Israel/Ireland football match

[Dagda]

I know there are Irish posters here. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of the FAI decision here. I’m a bit taken aback that the home match will take place in Ireland. Surely a neutral country would be better.

I fear we’ll have a crowd of troublemakers down from the North. And if unrest kicks off, as we have experienced, there are too many here who will be happy to participate in a bit of destruction in the city.

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/sport/football/ireland-israel-nations-league-home-game-356356

Firstly your post is not as innocent as you would have us believe. It was deliberate and you should have been more honest.
Israel shouldn't be playing in any European competition as Israel is not in Europe.
'crowd of troublemakers from the North' what on earth do you mean? 😄 Bigoted thinking and not even hiding it.
The match shouldn't take place in any 'neutral country' but if it does take place at all Irish people will protest as is their right and it should be in Ireland.
Decision has been made by a few FAI officials and the bould O'Donovan who has proved himself to be a proper eejit bordering on a dictator time and time again.
The league teams have come out against it,Irish soccer players have come out against it so too have the majority of the public.
A long way to go yet.

Nice goady post OP. Well done.

I don’t understand what you mean by innocent. I’m just more concerned about sectarian violence erupting from this than I am about the match going ahead in the first place.

i have no doubt that people will protest and that it totally fine and not what I’m talking about. The pro Palestinian protests are peaceful affairs. I have had my own children there myself. And the groups involved are not violent.

I do think this will attract some kind of march in support of Israel by Unionists or vice versa with republicans which would kick everything off.

It only takes a small number of bad actors to start these things.

I mean maybe I’m wrong and unrest will kick of anyway without anyone from the north involved. But I can’t see it going off peacefully.

Maybe it's because I'm not Irish but I genuinely have no idea what you mean by a crowd of troublemakers down from the North.

She's baiting and showing her bigotry which has been confirmed by her latest post.
It should be Ireland/Israel as she is clearly referring to the Ireland home game. Most Unionists don't give a fig about Israel. Presume she means Loyalists some of whom do have a greater grá for supporting Israel. If @Dagda lives in Ireland she would be aware that people right across Irish society are supportive of Palestine and the Palestinian people, regardless of their political beliefs. Interestingly she didn't post this in craicnet but in this section. As @Mercurial123 said goady and I would add deliberately confusing and bigoted.

Op you’re as likely to just have all the scumbags that showed up at the riot in Dublin, I don’t get the northern thing either. Hopefully it can pass off peacefully

We've got plenty of our own scumbags. Look at what happened in Dundalk recently.
Its a nightmare for the FAI, RTE showed the draw and the look of horror on their faces was something else.

It means that in the north there is a minority who use Israeli or Palestinian symbols to stir up sectarian violence.

@ColadhSamh i am Irish and I am not bigoted.

i totally agree with you that people across Irish society including myself support Palestine. Across all ages and political beliefs. Hence it’s not a violent issue!

It can spill over into violence in the North though. By a minority of people.

@Morepositivemum the riots in Dublin were kicked off and fanned on by far right agitators though.

That’s the way most large scale violence incidents kick off: you’ll have a small group who are keen to cause trouble and then others get drawn in.

Nah, it does come across as goady and bigoted, but you know that. There are plenty enough to cause trouble in the south without suggestion it would only be northerners responsible.

I'll throw in my own goadiness here, our lot up here are fair weather and local agitators. They wouldn't be arsed to travel that far to cause trouble and if it continues to rain like it has been there'll never be trouble again up here, it's usually on a fine day we like to cause issues.

I am from NI and don't get the "troublemakers from the North" comment at all. Whilst there is support for Israel within NI, there is also alot of support for Palestine in all areas. I honestly cannot see those in support of Israel bussing it down to cause trouble in a place where the majority support is for Palestine. Even they know that would be a waste of time and energy.
I'm sure you have plenty of local troublemakers who have no respect for their city to worry about instead.

umm I apologise to you all for pointing fingers at the north immediately.

I completely agree that there are loads who love to set cars on fire here too. But my point is there is usually a small violent groups who spark things. And my mind went immediately to the north there.

Of course people in the North support Palestine from all communities but none of you can deny there are bad actors who sectarianise it to spark violence.

There are many ways this could play out of course.

Hopefully it does rain. That also seems to put off our home grown rioters.

Fair weather rioters … 😂

Didn’t know that was a thing.

What a bigoted, ignorant post. You don't have a clue. Please tell us what sectarian incidents have taken place in Ireland as a response to either Israeli or Palestinian symbols? You are treading a very dangerous path here. Either that or talking through your thóin.

I think there are some very naive people. It's well known that British Neo Nazi and far right networks including some with Loyalist ties have been infiltrating, amplifying and pushing their own agenda in 'culture wars'.

A report by the Institute of strategic dialogue(am anti extremist think tank) found that these groups are not just amplifying Irish fringe viewpoints but they are inviting dissent by “street protests, intimidation, targeted violence and coordinated amplification online.”

The report also details how protests in Ireland have been used by international far-right groups including British Neo Nazi and far right networks with Loyalist ties to push fringe agendas.

We all know that the right are very fond of Israel right now, after all they are slaughtering Muslims who they are convinced are trying to take over Europe , look at any thread on mumsnet that is right leaning and you will see hatred towards Muslims and people who are pro Palestinian or the 'extreme left' as they like to call them.

I don't know if things will kick off but people are very naive if they think that there is no UK influence(including Loyalist influence) in Ireland when it comes to far right agendas. Tommy Robinson took a trip to Dublin to meet some 'pals' there, Tommy Robinson as we know is a fan of football hooliganism and has been known to infiltrate England away matches with his far right anti Islam groups.

@ColadhSamh The violence after the Palestinian flag was raised over city hall in Belfast,

Displays of solidarity with both the Palestinians and the Israelis sits differently in the north. It is obviously a divisive issue. And there has clearly been a minority only happy to use the symbols to be goady to the other side: like flying the IDF flag.

Anyway I was too quick to to pre blame the north. We’ll just have to wait and see.

@FloralDeerPattern absolutely yes. The links between our so called “patriots” and the loyalists is absolutely mind boggling.

And yes this thread is more fitting to Craicnet. I’ve requested it to be moved.

Not Irish. Very much hoping that this doesn’’t become yet another divisively driven thread.

Hmm ... why is it "goady to the other side" to fly one flag but not the other?

If flags are goady then maybe there should be no flag flying @Dagda

Hmm ... why is it "goady to the other side" to fly one flag but not the other?
If flags are goady then maybe there should be no flag flying

What a question. Are you actually serious?

I think it’s a good idea to move this to Craicnet OP.

I understand why the Irish FA should play the match even under protest. However, neutral venue or the smallest that meets the criteria should be chosen.

I know. I didn’t want to even start into it with the flag question.

Yes I have asked via report. I’ll ask again. If someone else could report it and ask could it be moved that might help.

Ok, I just reported and asked for it to be moved too @Dagda.

"troublemakers down from the North"

I'm fed up to the back teeth of this way of describing and viewing people from Northern Ireland. All my life I've had people from south of the border behaving towards Northerners like me as if we are some inherently violent and unintelligent subclass of Irish people. It's completely ignorant, belittling and insulting.

It’s not accusing NI people of being ‘inherently violent and unintelligent’ to know that support for Israel vs Palestine has been a divisive factor there along sectarian lines.
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/02/25/palestine-conflict-fuelling-derry-divisions-warns-protestant-community-leader/

I am worried about how Israel will be greeted in Dublin anyway. There are plenty of troublemakers here as a pp said. But there is a capacity for things to get worse as @FloralDeerPattern outlined.