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Originally Posted by The Batlord
Unless of course he always thought of himself as English but just didn't say anything about it.
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Nah he was Irish through and through. Ireland was his adopted home. I remember when he married Leslie Crowther's daughter the not-so-proud father quipped: "Just my luck! She has to marry someone not just Irish but black too!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frownland
I recently read about someone who bought Yes's Fragile used for a dollar and opened it up to find that the disc was Genesis's We Can't Dance
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Five percent of nothing then? Got a long distance runaround? Tell me why. Well, that's just the way of the world.
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Originally Posted by Man like Monkey
He saw himself as Irish. I just mentioned him as he was born here. Depends how you view things I think.
If he was a footballer he could play for England and then nobody would say he wasn't English. The Irish team has had loads of players born in England and lived in England their whole lives. There is a joke about Ireland being the England B team. I don't think the Irish would like it if you said half their team was English though. If they're eligible then they're eligible.
I think birth and formative years are important. Maybe descent as well in some cases but I think that one is very questionable.
Suppose if the circumstances allow it we should just let people choose.
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Considered one of the most famous and successful Irishmen, spoke with a thick Dublin brogue, a real son of Ireland. We even have a statue of him in Grafton Street. My aunt used to actually see him, sweeping down the road, she said, his greatcoat flapping open like wings, a real icon (probably one of the only black men in Ireland at that time) and she said he was always charming, saying "howya" and grinning.
As to team selection, yeah it's odd: you'll have someone picked for Ireland because his grandmother twice removed was Irish or something, or he could play for Canada because his aunt was Canadian, even though he's lived and played all his life in England. Most guys though, understandably, want to play for the country that has the best chance of success. Spoiler: that's not Ireland!