North Tipp Ireland Football fans rewarded for their loyalty

By Thomas Conway

Nothing beats being there, and while most people experienced the elation of the Republic of Ireland’s fairytale triumph over Hungary from afar, a few select supporters witnessed the drama first-hand, from within the Puskás Arena itself in Budapest.

Lest there be any doubt, North Tipperary (indeed County Tipperary) was strongly represented amongst the vocal away crowd in the Hungarian capital. Somewhere, amid the flags and the banners and the green jerseys, Donncha Hassey and his crew from the North Tipperary Republic of Ireland Supporters Club (NTRISC) were cheering and shouting and just generally being Irish as all the drama unfolded. Donncha, an avid fan of the national team all his life, describes the scenes as Troy Parrott poked the ball beyond Denes Dibusz in the Hungarian goal.

“The Hungarians were just stunned into silence really and then the Irish section was just bedlam, complete madness,” he recalls.

“There was every sort of emotion, people running around hugging. I suppose there was a bit of shock as well, and because the goal came so late, you were looking to see was VAR going to be called, but the whole thing was just mental!”

Donncha and the gang were also in the Aviva Stadium three nights earlier, as Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side stunned Portugal with a sensational 2-0 win. He says that on the night, Ireland “never looked like losing” and could actually have won by more.

The entire three-day episode will probably go down as one of the most famous chapters in Irish football history, particularly if Ireland do qualify for next summer’s World Cup. It offered a hint of redemption for a group of players and a manager that had been roundly criticised over the past several months, and it also provided some much-needed success for Ireland’s die-hard supporters to enjoy.

Donncha, Kieran O’Donoghue, Philip Shanahan and Mark McKenna are part of that die-hard support group. All four are at the helm of the NTRISC, with Kieran currently serving as chairperson.

The group has over 45 members, with two strands of membership available. Gold tier offers a season ticket whilst a silver tier member is entitled to apply for tickets on a match-by-match basis for home games.

Donncha says that the ticket allocation policy of the FAI is top-class, putting dedicated supporters first and rewarding consistent attendance.

“I’d be the first to give out about the FAI but they do have a fantastic ticket office. They do a lot wrong, the FAI, but the one thing they do right is they weigh tickets,” he said.

Upsurge in interest

The NTRISC is one of the only groups of its kind in Munster, and while there are similar organisations with robust followings in places such as Portlaoise, Mullingar and Sligo, the North Tipp branch is somewhat unique given that Tipperary is not primarily associated with soccer, although Shane Long may have altered that perception.

Speaking of which, the former Republic of Ireland striker will be a guest speaker at an upcoming Questions & Answers style interview in the Hibernian Inn, which the organisation is hosting. The event is scheduled for late February/early March, and more details will be unveiled in due course.

Donncha is also anticipating an upsurge in membership in the wake of Ireland’s astonishing performances this month. Already, he is being contacted with inquiries. He is optimistic about Ireland’s playoff prospects and acknowledges that although Prague could prove a difficult place to go, Ireland would “probably have been the last team the Czechs would have wanted to draw”, given the momentum now behind the national team.

He’s encouraging anyone interested in joining the NTRISC to get in touch, and he emphasises that it isn’t just about the football. The group have travelled to far-flung destinations in every corner of Europe and beyond, employing all sorts of transport to get to games. There have been some memorable trips. And there will surely be plenty more. For every trip they make, a new flag is added to their banner which is now at 33 nations.

“We’ve gone to Georgia, Armenia, Moldova - they would be some of the furthest away places we’ve gone to. And in some cases, it’s been a question of planes, trains and automobiles to get there, because the journeys are so complicated. They’re places you wouldn’t normally see,” Hassey concluded.