Europe

The Republic of Ireland fans are to be honoured for their sportsmanship at the Euro football tournament  the Mayor of Paris has announced.

 

 

Fans are to be presented with  the Medal of the City of Paris, the ‘Grand Vermeil’  by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has written to the President of Ireland to inform him. The award is considered the city’s highest honour, with past recipients including Rafael Nadal, Jane Fonda and Nobel Prize for literature winner Toni Morrison.

Irish supports at Belgium match at Stade Matmut Atlantique

Irish supports at Belgium match at Stade Matmut Atlantique Image by Getty

According to AFP, Mayor Hidalgo cited Ireland fans for the “exemplary sportsmanship” and said that the country’s soccer supporters distinguished themselves by the “atmosphere” they created during their time at the Euros 2016. 

 

Irish fans pay tribute to Shane Long

Irish fans pay tribute to Shane Long

Fans of the Republic of Ireland who went out to France on Sunday in a 2-1 defeat, made headlines over the course of their four matches, for their good humour, random acts of kindness and singing that were all captured on camera. The green army were commended for their behaviour by French football legend Eric Cantona:  “The awesome Irish fans have been the life of the party. Singing with the police, putting babies to sleep, serenading the ladies. They also multiply bread, change water into beer, they even know the end to Game Of Thrones.” Some of the situations that saw fans making headlines for the right reasons include:

 

Cleaning up after themselves in Bordeaux:

 

 

Changing a flat tyre for a senior French couple in Paris:

 

Singing the ‘Our Father’ prayer to a nun on a train:

(this one was singled out by Republic manager Martin O’Neill as his personal favourite)

 

 

Singing Abba songs with Swedish fans before their countries met:

(and telling them to “Go home to your sexy wives”)

 

 

A fan wearing a horse’s head mask  kicking a ball through an open window:

 

 

Singing a lullaby to a French baby on a train in Bordeaux:

 

 

Going a bit crazy after beating Italy, denting a car, and then putting money in the window to cover the repair:

 

 

Serenading a French girl with “I can’t take my eyes off you”:

 

 

John Delaney, the head of the Football Assocation of Ireland paid tribute to the travelling supporters on arriving back in Dublin this week: “There is nothing more emotional and fantastic than when you face the tricolour abroad and we did that on the playing fields of France and our supporters – the best ambassadors this country will ever have.”