A chara, – I must agree with most of what John B Reid writes. He refers to the "cringe factor" of playing only Ireland's Call at Ireland's away matches.
However, his suggestion that both this and Amhrán na bhFiann should be played simply does not go far enough. The national anthem of Ireland is Amhrán na bhFiann and not any other little ditty.
Our national rugby team is in danger of losing its proud identity completely. The historic name of Lansdowne Road has been replaced by the name of an insurance company and our national flag appears to have morphed into a mobile phone advertisement. – Is mise,
RORY O’ CALLAGHAN,
Mc Dowell Avenue,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – John B Reid (February 28th) highlights the political difficulty of agreeing a suitable anthem for the Irish rugby team. This was compounded in their last encounter by the English persisting in the use of the British national anthem, the words of which are possibly more familiar to some 20 per cent of the Irish supporters than the words of the anthem of the Republic. I cannot understand this English persistence. We have a wealth of great national music on this side of the Irish Sea (by Elgar, Holst and Parry to name but a few), and it really is time to remind our opponents that the Devil has all the best tunes! – Yours, etc,
GAVIN LLOYD,
Merton Road,
Ambrosden,
Bicester,
Oxon, England.