While publications across France are continuing to praise Irish fans, some Irish people seem to be getting a bit sick of the fan stories.
At first each story published about the Irish fans was met with excitement and pride by most readers and viewers, but now there is some cynicism and comments of boredom from others.
Why are so many annoyed that the Irish people are representing us in an excellent way over in France?
A recent letter sent into the Irish Times asked “Why are the Irish soccer fans being celebrated for behaving like normal members of a functioning society?”
If the fans were simply staying out of trouble while abroad, the letter above would have a point, but the Irish are doing this and much more.
Admittedly a lot of the content we are seeing is of people singing, dancing, cheering and being overall happy people. While this is not groundbreaking, it is miles ahead of the recklessness of Russian and English fans.
We certainly know how to enjoy ourselves but we also make sure to be sound to the people around us, and that’s what makes us stand out.
Over the past month we have done numerous things that not only make the fans over in France look good, it makes us at home feel good, and most importantly it shows the world what type of people the Irish are.
At the beginning of the tournament, we saw a group of Irish people help a an elderly french couple change a tyre.
Irish fans changing a wheel for an old couple in montemarte #ire #euro2016 #bestfansintheworld pic.twitter.com/NAmM8hVhDf
— Enda Bonner (@BonnerEnda) June 13, 2016
Irish fans have also returned lost tickets to other fans, one woman found a ticket on the ground and gave it back to a very grateful Swedish fan, while another group of Irish lads found a ticket that belonged to a distraught Irish man who was moved to tears when they returned it.
Fans are not only returning tickets, but wallets too, as one stranger anonymously returned a man’s wallet to a bar in Galway.
As if these examples weren’t enough to be proud of, we have the incredible video which shows Irish fans singing lullabies to a baby on a french train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Bp7vWvN1c
As someone who has no interest in the sport itself, I have never been prouder, or more interested in football than I have been over the past few weeks.
Regardless of the result, what the fans behaviour in the Euros has done is very valuable. As a result of Irish people’s actions over at the euros, we will be synonymous with the word kindness.
I personally think that’s worth writing about.
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