Enda Fanning wrote:
 
 In late 1995 Mick Conroy the former Celtic player held a FAS coaching
 session in Cork. He identified a young lad called Liam Miller playing in
 
 Ballincollig as having an impressive talent. Conroy was proven correct
 and Miller ended up at Celtic. It seemed destined to happen.
 
 Fast forward to 2004. Liam Miller sneaks off to Old Trafford and gets
 himself a pre-contract deal. I, for one, am very annoyed about what he
 did - it was underhanded and sly. The story broke without the club
 knowing about it. The whole saga was needlessly embarrassing and I blame
 
 one person for this - Liam Miller. For the life of me I cannot
 understand why he wasn't more open with the club and at least allow them
 
 to be prepared for an announcement. Surely it would only have been fair
 to the club that had discovered him and helped him through injuries to
 reach the level he was now at?
 
 When news such as this breaks the norm would be that the might of the
 Celtic fan base would unite in criticizing the board. 'Why did they let
 such a prospect go ?' or 'The biscuit tin is back'. Not this time
 though. Most people have been critical of the player - they know his
 history at the club and they see his actions as been a two fingers to
 the club and supporters. I say most people because some, including one
 particular online fanzine - etims - has seen this as the perfect time to
 
 publish an opinion piece bemoaning the fact that the link between
 Ireland and Celtic is not all that its cracked up to be. Now I'm not
 quite sure if the writer had a favourite topic gnawing away at him for a
 
 while and saw this as the perfect opportunity to display his literary
 talents but for me the timing is critical to the way I interpreted the
 article. Had the article been released at another time I would perhaps
 not have seen it as being a tool to beat those feckin Paddies with
 because of what one of their own did to the club.(Emotional, I know, -
 but what the hell).
 
 The basis for the etims article appears to be that the writer has
 suddenly been made aware of his own naivety concerning his understanding
 
 of Miller's all time love of Celtic. Fair enough. I was certainly aware
 that Liam Miller's bedroom walls had been plastered with Manchester
 United pictures. But the writer then continues for a few paragraphs to
 pontificate with some anecdotal references as to why he believes there
 is no longer any special link between Ireland and Celtic - as from an
 Irish perspective. Surely a difficult task for anybody not living in
 Ireland to undertake? We can all use anecdotal references to put our
 side of the debate - so please allow me.
 
 Ireland has most definitely been the subject of many changes over recent
 
 years. Our children (and adults) look at endless television beamed into
 our country from Britain. Eastenders, Coronation Street, Big Brother
 etc. etc. and of course, sport. Some don't even realise that they are
 being slowly 'brainwashed'. The remote control is the giveaway. If no.1
 on the remote control is a British channel rather than an Irish one -
 get the medics urgently! For years sport on television here was
 dominated by Match of the Day on a Saturday night on BBC1. No Scottish
 football was anywhere to be seen. This was quickly followed by the
 emergence of Sky TV and its football coverage, which at least had some
 Scottish content. Still the Sky coverage has definitely lead to English
 teams gaining many supporters here but this to me is the crux of the
 argument - what is the definition of that 'support'? The support for the
 
 English teams here is largely a 'pub' or 'coach potato' support. These
 people rarely go to matches. They will wear the shirts and sing the
 songs - sometimes even putting that English twang in there - but it is
 what I call 'spice girl' support. The latest phenomena is always the
 greatest phenomenon. Manchester United shirts appear because Manchester
 United are successful. If Arsenal win the next three titles in England I
 
 can assure you Arsenal shirts will start dominating. 'Spice girl'
 support. Please do not compare this support to Celtic support in
 Ireland. Funnily enough even Celtic's success over the last few years
 has caused an increase in 'spice girl' support  for our team. They'll
 watch the big games, sing the rebel songs but wouldn't have a scooby
 about where Celtic Park or Glasgow is.
 
 A couple of years ago Manchester United decided they would build on the
 large support for their club here. You know - the support so many have
 commented on - that Man U revolution. A Manchester United shop was
 opened here in Dublin with their specialist 'Red Cafe' as a feature.
 There was a big opening - a few players and I think Fergie might have
 been there. This was big stuff. The media here loved it......... six
 months later the shop and restaurant closed down with big losses to many
 
 Irish suppliers. 'Spice girl' support. Meanwhile the Celtic Shop in
 Dublin is one of the most successful stores belonging to the club. I
 wrote to Dermot Desmond a couple of years ago about opening a Celtic
 restaurant franchise (Dublin/Belfast/Boston) but he hasn't got back to
 me yet. He's probably busy.
 
 With regard to team support, the Celtic support in Ireland is the
 largest and most serious support in the country. The season ticket
 holders definitely out number any English club. Take a look at the
 numbers traveling from airports and ports to matches in Glasgow and
 elsewhere. I know because I have been there. Yes, I see the odd few
 heading off to Old Trafford or Anfield, but I can assure you there is no
 
 comparison in numbers with those traveling to follow the Celtic. Serious
 
 support v. 'spice girl' support. It should also be remembered that the
 Celtic support here crosses all boundaries as well. By that I mean that
 even those who do give a 'spice girl' support to an English team will
 always have time for Celtic. This has been criticised by some but I
 mention it simply to highlight that the support for Celtic here
 surpasses all support for English teams - no matter what the nature of
 that support might be. Liam Miller was one of those people with  a lot
 of time for Celtic but when Celtic came calling his love of Manchester
 United probably slipped back somewhat - perhaps comparable to Kenny
 Dalglish's love of a certain other Glasgow team when Celtic came
 calling. In my opinion Liam Miller is wrong in the way he has gone to
 Manchester United. He is misguided. I wonder how many games he has seen,
 
 if any, at Old Trafford. Very few I would imagine.  He will probably see
 
 quite a few now from a bench very close to the pitch.
 
 Yes, folks, its been a bad week. We all feel as though we've been
 mugged. But whenever these trying times appear I have always taken
 solace in the fact that I belong amongst the greatest supporters in the
 world. I have also always taken solace from the fact that I'm Irish and
 that my country and my compatriots have always had a great affinity with
 
 all things Celtic. Liam Miller's actions cannot and should not be
 allowed to take that away from me or any other Celtic fan here - even
 through misinterpretation. We are still the biggest club in Ireland. One
 
 man's incomprehensible lack of an affinity with the club that
 discovered, coached and supported him should not be interpreted as the
 feelings of a nation. The heart and soul of football support in Ireland
 is still for all things Celtic. Long may it last.
 
 By the way - what happened to the Spice Girls ?
 
 Dubcelt.