FORMER GAA PUNDIT JOE BROLLY has weighed on the Ireland WNT dressing room chants and leapt to the defence of the team after the video circulated online.
This week a clip of the Republic of Ireland Women's team chanting the pro-IRA song 'Celtic Symphony' made famous by the Wolfe Tones appeared online. The clip received huge backlash online from a number of people in England and Ireland.
The FAI (Football Association of Ireland), Ireland's manager Vera Pauw and the players apologised for the chanting shortly after.
UEFA and Police of Scotland have both launched their own investigations into the matter.
UEFA's statement this week read: "Confirming they were investigating the incident on Thursday, UEFA said in a statement: “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA disciplinary regulations, a UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector will investigate potential inappropriate behaviour by players of the Republic of Ireland Women’s team in the aftermath of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers play-off second leg match played against Scotland on October 11, 2022."
“Information on this matter will be made available in due course.”
"Information on this matter will be made available in due course", said UEFAhttps://t.co/1pwe7OTkAP — The Irish Post (@theirishpost) October 13, 2022
This week Ireland's Chloe Mustaki spoke on Sky Sports news the day after to confirm the team were sorry for their actions.
The Sky Sports new presenter at the time asked if she would like to 'receive more education' on the subject.
The viral clip enraged a number of people online for the line of questioning. A number of sporting personalities in Ireland leapt to the defence of Ireland's Mustaki after the interview
These included the likes of Kevin Kilbane, James McClean, and now Joe Brolly has given his take on the incident
The All-Ireland winner took to social media to highlight the hypocrisy of the whole situation.
The Derry native tweeted a number of times to highlight his point of view. His first tweet referenced the famous 1996 film starring Liam Neeson and Julie Roberts called 'Michael Collins'
"Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts to apologise to Britain for glorifying IRA terrorism', said Brolly.
His second tweet namechecked the old Irish manager Jack Charlton: "FAI to apologise to SKY News for failing to educate Jack Charlton, after it emerged his favourite team song while Irish manager was Sean South & his lorryload of IRA volunteers."
Several tweets were posted after these which referenced the likes of famous singer Phil Coulter and Ireland's own national anthem Abraham Na Bhfiann sang at Croke Park
"Irish gov. to apologise to SKY News & Britain for the Irish National anthem, written by a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood & adopted by the IRA during the War of Independence. Police have launched an investigation into allegations it is regularly sung at Croke Park,' read one of Brolly's tweets.
In a letter issued to the press this week, the FAI released a further statement on Thursday acknowledging the opening of an investigation by UEFA, saying: “The FAI again apologises for any offence caused and we will continue to review this situation accordingly to ensure that our international players and staff, across all of our teams, are aware of their responsibilities.”
The outcome of the investigation is still to be decided, but the FAI are bracing themselves for a fine from UEFA.
Irish gov. to apologise to SKY News & Britain for the Irish National anthem, written by a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood & adopted by the IRA during the War of Independence. Police have launched an investigation into allegations it is regularly sung at Croke Park pic.twitter.com/dtr6Ny7gj0 — Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) October 13, 2022
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