Is It Wrong/Contradictory To Follow "Northern" Ireland?

Purely from a political standpoint I think you're 100% spot on there! I was talking to another Irish Celtic fan recently and he told me he doesn't support "Northern" Ireland or the (Republic Of) Ireland because both teams are partitionist. He went on to say that to a TRUE Irish nationalist, there is no "Northern" Ireland and there is no (Republic Of) Ireland, there's just Ireland. And he finished by saying that he only supports Celtic, and the reason is that Celtic are the only team that represent the full 32 counties of Ireland. I think he and you have a very valid point! However, after doing a fair bit of research into this I've noticed more and more people that claim to be Irish (not British) that support both Celtic and "Northern" Ireland, and they do this because the North is the part of the country they're from so they identify with it more and also see it as Irish not British. I'm guessing they were all born after 1998 although I can't be sure of this.

I think Irish fans fall into 1 of 4 categories, the majority support either "Northern" Ireland or (the Republic of) Ireland, a minority support both and another minority support neither, like yourself, and from a nationalist/republican point of view, that is the correct way, but it's a minority I feel. I think most Irish fans just make up the rules as they go along. For instance, there is a myth that (the Republic Of) Ireland is the REAL Irish team, meaning it reps the full 32 counties, but that's not true, it reps 26 of the 32 so it's partitionist too, it's just not under British rule whereas "Northern" Ireland is, that's the only real difference in my opinion. So I suppose what I'm saying is. from what I can gather most Irish fans just do what they feel like doing, especially in 2025 where there seems to be less of a stigma to being an Irish Celtic fan that supports all 3.

 

I agree with everything you've said but is there not also an argument that by supporting both teams you are supporting the full 32 counties of Ireland? Kinda like supporting the national rugby union team does? I think you can still want a united Ireland politically and support a team that reps the missing 6 counties that (the Republic Of) Ireland team does not. Cause at the end of the day, no matter how much some people disagree, the 6 counties are still Irish and part of Ireland, just as much as the other 26.

 

Well it is. But if the mods wanna move the topic that's fine with me.

 

But that's the fans, not the team. The IFA have tried to stamp out sectarian chanting and a lot of it has gone, there are a minority that still do it but then it's the same with Celtic fans and (Republic Of) Ireland fans.

 

Not all of them have, some certainly have in the past, but not in 2025.

The thing is the history of the 2 Irish football teams is very complicated, even without the usual politics. Back when there was an all Ireland team (albeit one that was under British rule) the governing body was the IFA, the same IFA that governs the "Northern" Ireland team today, so they are the original Ireland team. In fact they refused to even refer to themselves as "Northern" Ireland for decades after the partition of the country and claimed they were also repping the full 32 counties. In the 1970s they finally gave in and accepted the name change of the team.

So let's imagine you were an Irish football fan before the border was created, there's a very good chance you would've supported the IFA team, unless you were a diehard republican of course, but let's say you did support the IFA team, when the split happened and the FAI team was created, what would you have done? Switch sides? Abandon the team you'd supported all your life and support the new one? Maybe support both? And Celtic? So it's not quite as straight forward as "the North team are British and the Republic are the real Irish team" which many do think. But I totally get your point about Scotland and GB.

Yeah but that was years ago, not 2025.

But Rangers are a 100% British team, "Northern" Ireland are Irish, even if many of their support don't want them to be.

 

The question is "is it okay to support CELTIC, the (Republic Of) Ireland and "Northern" Ireland in 2025?". So it's a bit of a give away really. But like I say if the mods wanna move it I'm not fussed.

 

Hehehe. You don't HAVE to read it or participate in it, just cause YOU don't like it doesn't mean others don't, if they didn't nobody would participate would they?!