Conor Niland at Wimbledon

Instead of putting this into the Tennis section amid all the Murray mania I thought it would be more appropriate to post here. Best wishes to Conor Niland at Wimbledon today. The first Irishman to compete there since 1984. A Limerick man and former pupil of St Nessans NS in Mungret. It would be great if he gets through as he will probably meet Federer in the 2nd round.

First Irishman in 34 years to play at Wimbledon.

Live on tG4.

Good shout AKA

His old man played corner back for Mayo.

I hope bottle isn't in the genes.

The crowds on Conor's cravass are going mental

One set all

Did he really play for Mayo? Oh shhhh.................................ucks! Hopefully the bottler gene skipped a generation. Great tradition in tennis from the Nilands over the years.

Murray-mania sometimes gets right on my wick. He'll be Scottish rather than British when he gets knocked out as usual. Not really into tennis but good luck to Conor.

While we're on the subject Rory Mcilroy also has GAA links too, former Armagh and St.Pauls clubman Mickey McDonald is his uncle.

yeah, he did....wikipedia is never wrong

"Although Niland was born in Birmingham, his parents moved the family back to Limerick when he was 2 years old. He stayed there until the age of 16, when he went to Millfield, the public school in Somerset that is renowned for its sporting prowess.

After three years there, Niland went to study English at University of California, Berkeley, before leaving to focus on playing tennis professionally in 2005.

His father, Ray, played at corner back for the Mayo senior Gaelic football team, while his sister Gina is a former Irish No.1 tennis player."

i was corrected on another site. It isn't conor's cravass...it is in fact the conor pass....i won't take the credit but that is genius.

don't get me started on mcilroy

Is it really true that he had the British flag around him and someone tried to give him an Irish flag but left it on the ground? Or is this just another urban myth?

akaredtop wrote:Is it really true that he had the British flag around him and someone tried to give him an Irish flag but left it on the ground? Or is this just another urban myth?

I heard he did that alright but I did'nt see it.

Here's what happened with crusty the clown and the tri colour.

http://www.balls.ie/2011/06/20/some-guy-threw-a-tricolour-onto-rory-mcilroys-shoulder/

I don't blame him for that. It was all the hopping and lepping about with the Loyalist flag that bothered me.

2 each in south wesht london.

I agree Rebel. Yes the loyalist thing would bother me as well.

He played his heart out. He never gave up,just lacked that little bit extra class at the end. No shame in the way you last Conor. You gave Mannarino a good fight.

you can't beat breeding. the mayo genes came out in him. Two breaks up in the 5th and he blew it.

Oh and he's from Limerick so he never had a chance.
I blame the referee. And the clash of colours was desperate!!

Why must everyone from Northern Ireland be questioned on their politics lads?
Rory considers himself british - get over it...............
As for the guy who threw the tricolour at him - idiot.............................

I am over it.
He just wont be getting my support.
McDowell doesn't come from that tradition yet he doesn't appear to be half as bothered about professing his 'nationality' as the bold R Mac.

I think you'll find Northern Ireland is a nation not a "nation", i don't think Rory is making it up!!........................the kid is a credit to his family and to the game especially when you see the way a lot of supposed sports stars conduct themselves....................

Personally, I wasnt thrilled with the flags situation but if those are his beliefs you have to respect them even if you do not agree with them. To be honest i think McIlroy is in a pretty difficult position. No matter what he did he would have gotten flak off people.

It will be interesting how he handles that golf will be in the olympics in 2016. Before this he could have just played the issue down like, for instance Barry McGuigan did, but in a few years he will have to nail his colours to the mast. Whether he decides to play for Ireland or GB and NI, he's going to face a fair bit of stick.

John Cregan wrote:I think you'll find Northern Ireland is a nation not a "nation", i don't think Rory is making it up!!

There is no such nationality. Rory is making it up.

The legitimacy of the nation is in doubt but do not confuse that with the absolute certainty that there is no such nationality.

CorkGeordie wrote:Personally, I wasnt thrilled with the flags situation but if those are his beliefs you have to respect them even if you do not agree with them. To be honest i think McIlroy is in a pretty difficult position. No matter what he did he would have gotten flak off people.

It will be interesting how he handles that golf will be in the olympics in 2016. Before this he could have just played the issue down like, for instance Barry McGuigan did, but in a few years he will have to nail his colours to the mast. Whether he decides to play for Ireland or GB and NI, he's going to face a fair bit of stick.

He already has nailed his colours to the mast. He didn't have to make a show of it, but he did.

Lads, I'm not either a tennis fan nor a golf fan. But my opinion on this is that wether someone is from NI and from a unionist background and "makes a show of it" dosen't matter. They are still from the island of IRELAND and therefore IRISH regardless what they think they are or their religious/ political beliefs. Wether or not he had a union jack dosen't change the fact that he is IRISH, he could've had a Pakistani flag on him for all I would care.

He's hardly having an anti-Irish rant or anything like that, he can nail his colours to the mast all he wants but he is still from IRELAND. CorkGeordie is right also, sportspeople from the 6 counties often face a difficult position in "which side they're on" they will probably get flak from some people regardless wether they made a show of it or not. He is also apparently some sort of ambassador for UNICEF ROI.

Agree with GaelicWarrior, why are we questioning this mans political views just because he is from NI ?
Neil Lennon has been almost hounded out of his job because of where he is from/his religion.

This is not what sport is about. McIlroy is the best golfer in the world.....why cant we just be proud of him?

McIlroy is a member of the Golfing Union of Ireland. An organisation for ALL of Ireland (like the IRFU). He has competed for Ireland in tournaments in the past. No matter who he plays for in the Olympics, he still deserves our support now.

John Cregan wrote:why cant we just be proud of him?

why?

It was a rhetorical quiestion really! I know why you are not proud of him.........................
I don't agree with your view but you are entitled to have it.

fair enough.

I am a great man for a bandwagon. I was all set to go out and buy a tennis racket and everything. It would be in the loft in 2 weeks along with my michelle smith inspired swimming cap.

I just can't get on board the bandwagon of a partitionist.

Yeah, he's right up there with Carson, Cromwell, William of Orange, Ian Paisley, Gazza, David Weir and the funny men in the sashes and bowler hats.

I expect to see him marching up and down the worlds fairways indiscriminately. If they design a titliest bowler hat, i think himself and his caddie will be wearing them, laughing at the rest of us!!!

I don't expect to see that. I did however see him draped in a defunct loyalist flag and his old man lepping around draped in one. I did hear him refer to the British open as his home competition and would play for the UK in the Olympics.

If he wants to be British, good luck to him. I just won't be fawning all over him and referring to him as an irish sports star when he evidently doesn't want to be one.

Well i see grown men using the Irish tricolour at Celtic Park supposedly to support a British soccer team when all they really want to do is promote their own hate and similarly the Rangers "fans" use the union jack in the same way......................i find that stuff more abhorent than anything McIlroy is doing...........

John I also abhor that Celtic/Rangers thing. Never had any interest in either of them as they are only genrators of hate and negativity.
I would also agree with Rebel in that McIlroy can do what he likes, but that our National broadcaster and Irish media in general should not be adoring this guy as he plainly is not Irish.

Im sure McIlroy sees himself as Northern Irish & British kinda like in am Limerick first, Irish second.

Im sure if McIlroy was from Galway or Cork or even from Down with nationalist tendancies RTE would be more OTT........

At the end of the day, he's from the island of Ireland and he's a superstar, so why not..............

Celtic were born of the Irish diaspora and rightly celebrate that.

McIlroy was born on the island of Ireland and choses not to be pragmatic and say nothing at all but actively look to fly under another banner. I never introduced religion or politics at all. it was McIlroy that chose not to embrace his Irishness and as such I won't delight in his achievements. It is something that is pretty important to me.

Jeezo what have I started now....

Regardless what flag he has McIlroy is Irish and there's no reason that RTE and people from the ROI shouldn't want to celebrate his win if they feel like it. Its not impossible to be both British AND Irish at the same time if people want, under the GFA its easier to do that nowadays especially. As already stated he is a member if the IRISH governing body and has represented IRELAND before and also takes to do with UNICEF IRELAND. This suggests that he still feels some sort of relevance to the IRISH part of his identity and as John Cregan has already said he hardly seems like someone with die-hard loyalist anti-irish viewpoints.

Question for you RB, if he called himself another nationality rather than British, but was still from Ireland, would you still not bother with him for the same reason? And what if Cork GAA had a player originally from a unionist background who wanted to be british and have a union jack on his back after winning a Munster title say, how would you feel about that player? Would he cease to be Irish in your opinion?

Is it time to wrap up the flags and get back to GAA(or tennis!) talk??............

Aye, I suppose John, I've just missed some of the debate from earlier is all.

GW,
I wasn't having a go at you at all. It was more of my way of saying im worn out from it!!

Gaelic-Warrior wrote:
Question for you RB, if he called himself another nationality rather than British, but was still from Ireland, would you still not bother with him for the same reason? And what if Cork GAA had a player originally from a unionist background who wanted to be british and have a union jack on his back after winning a Munster title say, how would you feel about that player? Would he cease to be Irish in your opinion?

No other country exercises a claim to Irish land other than Britain. It is not a reasonable scenario to create. Dpn't mistake this for anti British sentiment. It is purely that McIlroy identifies more closely with the British state than he does with his Irishness. Cork is not occupied, Co Down is. There is a world of difference and the scenario does not ring true.

I would love for people of a Unionist persuasion to take up Gaelic games in big numbers. If Cork couldn't win and whilst the Union is intact, then I would love for a Unionist from the occupied territories to win Sam or Liam. i would take umbrage should they introduce a politic that is anathema to the aims and objectives of the association.

Fair do's lads. I don't really think its such a big deal, I'd probably support him if I was a golf fan. Rather than being occupied by Britain I think of it more as the 6 counties being occupied by the loyalist bigots who demanded an opt-out from the anglo-irish peace treaty at gun-point. I think Britain would more than happy to hand the north back, but the situation there has never been right for it.

In any case I'll respect your point of view and move on.