IT WAS a former Conservative prime minister, I think, who once complained that the Irish habitually gave the British low marks in the Eurovision song contest. And the whinge served, and serves still, as an eloquent - if slightly comic - witness to the power of prejudice and perception alike.
Our prejudices and perceptions have been given free rein over the last fortnight, as English footballers continued their quest for Euro Cup glory. And the powerful implications of a tide of jingoism and xenophobia were enough to prompt the football establishment here which has taken great strides to eliminate racism from the game, to cry foul.
So Monday's declarations of war on the Germans were swiftly followed by proclamations of "peace in our time". The editor of the Daily Mirror apologised to the many who were offended by the paper's invocation of the wartime spirit.
England manager Terry Venables declared the tabloid build up to last night's big match "despicable" and called on fans to respect the German national anthem. And a Harrods food hamper was presented to the German team.
At this writing, England still expects . . . hopes . . . prays for victory over Germany, a passport to Sunday's final, and a return to the glory days of 1966. The hope and prayer also is that the judgment made this week proves correct; that the tabloid zeal misread the popular mood, and that the "carnival" atmosphere continues without any of the predicted violent confrontations.
For many in these islands, of course, the carnival would only be complete in English defeat. Colleagues and friends this week have bemoaned the disapproval which greets the outbreak of British patriotic fervour in contrast, for example, to the general excitement and celebration which attended the Republic's successful World Cup run.
And while sensitive to the racist overtones in much of the press hype, some English fans - patriots at least for the week - point to the prejudice and hostility underlying a seemingly widespread Celtic enthusiasm to see them get their come uppance.
Journalist Eamonn McCann captured something of that nationalist mood on BBC radio yesterday, when he confided that many people in Ireland would be cheering on the Germans.
It has long been an aggravation that successes for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland translate into great nights for "Irish" football, whereas "English" triumphs are usually treated as precisely that.
In recent years there has been amusement and irritation in equal measure when English defeats of mediocre opponents have seen the national team instantly elevated into potential worldbeaters. And it is true, even among the loyalist brethren in the North, that the subsequent disappointment of English hopes rashly raised has caused quiet satisfaction.
Given all the prevailing circumstances, I fancy Eamonn McCann might, on this occasion, have been wrong, and that England versus Germany may have divided the North along traditional lines.
And a reader in Dublin informs us that a straw poll in hiss office yesterday morning found opinion equally divided. If that were true of sentiment more generally in the Republic, it would, ironically, suggest a greater generosity of spirit than is evident north of that other border in Scotland.
If the revival of English nationalism has been a dominant feature of Euro 96, so the reminder of Scottish nationalist sentiment has also been striking. And never more so than when the two sides met in "local derby" at Wembley a fortnight ago.
In a just a few minutes the strains of two rival "national anthems" (God Save the Queen and Flower of Scotland) defined the simmering questions of identity and allegiance which, to Mr Major's mind at least, threaten to, engulf the UK in constitutional chaos.
Appropriately enough, then (before adjourning to Downing Street to cheer England's finest) the Prime Minister went to the Centre for Policy Studies to issue yet another dire warning of a Union in peril.
Love of Queen, pride in country a euphemism for this (so far) glorious week in Euro 96. And a certain text for general election 97!