Life

Lynette Fay: Tomorrow is a huge day for Ulster football as two neighbouring tribes go to war

There was a joke doing the rounds during the World Cup ahead of the England semi-final: 'The only way I would support England is if they were playing Tyrone.' Why are we disliked? We’re great craic – honestly!

Lynette Fay

Lynette Fay

Lynette is an award winning presenter and producer, working in television and radio. Hailing from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, she is a weekly columnist with The Irish News.

Tyrone and Monaghan face each other in the Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter final in May – they take to the field again tomorrow Picture: Margaret McLaughlin
Tyrone and Monaghan face each other in the Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter final in May – they take to the field again tomorrow Picture: Margaret McLaughlin Tyrone and Monaghan face each other in the Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter final in May – they take to the field again tomorrow Picture: Margaret McLaughlin

THE summer of 2018 has been a great summer of sport so far. It started with The World Cup in June – even I got excited by this for the first time in my life – then came Wimbledon, hurling, hurling, hurling, and in the last week the Irish women’s hockey team stole all our hearts.

Last Sunday my home county Tyrone defeated Donegal in the final game of the inaugural ‘Super 8s’ and tomorrow, they will take on neighbours Monaghan in the All Ireland Semi Final. Apart from the first round matches, I have loved the Super 8 format.

But back to the hockey. I would love to bottle the spirit of the Irish women’s hockey team and take a small sip of it every day. All the sacrifices they made, the fact that they had frugally planned their very limited finances to get them as far as only the quarter final. They surpassed all expectation and captured the hearts of lovers of sport and people who couldn’t care less about sport.

I heard an isolated comment on radio during the week that the last few weeks of sporting prowess have illustrated yet again just how tribal we are in sporting terms.

I’m embracing tribalism this weekend, big time.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the GAA and in particular, that I love Tyrone football. As discussed previously in this column, I’m a fully fledged county woman. So you can imagine that I was just a little bit delighted last Sunday at around 5.15pm.

I was alone in my celebrations as I had spent the afternoon preparing for an important radio show that night which, on a sombre note, was a tribute to the late Donegal fiddle player Tommy Peoples.

It was strange to be working on that programme, having one eye on the football. I have the greatest respect for Co Donegal and its people. It’s full of music, language, culture and they love their football – just like us in Tyrone.

In recent years, however, a fierce rivalry has developed between the two counties – but I suppose that happens when neighbouring counties are doing well and eventually they go head to head. It happened with Derry in the 90s, Armagh in the 00s, then Donegal, and now, Monaghan.

I confess to having jumped on the bandwagon of rivalry regarding Derry, Armagh and Donegal. Monaghan to me are a different kettle of fish.

Like Tyrone, they absolutely deserve to be in an All Ireland semi-final. They fell asleep momentarily in the Ulster Championship and allowed Fermanagh to sneak a win but the qualifiers have done this team no harm whatsoever. The Kerry ‘Super 8’ match, which resulted in a flukey, undeserved draw for the Kingdom, might not have done them a bit of harm.

Tomorrow’s match is a mouthwatering prospect. I’m under no illusions – when it comes to Sunday at 3.30, 31 counties will be supporting Monaghan. Tyrone will most likely be on our own.

There was a joke doing the rounds during the World Cup ahead of the England semi-final: "The only way I would support England is if they were playing Tyrone."

That hurt! Why are we disliked? I had this discussion with a couple of friends last Sunday evening. Collectively, we just can’t understand why Tyrone are not favoured by many. We’re great craic! Honestly!

I think that sometimes passion for sport is mistaken for arrogance. The fanaticism towards Gaelic football in Tyrone has reached boiling point in Tyrone in recent years.

My running group were planning the weekend run the other night, three out of seven of us were from Tyrone so we proceeded to plan the runs around the football, and then continued into a ‘do you remember…' conversation. The tribalism kicked in, as it usually does.

The rest of the group either didn’t understand what we were talking about or cast their eyes to heaven. That’s usually the reaction.

Tomorrow is a huge day for Ulster football as two neighbouring tribes go to war. It’s a big day for Tyrone, but I can’t help feeling that it’s an even bigger day for Monaghan. I hope that Ulster celebrates tomorrow and come what may, that the people of the province get behind the victors as they progress to the All Ireland Football Final.

PS. Dear Croke Park,

If Tyrone do win tomorrow, please opt for Niall Hanna’s version of The Mountains of Pomeroy instead of Pretty Little Girl from Omagh…

Míle buíochas.