of themselves as Irish but I dont. I dont support British sports people the way I support Irish ones. This Island is divided into two distinct national identities.

Brendan on August 12, 2012:

@ fcbman,

I couldn't have said it better,I fully agree with your comment,this whole british/Irish thing does my head in,

last week the british tabloids were even claiming Katie Taylor as british,just been watching bbc news and they said rory is british and wants to play for team GB in the next olympics if golf is admitted,they then said his 'fellow englishman' came in second place, I mean Jes h christ whats up with that?

ireniall on July 19, 2012:

@ Chris-ok we might as well celebrate Usain Bolt or Roger Federer-if you dont own them they dont mean a whole lot to you do they?Sport is partisan-its not for the aesthetics of it like in a circus -it's that these exceptional people represent you in some way-how can they do that if they are flying a different flag.I've been making these arguments on other sites for quite a while now and I've yet to meet even one northern Catholic who agrees with me-I get more support from Unionists even though they are definitely not interested in an all-Ireland flag.So I think there is only one way that this is going-NI will be a separate entity in all sports in which it is possible for small nations to be competitive and will only combine when this is plainly not the case.Fair enough-what harm-its been like that now for 100 years -we'll just have to get used to it and leave it alone.

Chris on June 27, 2012:

I find it hilarious how much shite has been talked here over flags. Sure isn't that just the problem? God help us when you start talking about Marty McG shaking the Queens hand today! Ha ha.... Who cares what flags they display, what religion they are, what nationality they consider themselves. Can't you just enjoy their sporting acheivements without the need to 'own' them? See... I've depressed myself now at the sheer intransigence of some of the folk on this island.

ireniall on April 23, 2012:

@ Padraig-I bow to your superior knowledge of rugby-was at the match -oh well have to eat some humble pie(getting used to the taste)-congrats to Ulster-I hope they reach the final now.

@fcbman-I understand what you're saying but there is no real danger that the south is going to forget that northern Catholics are our own people and all that-there are too many strong ties for that but there's no point in denying that the tricolour is now a source of division and is therefore useless as a uniting symbol.The great beauty of sport is that it can be a very uniting force in a slow and imperceptable way while leaving the really difficult stuff like the constitutional position of NI to one side.To my mind the northern Nationalist attachement to the tricolour will get in the way of the creation of a new flag to represent us all as if you insist you can probably get parity for it alongside the UJ in NI but the default situation will be that all northern sportsmen will represent NI under a seperate flag as an agreed flag will not be available.Of course Unionists will try for a new flag to represent NI alone but they may be persuaded of the merits of an all-Ireland flag as it would surely be plain to them that nationalists dont object to the Ulster Banner because of the colours but because it represents a seperate NI.If they are going to agree an all-Ireland glag then they will insist on your agreeing to a new NI flag also and the best idea I can come up with on that is to use the agreed Ireland flag with a red hand or whatever other symbols were negotiated.Either way I feel the tricolour has no future as the flag of Ireland

fcbman on April 15, 2012:

Hi all. Just found this site and find it very interesting. I would like to contribute from the perspective of a northern born Irish national…who I think get a raw deal on several fronts. What about us?

The one dimensional presentation of all who live in the north, particularly by local (northern and southern) media, is extremely and increasingly frustrating. Northerners en masse are presented to the world as British and received and regarded by those in Britain and Europe, as British. The Ulster Banner/Union Jack are presented and displayed as the flag(s) for ‘our country’. Many (but by no means all) in southern Ireland have difficulty (or simply refuse to) accept that almost 40% of northerners are ‘as Irish as they are’. Many indeed reject us as even being Irish at all.

NI might be technically part of the UK and those who profess to be British, Rory McIllroy included have every right to do so and that must be respected. The Ulster Banner/Union Jack however only represents one aspect of nationality in the north and people can if they wish, irrespective of their religion, choose that as a flag to represent them. If they do they are declaring their nationality. However whether we like it or not it has to be accepted that the north of Ireland in the sense of 'nationality' is a divided society. Around 40% of the population do not accept the British identity or the north as ‘their country’ (which doesn’t mean they dislike those who do) yet they are continually being told who/what they are and presented as something that they are/are not.

The history of the Irish tricolour needs addressed here to explain why northern born Irish nationals accept it and nothing else as their national flag. The Irish tricolour long pre-dates Irish partition. It was first introduced in 1848 by Thomas Francis Meagher based on the symbolism of the flag of the French Republic. It represents the cultural, political and historical affiliations of about 80% of the people who live in and have always lived in Ireland. It is the flag of Ireland and not just a PART of Ireland. I live in Ireland not in a PART of Ireland. Because someone drew a line on a map 90 odd years ago and told people in Ireland who or what they were (or were to become) doesn’t mean that’s how it is. Were those who live in the south suddenly deemed to be Irish nationals simply because of partition or have they always regarded themselves as Irish? Were all the people of Ireland, pre-partition, all British? I think not. It is no different for northern born Irish nationals. We feel we have our Irish nationality, citizenship and identity diluted or even denied to us and a Britishness thrust upon us.

The Ulster Banner/Union Jack is used by the NI soccer team and as such does not reflect the cultural identity of 40% of the population. That is why more and more northern born Catholics are choosing to represent the Ireland soccer team and not the NI soccer team. Those who do so incidentally are not ‘switching alliegance’ as is sometimes claimed…. their mindset is that the entire island of Ireland is their country and are therefore representing it….not just the south…but all of it under their national flag.

As for the Ireland Rugby team I support it but I feel that refusing to play the Irish national anthem or flying the national flag outside of the 26 counties - which indeed they failed to do when Ireland played a WC friendly game in my home city of Belfast - is a denial of a public expression of my cultural identity. Although ‘Irelands Call’ is an awful anthem and wouldn’t lose sleep if it were removed then if it has to stay both anthems should be played on all occasions as should the flying of the Irish national flag. What must a first time viewer seeing Ireland Rugby team play in a WC in say NZ think the Ireland flag and national anthem are? Goodness me!!!

The tricolour (or any Irish flag for that matter) belongs to whoever feels allegiance to it and lines on a map are irrelevant. The flag is about national identity. If Rory McIllroy chooses to be represented by British symbolism that is his free choice. I personally would prefer him to represent Ireland….all of it. Ask the Armagh Gaelic footballer Oisin McConville, a multiple All-Ireland football title winner, if he is less Irish than say Brian O'Driscoll, Roy Keane, Sonia O’Sullivan or Stephen Roche. Mary McAleese, Irish President for 14 years was born in my city of Belfast. Is the Irish national flag of the tricolour not her flag too? Christ was born in a stable but that did not make him a horse.

Tombo on April 14, 2012:

I'm from Cork, my wife from Northern Ireland, my kids were born in Derry and we live in Tyrone.

Ye are all mad.

lee on April 02, 2012:

im nw london born , belfast father, mothers family southern british and irish from c cork during the famine ......peace.......///brit-paddy crossbreed i laughed

Jimbo on March 19, 2012:

I don't understand where the nationalist idea that the uk doesn't care about northern Ireland comes from. That may have been the case for certain uk governments (Wilson, thatcher etc.) but after suffering the bombing campaigns for 30 year we feel a great solidarity with norn iron.

The west of Scotland particularly identifies with Ireland generally (whether unionist or republican). If you want to see why football and religion shouldn't mix, get to the old firm.

The England national team, Chelsea and rangers all sing anti-ira songs and pro-unionist songs which, although often offensive, are a reflection of their determination to keep the uk together.

Ironically I think that England cared little for northern Ireland throughout the mid 20th century but the sheer horror of the terrorist actions on the mainland and Ireland has made people in the uk determined to 'not surrender'.

Wolftone Wesley on March 08, 2012:

Dear Irishbob, with the greatest respect you seem to have our information slightly wrong on a couple of points=the north of the island is not an internationaly recognised indedendant country it is a joint sharing region due to the good friday aggreement, secondly of course its about religion as since the reformation of the 16th century reformation it has always been about religion and supremesy, and neither flag at the present time will ever encaptulate both divides, it is not a country on two points. 1=its part of the uk.2=there are over 750,000 holders of an Irish passport which by definition makes most of them Irish. if it were indipendant then james mcclean, marc wilson, darron duffy, and darren gibson could not represent the republic at football. secondly the flag issue that chris brought up is a nonstarter, as an irish prod i love my tricolour but the dream that the young irelanders had in 1848 in the village of the commons co tipperary when both catholics and prodestants inaugarated it as a flag of peace as ben both hijacked and bastardised by the shinners who through their own sick agenda have made what was supposed to be a flag of unity into a flag of division and hate by my co-religious(the similarities stop there)in the north for good reason. brothers it will take over two generations for this mess to be solved, untill thenirish will call rory a traitor, and thr loyalists will keep sending mcclean wilson duffy gibson, lennon bullets in the post, all we can do is pray for the biggots on boty sides, congrats rory on his world number one, class act, but ill always have mcdowel as my number . godbless you all

irishrob on March 08, 2012:

Im a British born Irishman still living in England but 100%Irish as its my choice.Now why am i not surprised to see that Irish sporting debates always revert bavk to religion!Infact any debate i see always ends with religion.I would love to have a United Ireland however 2 countries into 1 doesnt go.Plus lets be honest the Republic couldnt afford to run the North!Lets get back to sport.Correct me if im wrong no matter what i or any Irishman thinks,Northern Ireland is a country.As far as im concerned religion or not he can wave the commonly recognised Northern Ireland flag,as a Catholic or Prodestant.Fact of the matter is,if he had waved a British flag in triumph then we could and should be having this debate.I too am a.huge Ireland rugby fan &if a player from the North scored a winning try id celebrate with the same vigour,eapecially against England!

Padraig on March 08, 2012:

@ Chris, are you kidding? Have you read the 500 proceeding blogs? It is this simplistic onesided view that misses the point completely. Of course the orange in the tri color is meant to represent the protestant perspective but the Tri color itself if you had bothered to read any of the proceeding is seen by Northern Protestants as the most extreme representation of the Catholic tradition in Northern Ireland/The North. It would be like saying to people from the R.O.I to accept the Union Jack as our flag because it has the St. Patrick's Cross (The Red X)in it. You cannot gloss over either side in N.I. and mandate either flag......The people of N.I. will decide which flag they want in the distant future. It will probably look like something that embodies both traditions or both sides may decide to stick with what they feel represents them best today.

~I am delighted to see Rory Best of Ulster as the Captain of the Ireland rugby team this weekend. Do us proud against a big Scots team. Padraig.

Chris on March 07, 2012:

The tri-colour as a flag and a symbol for the whole country of Ireland (north and south) in my eyes is a perfect representation for all people on the island whether they are protestant or Catholicc or whatever.

This is because the green and orange segment represent both nationalist and unionist communities. Alot people don't realise this........

Padraig on January 24, 2012:

@ireniall- I am not sure it is a given for Munster this time around. If Ulster play the same way they did against Leicester two weekends ago all bets are off; However if Munster play the same way they did against Northampton this weekend nobody stands a chance.Either ways Leinster to do a job on the winner. My Dad's from Ulster, Mom's from Munster but I grew up 200 yrds from Leinster's home ground....its all good I follow the three religiously.

ireniall on January 23, 2012:

@ smicker-there's no chance that anyone in the south would have a problem with your calling yourself Irish-sure thats what we want above all else I would say-I've enjoyed catching up with all the comments in here-I think there's great hope for the future and now I have to shout against Ulster in Thomond-sorry Smicker cross-community relations will have to be suspended for that couple of hours and I'm afraid it's a year too early for Ulster imo.Munster to win by 10

Smicker81 on January 14, 2012:

I think it is plain and simple. You can be a Protestant in northern Ireland and be Irish and wish for Irish sports representatives to do well and support them whether they are from north or south. I am a protestant and will be cheering on the republic in the euro football championships and not England etc. I am Irish whether people in the republic do not like this is their beef. The flag issue is a hot potato and I think that it could have been handled better. But that was mcilroy's decision.

Wolftone Wesley on December 14, 2011:

Padraig i know that this is not an issue for you and most Catholics but to Protestants of all view points, if they were to play hurling and gealic accross the border and beleive me, there are a small persentage that actually like the game up there, the would have to join a club that would most probably named after a catholic saint and for anybody who knows the Bible would understand that us prods see this as sacreligious as the Bible teaches us that anyone and i mean anyone that follows christ with a good heart is in Gods eyes also a saint probably even you padraig, secondly it was only lately that psni officers could play G.A.A. Thirdly whether we like it in the south or not , the national anthem is a massivly provoctive block between the two traditions. listen lads, how would we feel if we were rugby players and free Irish men havein to be ridiculed by God save the queen each time we took to the field, we including I would be savagly discusted, so please open your hearts of once for rory best(one of your best players)andrew trimble, and paddy wallace, ton court and stephen ferrise as far as i know are r/c, and there are now 5 catholics on the ulster team, all middle class like rory mc. as i said padraig, im a proud Irish protestant (also many more) from republic of Ireland and in the view of john swift burn everything except its coal. but just as you are my brother, through religion(nothing else)their also my brethern and i wish them all the best in their support of rory best, but the sad missconception is when best and mcdowel play the various opens next year most of us will shout for them, but ironicaly our friends in the north will be for the next 6 months buying croatian, spanish and italain flags...no this padraig is called true biggotry....a saddened Irish prodestant....I Wonder would Jesus advocate such hate(LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AND ALSO YOUR ENEMY

Padraig on December 08, 2011:

Yes, well said Wesley!.....it really is a state of mind not just an entity. Your cross border roots truly give you a good insight.

~The irony is I like your protestant brethern was denied any access to the GAA simply by the fact that I lived in Dublin where almost 100% of Catholic schools refuse to play the GAA.Having said that I do love my Rugby which is a much bigger all Ireland sport than Golf currently and may be a way to bring both sides together. Munster and Leinster have won 4 out of the last 6 European Titles and Ulster started us all off by winning the first.

I know the obvious statement here is that playing rugby is out of the question for most Catholics north of the border because of th natural resistance inside and outside their community.....but all I can say is when they see huge GAA strongholds like Munster dominating at rugby it must make for some scrathing of the heads.

~I have never wandered North of the border in the past because of my name, accent and moderate views which precluded me from any welcome on either side but now I feel things are changing and may be I can venture a visit to Ravenhill to see my Leinster play the "Ulster Boys". Cheers Padraig

Padraig on December 08, 2011:

Yes, well said Wesley!.....it really is a state of mind not just an entity. Your cross border roots truly give you a good insight.

~The irony is I like your protestant brethern was denied any access to the GAA simply by the fact that I lived in Dublin where almost 100% of Catholic schools refuse to play the GAA.Having said that I do love my Rugby which is a much bigger all Ireland sport than Golf currently and may be a way to bring both sides together. Munster and Leinster have won 4 out of the last 6 European Titles and Ulster started us all off by winning the first.

I know the obvious statement here is that playing rugby is out of the question for most Catholics north of the border because of th natural resistance inside and outside their community.....but all I can say is when they see huge GAA strongholds like Munster dominating at rugby it must make for some scrathing of the heads.

~I have never wandered North of the border in the past because of my name, accent and moderate views which precluded me from any welcome on either side but now I feel things are changing and may be I can venture a visit to Ravenhill to see my Leinster play the "Ulster Boys". Cheers Padraig

Wolftone Wesley on December 06, 2011:

Look Padraig you know all too well as do most informed people that read these blogs, it is far more than an entity or even ones inentity when it comes to the six counties, its a state of mind and no, and i mean NO flag what ever colour will ever be favoured by the majority of both groups in the North. They have been and will be for many years to come, absolutly and fundemently opposed to each others view points on every level including sport that they will never reach common ground on issues of sport. Each group elevates individuals of their persuasion and make idols of them as defenders of their tradition, Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor, George Best and Neil Lennon, and now people are scrapping over a brilliant golfer Rory Mc, this is an issue that will continue unless we as a nation mature and allow grace to interviene so we can accept each others failings. When i was young the family went to our cousins in Armagh on holidays and my brothers and i took our hurls with us, when we got there we were told that if we took our hurls out to play, they would be taken from us and broken as it represented fenian supression of our way of life, i hated my auty for years after, but i also understand (in a sick proddy way) where they were coming from, people of my religion in the north have been and never will be accepted in sports like GAA, unlike Irish prods so they inentify with there own values and Rory is an extention of that as he is the epitomy of what they wanted Catholics to be in the first place, British.But take it from me Padraig and i can say this as a protestant, He will never be accepted 100% by unionists because deep down he is still a Catholic. He should have kept his mouth shut on this issue as i fear now it will gather pace come the olympics when he will have to make a decision that will anger one section and arouse the other to slanderous stupidity. Godbless

Padraig on December 05, 2011:

Mr. Wesley, I whole heartedly agree! Refreshhing to say the least.No point in throwing the baby out with the bath water when it comes to the Tri-colour or any other nations flag for that matter.

I suppose the bigger question on flags is what of N.I./The North. What is your point of view here to encompass both traditions? I am still maintaining the Tri-colour for R.O.I. and The Union Jack for GB but what of this Entity in the middle? It would be great to be as mature as GMAC but probably not realistic for most sports persons forced to decide.

Wolftone Wesley on December 04, 2011:

Wow..iv just read 14 months of some very diverse mindsets on this blog, both interesting and sometimes disturbing. I tought id give my opinion as im both staunchly Protestant and Republican.I for one believe ultimitly that Rory has every right to itentify himself as a British Catholic just as Wolftone, Emmett, Childers, Wilde, Butt, Yates,and Sam Mc Guire to name but a few were immensly proud just as I, to be Irish Protestants.But i cannot and will not accept that the National Flag should be changed just to appease certain people and to further politicial correctness, Steve this may sound harsh but i feel that as you are English you could never understand the full meaning of the tri-colour, it is intertwined with our very identidy, it was formed in 1848 as a flag of peace between our traditions, green for ireland orange for britan and white for peace, let me also tell you that no matter what colour flag you have, if someone does not feel Irish no flag in the world could change the persons mind. I come from a proud Methodist family in the south and i have family up north but other than religion we have very little in common because they, like many others of a similer mindset(not all), would never ever accept any form of Irishness no matter what colour flag, and i absolutly accept this as I equally will never accept a union jack as my flag of homage.unfortunatly many unionists would see Rory's alligence as a scource for verbaly scourging their inferior Papist neighbours, as equally us Irish would feel the same if it were the other way around. finaly I would like to wish Rory all the best for the future but as an Irishman ill just shout for our own golfers and also a very mature greame mc who just left the issue alone. Godbless all

kittyryan on December 02, 2011:

Hear, hear Steve.

Steve on November 29, 2011:

Another perspective.

I am English, i have lived here for 17 years have 6 Irish children.

I love Ireland and cheer on the Irish team over the English at any sport, rugby, soccer and of course golf.

My kids love Rory, Graham, Padraig, Michael Hoey, Paul McGinley, Shane Lowry and Arthur Pierse (most capped Irish amateur and former Walker cup player), they are golf mad and as far as the are concerned the afformentioned are ALL Irish. They don't remember the black and tans or the bombings in Oxford Street at Christmas .

My faith in humanity mandates that I am not alone in my view that all of that crap got us all nowhere.