25% of NI footy fans supporting Republic

Published Friday, 29 June 2012

Despite Northern Ireland failing to qualify for the Euro 2012 tournament, a recent survey suggests that 60% of local adults are watching the games - and that more people supported the Republic of Ireland than England.

25% of NI footy fans supporting Republic

The Republic of Ireland team applaud crowds who welcomed them in Gdynia, Poland. (© PA)

Of the more than 700 people quizzed for a YouGov poll before Euro 2012 kicked off, just 13% said they'd be backing England and 25% were cheering on the Republic.

But 12% were staying strictly neutral, 44% weren't tuning in at all, and the remaining handful were pinning their hopes on Spain or Germany.

"The majority of Northern Irish adults have tuned in to this year's tournament - suggesting that a passion for football takes precedence over local pride," YouGov's Adam McDonnell said.

Northern Ireland didn't make it past the qualifying stages, finishing fifth out of the six teams in their group.

The Republic made it to the finals, but scored just one goal and were beaten 3-1 by Croatia, 2-0 by Italy and 4-0 by Spain to be sent home disappointed.

England battled their way to the quarter-finals, but lost out 4-2 to Italy in a penalty shoot-out.

Comments

2 Comments

n.i.nemesis in derry wrote (327 days ago):

At least we can say as liam Brady did on TV last night, that with the finals teams being from Ireland's group, it was only possible to get three points max all from Croatia. Trap's stubborn refusal to change the team players in any significant way even after it was already done and dusted, means there was no hope. We still have 100% record of clearing group stages at the 3 World Cups.

Ryan in Belfast wrote (328 days ago):

This wasnt really surprising, was it? I mean, if you could see a graph showing sales of Republic of Ireland shirts in Northern Ireland, im sure they were selling just as fast they were selling in the Republic. A very large proportion of Northern Ireland's population support the Republic of Ireland, the vast majority of those supporters are from the Catholic community. But support for the ROI team isnt just limted to Catholics, some people from the Protestant community support the team also.

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25% of NI footy fans supporting Republic

Despite Northern Ireland failing to qualify for the Euro 2012 tournament, a recent survey suggests that 60% of local adults are watching the games - and that more people supported the Republic of Ireland than England.