Paul Howard

Although back in the day, you know, in the in the early 90s and I was working in the Sunday Tribune and there was an English guy who was fixing our computers and he

he went to the pub in an England jersey to watch the England match.

There was an England match and an Ireland match and they were on back-to-back.

And he went out and, you know, we're all kind of looking at each other saying, you know, should we warn him?

Yeah, and he wasn't okay as it happens, Clare.

You know, he was beaten up on Bagot Street and not once but twice.

I mean, he staggered up Bagot Street and then, you know, asked somebody to call him a taxi and got beaten up again.

And

I mean, this is kind of pre Good Friday Agreement days when, you know, the atmosphere between Ireland and England was a lot more charged.

You should have warned him.

You should have warned him.

Well, yes.

I mean, I hope that wouldn't happen now.

But at the same time, I definitely would not put an England jersey on tonight and go to a pub or tomorrow night and go to a pub to cheer on England, even if I was so inclined.

Yeah, I mean, insofar as I ever cheer anybody on.

I mean, you know, I'm not the most patriotic person in the world, even when it comes to Ireland.

But I will sit there with probably more interest in that match than in any other opening round match.

And I say that as somebody who is absolutely dying with tiredness today because I've just pulled my third all-nighter since last Friday.

Yeah, I think that's a good comparison, actually.

I remember doing a piece years ago for a TV show about the difficulty of buying an England football jersey in Ireland.