Martin O'Neill on Irishness (Part 1)

Here is the Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill addressing Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland, speaking on the theme 'What it means to be Irish'. This was a lecture conducted in December '08 on the Irish identity to an audience made up largely of young college students as well as President Mary McAleese.

The Villa manager discusses amongst other things growing up in a nationalist family, his experiences playing for Northern Ireland and his overall thoughts on his Irish identity.

In this part, Martin O'Neill talks about growing up in a nationalist household, his experiences playing Gaelic games as well as how he became interested in soccer and the English league. Enjoy.

Category:

Sports

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• Martin
• O'Neill
• Irishness
• Northern
• Ireland
• Celtic
• Aston
• Villa
• Forest
• interview
• Republic
• NI

[SiMags]

really intelligent man.

[Unkdray]

Yes, you are, moron.

[YonDailyGossip]

Rangers fan here.

I like Martin O'Neil and think he's a great manager.I couldn't care less whether he classes himself as irish or Northern Irish as i seen the man collect his OBE from The Queen beaming with pride and to know the man's not a religious bigot pleases me.

Nothing but respect for the guy

[MrJoshuaPadraig]

@fallsman1888

They are also considered British by the government in Dublin aswell as in London. N.Éire people can claim both Irish and British passports.

[ShauneyON]

Great man Martin O'Neill. He is a very good speaker, I would love to go to a sports mans evening with him as a guest speaker. However, I feel that he has not pushed on in the right direction since leaving Celtic. I think after doing a good job at Villa, he should have been pushing on to a club like Arsenal or Liverpool. Inspirational man and a winner who I think is misunderstood in a lot of situations.

[mts1977]

Regardless of what passport he has, he considers himself Irish. It's not for anyone on this thread to tell another man their identity.

Martin is clearly a patriot, not a nationalist. Unlike others, his love of his country is not defined partly on hating another.

I wish him well at Sunderland

[fallsman1888]

im from ulster ,and i have an irish passport,all people of ireland are considered irish by our goverment in dublin .all nine counties in uslter are included ,proud antrim man here .from the great city of belfast .

[mrmagicroundcircle]

@impongo2 northern ireland in ireland halfwit

[DowneyKid1]

@impongo2 how do you know he has a british passport? and how can he be british if he has spoken so passionately about his irishness and his irish identity... youre living in a bubble mate

[JohnAdams198805]

doesnt matter what citzenship he carries he acknowledges himself irish anyhow even tho he played soccer for nothern ireland and he played gealic football too hes irish as far as i am concered best manager huge huge respect well said martin hes prord to be irish