I doubt if Mr Let’s Go is looking forward to the match against Lincoln Red Imps tomorrow.
Celtic famously came a cropper there on what is possibly the worst playing surface in European football.
If Stevie G’s Gumtree Galacticos emerged unscathed from the unyielding pitch, then it will be job done.
Given the Covid19 restrictions, the Ibrox klanbase will not be in attendance.
Of course, the Illegally occupied British Crown dependency is famous for a population of angry apes who are prone to theft and violence.
So perhaps some of them will turn up to see the visitors.
One thing I do I admire about the Stenography Corps is their work ethic.
They know that their paycheque is dependent on churning out feelgood pish about the Ibrox franchise.
Here is a case in point.
Prima facie this indicates a club that is flush with cash and giving their players the billionaire wealth-off -the-radar treatment.
The reality is far more prosaic.
If those intrepid churnalists want to try their hand at my game-journalism-then, they might want to reach out to the directors of Club 1872.
Here are some questions to put to those dignified folks:
Have any of your directors recently resigned?
If yes, what were the reasons given for their resignations?
Have there been any internal discussions about the role of the MyGers scheme apropos the football club?
There just might be a real story there, and I think that it is worth checking out.
Of course, if they’re just PR poodles marking time at terminally ill titles, then it probably isn’t for them.
Finally, for the day that’s in it.
A buddy of mine who settled her, a native of Limerick, said that Donegal was “Ireland’s best-kept secret”.
In my time in the Mountain Rescue Team, I saw a lot of this special part of my island.
I even made a friend called Toby.
So this, this is the corner of Ireland where I have reared my brood.
When we arrived here, the Big Fella was a toddler, and Number One Daughter was an infant.
I can exclusively reveal that we smuggled Number Three through customs disguised as a bump.
In time she would become Baby Doctor.
Today the family ciotóg is in the Covid front line doing her bit in a Dublin hospital.
During medical school, this was filled continuously with the oul tae.
She takes after the father, so she does…
The three of them use the Irish form of the family name and tell the world that as long as they’re around, then our national language will survive.
They’ve all said to me that they want their children to go through the Gaelscoileanna system.
I sometimes think what their sense of themselves would be if they had grown up in a country where their heritage could be openly derided as “plastic” by an elected representative.
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing happened to that politician.
It would appear that the Irish are still fair game in fair Caledonia.
Unimpressive.
Twelve years ago, when this site had just started, I wrote this piece for The Irish Post.
In 2008 my Donegal brood, although only a little, were already Gaeilgoirí.
They’re all big Donegalies now, and Dún na nGall has been good to them.
For the avoidance of doubt, I’m still working on them to give a shout to Mayo in the Gah!
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Phil,
It might be worth questioning whether the Sevco club are going to continue with the deductions from ST holders bank accounts who are signed up for the Home Cup Ticket Scheme? So Galatasaray would be the first deduction of £30-40 per ticket and so forth… just in case fans are allowed back in you see !
The Spanish make a lot of noise about Gibraltar and it is the height of hypocrisy. The ‘illegally occupied British Crown Dependency’ is no different to the illegally occupied Spanish exclave of Cueta on the opposite side of the Med. If Spain were to control the gateway to the Med they could potentially hold world shipping to ransom. I would happily see the UK give up Gibraltar but only if the Spanish give up Cueta and Melilla.
Both Britain and Spain are imperialist powers.
We can all discuss the sectarian/racist issues prevalent in Scottish society. While the lockout of fans continues, it’s what happens on the field of play that counts. Also who has the most money is not an indicator of who earns the greater amount of points. If the score line of matches would be determined by wealth, what would the score of St Mirren v Celtic be. We need to conscentrate on Celtic performances. I understand we’ve been drawn against Riga in Europe. Let’s hope our well paid players up their game. And let’s demand that we play with a recognised striker in a winner takes all fixture. I can recall playing many years ago, there were always players at front and backpost while defending a corner. Such basic common sense might have prevented St Mirren’s goal.
Unquiet Graves order a copy and give something back to the makers who brought this to light.
I live, now, in the campo de Gibraltar area. We’re not likely to see a post brexit border problem as the economics would be horrendous on both sides. People in this area are very adept at a fudge and that’s what I’d expect.
On the red imps point, game could go either way… Very hard to predict, unlike the reaction if sevco don’t win.
On Mhairi Black: I met her just a couple of years ago, she seemed generally OK but didn’t see much issue even then with her past views on plastic paddies. Yes, she just hates celtic and both ibrokes itirations. Yes, she has catholics in her family and has some experience. But it’s still an endemic problem in West of Scotland that being Irish Catholic makes one fair game. She is just a daft lass and probably didn’t mean to be hugely offensive (though should behave better as an MP) but the issue is we have a society where that is viewed as “banter” rather than racism.
Every effort to publicise and condemn that which can help change attitudes is to be commended. It wasn’t that long ago that certain racial slurs against our Pakistani and Indian communities were considered “banter” and on mainstream TV. Attitudes can change, but only if there is a will.
Phil, I’d like to see you do a piece on the EQ of Rangers. In your tongue in cheeky Donegal vernacular of course.
EQ or emotional intelligence, like IQ, is a measurable state of a person’s or a corporation’s emotional health.
What does a person or institution look like with low EQ? Some pointers easily found on the Web…
1. They Always Have to Be ‘Right’
2. They’re Oblivious to Other People’s Feelings
3. They Behave Insensitively
4. They Blame Others for Their Problems
5. They Have Poor Coping Skills
6. They Have Emotional Outbursts
7. They Struggle With Relationships
If that doesn’t sum up Rangers then I don’t know what will.
As the Psychiatrist in Fawlty Towers said:
“There’s enough for an entire conference here!”
You know, just cos Spain have been saying so since 1713, it doesn’t make it so. The UN would tend to agree. What is it they say – tell a lie long enough it eventually becomes true? A saying I know you are familiar with. But hey, if it suits an agenda, why not, eh?
totally admire your work Phil but why the constant references to mhairi black?
seems like bullying
Here is the background.
https://www.theirishvoice.com/news/mhairi-blacks-reference-to-plastic-irishmen-is-totally-unacceptable-for-a-member-of-parliament/
I reached out privately to Ms Black MP through her constituency office.
However, no dialogue ensued.
Therefore, I was forced to go public.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2018/01/20/mhairi-black-mp/
Calling out racism in never “bullying”.
Ms Black is a Westminister MP and she was punching down at a socially excluded ethnic minority.
Not a good look.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2018/10/17/calling-it-out/
no worries, personally i have no problems with the phrase and it is quite apt in some cases. My dads grandparents are from donegal and me mas from derry. I’m a catholic raised in scotland and am a celtic and scotland supporter. Plastic paddies is rather innocuous compared to other choice names while growing up!
As a journalist, shouldn’t you link to the actual interview and quote?
https://www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,exclusive-interview-with-mhairi-black_8083.htm
That was really getting to me because if you’re going to argue with me or have a pop at me then do it for political reasons, do it because I’m genuinely doing something wrong, don’t be picking on a 14-year-old lassie’s tweets because apart from anything else, that’s creepy!
“I never asked who had sent the tweets to the papers, I never cared. I just had to deal with it. I remember realising the severity of it when Kevin Pringle [then head of communications with the SNP] came around to the house. My mum opened the door with the biscuits and the whole ‘would you like a cup of tea, son?’ and me and my dad were just sitting in there being our cheery usual selves and Kevin is like ‘right, so what’s your comment going to be for the Michael Crick interview?’ I jokingly said, ‘it’s all true about Celtic but I hate Rangers more’ and Kevin didn’t laugh…
“Look, it was just stupid, childish stuff from a teenager and it shouldn’t have mattered but it did. The reaction was over the top.
“Hugh Henry [former Labour MSP] was in the news saying that I was a bigot and that was the irony of it, all these plastic Irishmen tweeting me dug’s abuse and saying that I’m anti-Catholic and I’m like, ‘my mother’s got 13 brothers, my granny took me to Mass every day, have you seen the chains I wear?’
“Rather innocuous” doesn’t pass muster.
I have used that link in earlier articles about Ms Black MP.
She wasn’t a teenager when she gave the interview she was 22 and an MP.
You can defend her racism-whoever you are.
Unlike you, I’m not courageously concealed.
The Irish Voice was correct to call her out and so am I.
Have to agree completely with Phil on this issue.
Calling someone a plastic Paddy is a slur on their heritage.
Could you be called a plastic Indian for supporting Ghandi and never having been to India, for example?
Support of those who struggled in the 800 year fight for independence does not make you false compared to those who do not support that struggle.
However, everyone has the right to protect their own privacy for whatever reasons so ‘courageously concealed’ is a bit unfair.
Wait, was she trying to defend herself by doubling down on her slur?
Dumb doesn’t even come close.
Apologies, didn’t thank you for replying. I don’t think her comment would have been directed at you – you have embraced your irish heritage, moved to ireland and live there hopefully very happily.
i’d say the comment was directed at those that are plastic paddies : sing ooh ah up the ra at games when they’ve never been to the north during the troubles, stuff like that. i did. i went every year to visit me mas family in the middle of bandit country.
i’ll never sing it. i’m sure there will be some that think this means i’m not a true celtic supporter etc but they can think what they like.
I never said it was direct at me personally.
I have never written that.
So a clumsy straw man argument for you-also unimpressive.
The Irish Voice article lays out the issues quite clearly.
it is a hateful term that attempts to diminish people and denigrate the 2GI experience.
If she had aimed such a sneering barb against any other ethnic group in Scotland it would not have been consequence-free for her career.
She knew what she was doing.
i wasn’t implying you had or did say it applied to you.
i don’t agree that it is hateful.i think it can be very apt at times. it does not denegrate anything – unless you want it to.
she wasn’t sneering. it was applied to certain types that were apparently abusing her on twitter.
sneering barb seems a bit of an exaggeration.
but, thats only my opinion which don’t count for much. have a great night and goodbye.
I’ve allowed you space here for you to defend her racism.
It proves that she was on safe ground in punching down at the Irish community in Scotland.
Not a good look for either of ye.
how on earth is prefixing a word with plastic racist! if she’d used pretend, that would be ok, yeah?
Well, you’d think that the Commercial & Marketing Director, James Bisgrove, would step down for the Castore fiasco.
Not sure who else would do walking away, but The Don Blair seems to have led a charmed life Ibrox to date – and despite presiding over the longest losing streak in the Courts, in the history of Scottish football!
(Another world record?) 🙂
And those pesky annual accounts are due for auditor’s sign-off.
Dublin man with 3 gaeilgeoirs who’s holiday to discover Sligo and Donegal was dashed by a pandemic and then another bun in the oven.
Errigal and Benbulbin remain on my list for next year.One of the Noble 6 is buried here beside us in North Dublin,alongside one of the only 2 survivors from the Maamtrasna massacre .So the history of our language and the connections to all corners are as strong as can be when people embrace both.