{"id":294031,"date":"2023-09-26T14:34:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T14:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=294031"},"modified":"2023-09-26T14:34:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T14:34:37","slug":"why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Why has Ireland&#8217;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? Fans are belting out the Cranberries&#8217; 90s hit Zombie at the World Cup and it&#8217;s top of the Irish charts&#8230; but some claim it is a political statement<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ireland fans joined in as Zombie was played out on the loud speaker<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Cranberries hit has been perceived as anti-IRA song in some quarters\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former Ireland stars\u00a0Trevor Ringland and Shane Byrne have played down the significance of Irish fans singing along with a Cranberries tune at the Rugby World Cup in France.<\/p>\n<p><span>Zombie<\/span> was played out over the loud speaker after Ireland&#8217;s stunning 13-8 win over South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday, with thousands of Irish supporters belting out the popular song from the stands.<\/p>\n<p>The likes of Ireland stars Johnny Sexton and Peter O&#8217;Mahony also joined in with gusto while on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Footage of fans singing along has become an online sensation, but it has stirred up controversy in some quarters due to its perceived anti-IRA stance.<\/p>\n<p>Released in 1994 on The Cranberries&#8217; second studio album<span> <span>No Need to Argue<\/span><\/span>, the song was written in response to a bombing campaign the IRA carried out in Britain in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75848915-0-image-a-7_1695734084663.jpg\" height=\"405\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ireland fans belted out a tune from The Cranberries as they celebrated a famous win over South Africa at the Rugby World Cup in Paris on Saturday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75848917-0-image-a-6_1695734081277.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Irish fans joined in with the singalong as &#8216;Zombie&#8217; was played over the loudspeaker\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In March 1993,\u00a0Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, aged 3 and 12 respectively, were killed as the IRA detonated a bomb in Warrington which injured 56 people.<\/p>\n<p>A month later, a bomb went off in the City of London, leaving one person dead and 44 injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics of <span>Zombie<\/span> also reference the 1916 Easter Rising, lost children and tanks, which has led to it being interpreted as an anti-Troubles song and an anti-war tune as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>And Byrne believes fans in Paris were simply revelling in Ireland&#8217;s famous win over the defending champions Springboks, rather than looking to make a political statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Everyone there is just happy,&#8217; the former hooker, who won 41 caps for Ireland and played four Tests for the British and Irish Lions, told Upfront with Katie Hannon on Irish broadcaster RTE on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Yes, there\u2019s a meaning behind it. Yes, it was originally written as a protest song.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But sometimes, a good tune is just a good tune.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75848919-0-Johnny_Sexton_above_and_Peter_O_Mahony_also_sang_along_on_the_fi-a-11_1695734222405.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Johnny Sexton (above) and Peter O&#8217;Mahony also sang along on the field\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75848921-0-Former_Ireland-a-12_1695734260348.jpg\" height=\"341\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Ireland hooker Shane Byrne said fans were not trying to send a political message, despite the song&#8217;s perceived anti-IRA stance\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75848913-0-image-a-10_1695734109781.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Ireland star Trevor Ringland believes fans were simply revelling in a famous win over the Springboks as they joined the singalong\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Byrne then elaborated further, suggesting fans singing along to &#8216;Zombie&#8217; in Paris weren&#8217;t trying to send a political message just as anyone chanting a popular pro-IRA refrain was not expressing support for the paramilitary group.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Would you say the same about &#8220;up the RA&#8221;?,&#8217; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ninety-nine per cent of the people that do come out and sing &#8220;up the RA&#8221; at inappropriate times are not even remotely thinking about the meaning behind it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;They\u2019re just wrapped up in the moment that they\u2019re in, as were all the people in Paris that day.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ringland, who won 31 caps for Ireland, struck a similar tone and noted rugby was one of only two sports in which the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland compete under the same flag.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Rugby always showed a different way on this island: it showed violence was never necessary and it&#8217;s about building relationships across this island between people,&#8217; the former vice-chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party, told the Belfast News Letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s a sporting event, but at the same time it&#8217;s about showing how to do proper relations across this island, and I think [the singalong on Saturday night] paid credit to The Cranberries for that song and for taking the stand that they did.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I think those that condemn it maybe they should look deeper at what that song was standing against, and how it also represents what we see on the sporting field.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/14\/75849225-0-image-a-13_1695734424024.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The late Dolores O&#8217;Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries, always maintained the song wasn&#8217;t intended to show support for either Protestants or Catholics\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The late Dolores O&#8217;Riordan,\u00a0lead singer of The Cranberries, always maintained the song wasn&#8217;t intended to show support for either Protestants or Catholics.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don&#8217;t care whether it&#8217;s Protestant or Catholic, I care about the fact that innocent people are being harmed,&#8217; she told Vox.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;That&#8217;s what provoked me to write the song.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It was nothing to do with writing a song about it because I&#8217;m Irish. You know, I never thought I&#8217;d write something like this in a million years. I used to think I&#8217;d get into trouble.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12562303\/Ireland-Zombie-Rugby-World-Cup-Cranberries-IRA.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why has Ireland&#8217;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? Fans are belting out the Cranberries&#8217; 90s hit Zombie <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why has Ireland&amp;apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why has Ireland&amp;apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why has Ireland&#8217;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? Fans are belting out the Cranberries&#8217; 90s hit Zombie &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Why-has-Irelandaposs-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-IRA-controversy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/\",\"name\":\"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rugby Union\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons","og_description":"Why has Ireland&#8217;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? Fans are belting out the Cranberries&#8217; 90s hit Zombie &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Why-has-Irelandaposs-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-IRA-controversy.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/","name":"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy? - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-26T14:34:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-has-irelands-new-adopted-rugby-anthem-stirred-up-ira-controversy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rugby Union","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why has Ireland&apos;s new adopted rugby anthem stirred up IRA controversy?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}