Euro 2016: Republic of Ireland fans pick up litter while singing 'clean up for the boys in green'

Republic of Ireland fans were filmed cleaning up after themselves to bring some good to what has been a tainted European Championship

Jack de Menezes
Thursday 16 June 2016 09:13 BST
Comments
Irish fans clear up rubbish

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

While certain England fans continue to bring shame on the country through the violent clashes with French police in Lille, Irish fans continue to show why the world loves them.

Euro 2016 has been overshadowed by violent clashes between English and Russian fans along with French police, with the first week of the tournament seeing a number of arrests being made, banning orders being issued and fans taken to hospital for treatment.

One match that passed by without incident though was the 1-1 draw between the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, with fans enjoying the pre-match atmosphere in Paris while trading friendly barbs over a few beers.

It came after Northern Irish supporters were caught on video teaching their Polish opposition the “Will Grigg’s On Fire” chant as the two sets of fans mixed without incident in Nice at the weekend.

Now, the Republic of Ireland supporters have gone one better. As 36 fans were arrested in Lille where English supporters clashed with police, the Irish were captured picking up their own litter while chanting “clean up for the boys in green”.

One positive in Lille is that there have not been any clashes between English and Welsh fans, with the threat of an attack by the same Russian gang that carried out a mass assault in Marseille leading to the two sets of supporters uniting to drink together and follow a safety in numbers strategy.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in