Kieran Shannon: The story of Irish sport tells the story of Ireland
Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton waves to fans after the World Cup 1990 Group F 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Palermo which sent Ireland into the last 16. Italia 90 was a watershed moment in Irish sport — and indeed Irish life, says Kieran Shannon.
For anyone who purports to writing for a living, it was impossible to read Fintan O’Toole’s We Don’t Know Ourselves over the Christmas and not be impressed, indeed astonished, by the sheer scale and achievement of it. Weaving the personal with the macro with remarkable skill and coherence, he manages to tell the narrative of how this country has evolved and transformed since his birth in 1958 in a way not even the most skilled historian or sociologist could but only a journalist of his calibre. If there was one book you’d recommend to anyone from 15 to 95 which tells the history – story – of post-war – or should we say post-emergency Ireland – then it is O’Toole’s. It is quite simply a magnum opus, magnificent, a masterpiece – and they’re just words beginning with M.
It is not, however, absolutely flawless. For those of us who (at least attempt or purport to) write about sport for a living, it is somewhat disappointing as it is striking that O’Toole himself makes little attempt to write about – or even reference – sport and the part it has played in the last 60 years of Irish life. How can we attempt to know ourselves if we don’t know how important sport is and has been in the daily lives of people here?
