The emergence of "Zombie" by The Cranberries as an Irish sporting anthem

It is also worth pointing out that pre WW2 and the 1941 Atlantic Charter, there was really only the concept of might is right. Article 3 of the charter which the British agreed to gave people the right of self-determination, which didn't exist in 1916. So while violence may have been the only way in 1916, possibly, we can never know, it certainly wasn't the only way in the 1960's. For all those who say the IRA campaign was right, look at the mess it has made of the country and society up there.

I dont think anyone singing it at a sporting event even understands the lyrics, its just a belter of a tune. Doesn't everything have to be **** broken down and analyzed, its so tedious.

Sorry 'to deliberately offend anyone' is probably the wrong term.

It does seem though that the song now has a political message for some rugby supporters.

Read this thread and you'll see plenty of examples.

I get that the vast majority of fans are just singing in to have the craic, enjoy the moment, honor Delores.

I just think singing 'Dreams' allows all that without the political stuff, and also the crass/tasteless stuff where people are some people are singing the song to wind up the opposition (again see the thread)

Personally I quite like the song, though it's not their best, and I support it's message in the right context.

I think it would have been a huge hit worldwide no matter what the lyrics were about - it's easily The Cranberries' best known song. I'm surprised there is any controversy around it....I saw a video yesterday of it being sung at Feile in Belfast and everyone was singing along at the top of their voice.

100% correct. Sadly, I am not surprised by those who are criticising the playing of Zombie. As Gerry Adams said, they haven't gone away, you know.

And even if we assume that an armed campaign was right, was it right to pursue it in the way they did? Some might argue that targetting the state infrastructure was ok and also targeting soldiers for example. But bombing civilians wasn't.

And that's besides the punishment beatings and kneecappings that were performed on their own community for anti social behavior. The youngest victim was 12 years old.

It's worth remembering that by the end the nationalist community were the ones that were in favor of the GFA and an end to the armed struggle. They wanted the IRA to go away.

IRA supporters ignore historical context when comparing 1916 with 1969 or 1993 when the Warrington bomb took place.

your knowledge on sport is the same as your knowledge on irish history....poor. There is no comparison with the soccer team of the 90s/00s being ranked consistenly in the top 10 in the world and winning a world cup in rugby - there are 207 international teams in soccer, it is the worlds largest team professional sport by a country mile. Rugby which i enjoy very much is a niche commonwealth game played professional by about 12 teams - just look at the world cup some of the matches are ridiculous (france winning 96 -0 against namibia ffs) and you could basically reduce it to a 10 team tournament from the 16 at the moment. we are always ranked in the top 8 in the world in rugby guess why because thats the amount of teams who play it. Anyway, anyone against singing zombie which is a terrible song has thin skin same as anyone offended by up the ra.

But see, you're going for the theme you want to go for here, even though the reality is much more nuanced. Hume didn't set out on a mission to deligitimise the militant Republican struggle, he never pushed the same agenda of the Unionist parties that Sinn Fein or the IRA's participation in the peace process should be contingent on them renouncing violence or the justification of their struggle. Southern establishment figures like Garrett Fitzgerald were critical of his interactions with the IRA and the Unionists did not want to accept participation without contrition from Republicans.

Hume ploughed on regardless — he was after all a Derry man who, unlike some of the sanctimonious types in the South, had a real and intimate understanding of the injustices of the Northern state, Loyalist violence and the role of the British state in exacerbating and contributing to the violence.

Hume succeeded (in the long run) because he was capable of doing precisely the opposite of what you are doing. You would have been one of the people, alongside Fitzgerald, lambasting him back in the 80s, and yet here you are waving his legacy around, in full ignorance of the fact that (in actual fact) Sinn Fein's place in the political system today is part of Hume's legacy — even if he might not have foreseen it.

I don't think Dreams is as catchy and anthemic as Zombie, it's more of a lightweight airy pop song : Zombie is a big stadium rock number.

It was the walkon song for some mma fighter in Dublin recently. Really milked it and fight was over after 20 seconds.

I don't think it started as political. I think it started as a sing-along but unfortunately has that meaning now.

See all the 'In your head shinner' taglines here for example.

Also not a song to be singing to goad the opposition either, it's about murdered kids.

But these things happen, pick a new song and move on.

As I said your knowledge of sport is the same as Irish history.... poor. Do you know you have to qualify for a soccer world cup, European championship etc. Winning a ten team international sport which you automatically qualify for because only 10 teams play it is no comparison. Very trump like if you to dismiss an indisputable fact.

Not nonsense. There is no reason to be offended by Zombie unless you believe that killing children with bombs is a good thing. If there are a few people up North offended by it, all that proves is that the IRA mentality of violent republicanism is alive and well.