MARK O'BRIEN,
Sir, - As a long-time supporter of Irish soccer (including the national team), may I applaud the FAI decision to bring a dose of reality to the madness that pertains with our attitude to the game in this country?
Of course the preferred option is for the handful of home games every year to be shown on terrestrial television. But where were the great supporters of soccer - our nation's leader and his cronies - while all of this was in the melting pot? Eating prawn sandwiches in a corporate box at Old Trafford, maybe, together with many more "supporters of Irish soccer" who will be among the first to object to a TV licence fee increase.
To the FAI I say: use the money judiciously. Support the hundreds of thousands of junior, intermediate and schoolboy players in the country. Give us a national senior league that this country can be proud of and don't listen to the "Olé, Olé" rabble. You owe the majority of them nothing. Hopefully the national team will give them a chance to be supporters again in two years' time and they can have a nice holiday too. - Yours, etc.,
MARK O'BRIEN, Arklow, Co Wicklow.
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Sir, - I have been reading your Letters page recently with amusement. Why do so many people believe that you have to support your local National League team to be a "true" Irish supporter? As someone who has spent various amounts of money going to Japan, Holland, Portugal, Macedonia, Luxembourg and Lithuania, I fail to see the connection.
While I occasionally go to see my local National League team (UCD, of which I am a supporter/member), I fail to see the connection between supporting the Ireland team and supporting a National League team. But fair play to all those who think they are "better Irishmen" on this account than those of us who just like football! - Yours, etc.,
J. McCABE, Foxrock, Dublin 18.