Patrick

What an extraordinary historical own goal. Yes, Ireland played Nazi Germany. So did numerous European countries before the Second World War. And yes, the Irish team gave the Nazi salute in Bremen in 1939, an episode that looks appalling today and shouldn’t be whitewashed. But here’s the part you conveniently forgot. In 1936 it was the German team giving the Nazi salute at Dalymount Park, not the Irish team. Ireland then beat them 5–2. And one of the Irishmen who gave that salute in Germany in 1939 was Johnny Carey. Do you know what he subsequently did? He joined the British Army and fought against Nazi Germany. Nor was Ireland unique in this respect. England and other national teams also gave the Nazi salute or performed similar gestures at matches and official occasions in the 1930s, when sporting exchanges with Nazi Germany were still taking place. That context does not excuse the gesture, but it does make it absurd to present Ireland’s 1939 match as uniquely revealing of some supposed national sympathy for Nazism. So dragging up an 87-year-old football match to smear today’s Irish players is not the devastating historical argument you apparently think it is. More importantly, there’s a breathtaking irony in invoking the Nazis to silence criticism of the actions of a modern government. The lesson of the 1930s isn’t that governments should be immune from criticism because of their national or religious identity. It’s precisely the opposite, states, governments and armies must be judged by what they actually do. Ireland’s players lowering their heads harms nobody. You can dislike it. You can call it disrespectful. But reaching back to 1939 because you can’t cope with Irish footballers expressing disapproval of Israel’s conduct in 2026 isn’t an argument. It’s a diversion. And if your best defence of what Israel is doing today is “but look what some Irish footballers did before the Second World War”, you’ve rather spectacularly conceded the present-day argument. Disgraceful