I doubt I was the only one hurling abuse at the TV when Sky Sports presenter Laura Davies claimed Shane Lowry was a loyal subject of “their” Queen.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Gary Lineker put his foot in it by describing Rory McIlroy, as British – ignoring the fact he’s a member of Team Ireland for the next Olympics.
The former Spurs and Barcelona star must’ve been asleep at the back of the class when his
geography teacher explained Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and not Great Britain, which is a big difference.
But we shouldn’t take Lineker, below, too seriously because he has a track record of taking a dump on Ireland – quite literally.
He once bizarrely confessed to doing a number two on the pitch when playing us at Italia ’90.
The British media also inaccurately described Lowry as a “home favourite” after his historic victory in Co Antrim, which, the last time I checked, is not part of the Republic.
It not only makes them look pig ignorant but they’re also insulting Northern Ireland by deliberately failing to acknowledge both states on the island by lumping us all in together as one.
They remind me of the Billy Liar character living in denial with their infuriating habit of claiming our sporting icons.
It’s sheer ignorance – because any intelligent person knows a “republic” doesn’t have a monarch.
I’d be here all day listing the Irish stars who’ve been hailed as British heroes – for instance,
they were clutching at straws describing Stephen Roche as the “first English speaker” to win the Tour de France.
One of the most pathetic recent examples was The Telegraph, of all papers, rhetorically asking during the London Olympics: “Can anyone stop Britain’s Katie Taylor?”
It was inexcusable because Katie fought for Team Ireland and stepped into the ring to the tune of Amhran na bhFiann and even had a tricolour draped around her shoulders.
Anyone would think the Brits are jealous of Ireland’s worldwide popularity and want to ride on our coattails.
It makes them look no better than a half-witted David Brent out of The Office down at the local pub bragging about another imaginary notch on the bedpost.
The Irish media didn’t hype up the fact that England’s cricket captain Eoin Morgan is a true Dub, born and bred, when they won the World Cup – because we rise above such claptrap.
Sky News reporter Richard Suchet claimed it was a “compliment” when he described Saoirse Ronan as British – but how is it flattering to systematically erase us of our national identity?
English newspaper columnist Melanie Philips caused huge controversy in 2017 by claiming “Ireland itself
has a tenuous claim to nationhood having seceded from Britain as the Irish Free State in 1922”.
She hit the nail on the head in a way because she was only saying out loud what many English think too – that Ireland is not a “real” country for them.
You’d have to wonder about
the British education system because it seems many of them don’t know their basic history
and geography.
I partly blame Failte Ireland because they’re clearly failing to do a good job of promoting us
properly in the UK if we don’t have a proper image as an independent republic in the collective English psyche.
If the Brits ever crack open a history book they’ll be crestfallen to discover the Duke of Wellington was Irish.
