"Well, sorry, Jim, but you were not there."
Where exactly Richard - you said you were "told" - did you actually witness or experience such hostility?
If I feel offended and not a little threatened by your statements on the Irish, here and elsewhere ("I don't like the Irish amd the Irish don't like me" leaps to mind", I can't can't begin to imagine how an Irish member of this forum feels.
If you or any other member had ever made such a comment about West Indians or Pakistanis, I would have hoped that they would have received and earned a red card.
I don't go in for national anthems of any shape or form but describe Ireland's as "The IRA anthem" is scraping the bottom of the sewer. Wonder if you'd like to compare it to the hymn to British Imperialism that will lift the roof of the Albert Hall and ring in the ears of many ex-colonial visitors later this week?
For someone I admire and would happily scramble to agree with on most other matters, you seem quite keen on displaying this particular Achilles heel for all to see.
Jim Carroll