Sir, – In addition to the adrenaline rush and great national emotion engendered by the Jack Charlton era (Keith Duggan, "The Boys in Green: 'It felt as if we had been in recession my entire life when Italia '90 happened'", Sport, March 7th), the success of the Republic of Ireland team gave us Northern nationalists a common identity with the Southern supporters.
We had watched with restrained admiration the exploits of Northern Ireland in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, but at the same time could not emotionally support them.
At last we had our own national team to support. It was a joyous time to be on the road with Jack’s army. Yours, etc,
BRENDAN TAYLOR,
READ MORE
Belfast.