Former Northern Ireland captain Martin O'Neill 'commends bravery' of James McClean's poppy stance
Former Northern Ireland captain Martin O'Neill has defended James McClean’s poppy stance as “brave”.
O'Neill, the former Celtic, Villa, and Republic of Ireland manager, made the comments after being asked for his viewpoint on the radio station TalkSport.
The discussion began about the abortive minute's silence at Rugby Park last Sunday, which had to be halted after less than 30 seconds after Celtic supporters sang about the death of Aidan McAnespie, who was shot by a British soldier at an Army checkpoint in County Tyrone in 1988.
When asked on Friday by TalkSport host Jim White if Celtic fans should have remained quiet, O'Neill, who hails from Kilrea in County Londonderry, said: "Yes, they should. If it's a minute's silence, it's a minute's silence.
"You should have respect for the moment… yes, just being silent. And I would go with that. But in terms of the wearing of the poppy, in terms of all of those particular things during it, there is that historical point...
"For a lot of Irish republicans and nationalists, the poppy does represent a bit of oppression.
“Way back, just after the First World War in terms of the British Army, a group called the Black and Tans coming in and just running amok… these types of things have happened.
“And so that is historical, and that has had an effect."
O’Neill also passed comment on James McClean’s refusal to wear a poppy and his decision to stand away from his Wrexham team-mates when they were observing a minute’s silence last weekend.
“James took the stance some years ago, realising that he was putting his career in jeopardy in the sense that he not only was going to be booed by away fans, but he was going to be booed by his home fans at Sunderland,” O’Neill remarked.
“And he went from, you know, from being a hero, where he did brilliantly, absolutely brilliantly, in his first season there to being booed at home. That's very, very difficult to take, but he took that stance.
“I commend James for it. He's a brave lad. He's not only brave on the pitch, he's brave off the pitch as well.”