Next up from EA

Include the "fourth" verse of the UK national anthem to upset the Scots.

X201

@ArgentAngel: (bear with me) The Association Football Association of the Republic of Ireland, the FAI, split up acrimoniously from the previous all-Ireland national association, the IFA, in the 1920s.

Now the IFA only looks after football in the North. 2 separate associations, 2 separate teams, 2 separate FIFA members.

The Northern Ireland team play no home games in the Republic. Even if they did, their anthem would still be God Save the Queen.

I believe there are laws in the Republic which state that the Soldiers Song _has_ to be played at public events. (Like at the end of wedding receptions), hence why it gets played at all-Ireland rugby matches in the Republic.

However, the actual anthem for the Ireland rugby team is "Ireland's call", which refers to the 4 provinces of the whole island and is non-partisan. This is the anthem that gets played at neutral and away Irish rugby matches.

For the Commonwealth games, I believe Northern Ireland's anthem is Danny Boy, but I might be wrong.

Chadders

@RandomHero48: More like a hundred thousand :(

Beyond-Infinity

Speaking as an Irish republican, may I just say that there's really no need to apologise :)

kiigan

Its not surprising,alot of people have no understanding of the history or politics of the country, you'd think that a little research would be done to stop a stuipid mistake causing offence.

It cant be all that hard to get right surely?

The Fat Man

I know they apoligized but are they going to patch it?

Triggster

Each time EA screws up a Fanboy is born :(

RandomHero48

I know this is the part were I am supposed to insert the EA bashing comment... but I am just gonna go with a who cares...

And I love soccer/football

Scruffylookin13

I feel bad for them, but in the case of @Chadders could that just mean that all of the games are played in the south?

Also, fun little tidbit I just learned; the song "America" (better known as "My Country tis of Thee") is written to the tune of "God Save The Queen."

ArgentAngel

@Chadders: Yeah, sorry, didnt make that clear enough.

Luke Plunkett

Thats a bit rediculous. But hey, I remember FIFA 2000 for the ps1 didnt even have the Ireland team in it.

TheSpiller

The Soldiers song is in fact the anthem of Eire, or the Republic of Ireland.

It's played at all-Ireland events held in the South. But for instance, not when the Ireland events are held in the North.

Chadders

Oh dear, this sends out all the wrong messages. Unless EA are secretly Irish nationalists. Even then, they're a bit behind the times.

MajorMcMuffin

Way to go EA.

*Adds to list of EA SCREW UPS...#5008*

Amazon_Chris

What twats, how could they get that wrong?

Triggster

Do they play an insrumental or the actual song??
because the national anthem is Ámhrán na bhFiann, as in as Gaeilge (in Irish)
I'd be more upset if they had it sung in English or something stupid like that (for the Republic anyway)
as for how EA were so thick to just throw Northern Ireland's anthem under the same .mp3 as the Republic even though they are two separate teams in-game and hence may have a different culture and anthem etc. just increases my intense hatred for EA as a company
@Chadders: There's no law that says we have to play the anthem at all public events, we just like to play it because we are proud of our country and our language

tonka_92

@X201:

The organisers in Japan & Korea of the 2002 World Cup did actually add in a second verse to the instrumental backing of God Save The Queen before all the England matches.

No-one on the pitch or in the stands had a clue what to sing. :(

Chadders

I'm Northern Irish...if anything I'm protestant...but I don't care about this really.

Pretty funny if you ask me xD

Might I add thanks for adding the part about not having to dodge bombs...I'm 17 and I don't remember anything very drastic happening that doesn't happen in America or even England everyday. So yeah, it's not bad at all! :P

Burneout

@kiigan:

haha. I'm a Northern Irish catholic and this made my day ;)

nitram100

Yeah it took me a minute to figure out WTF is "Soldiers Song" as I never learned the English translated version as a kid, only the Irish version.

kiigan

It could be worse, they could have included Czechoslovakia as a Team, as we all know how good EA's geography is ;P

ciabb64

First they steal our kit design, now our national anthem! :P

Morpork

@tonka_92:

Ok then, I assumed it was a law because there were laws about singing God Save The Queen in the UK at public events, which have long since been repealed.

I as a half-Irish Englishman was one of the few people singing along (in my rusty Gaelic) at the end of my cousin's wedding reception in Clare a couple of years back. :)

@projectmayhem:

I think that the North had a more successful qualifying campaign than the Republic did this time round, so don't gloat too much!

@saladinzero:

The Tricolour is an interesting one. The current Republic of Ireland flag has gold in it, but originally it was meant to be Orange to represent protestantism, with the Green of Catholicism separated by the white of peace, as I understand it.

Chadders

@PirateThom: That's exactly it. I'm proud of my Northern Irish heritage, my parents were a mixed marriage when such a thing was risky at best, and have relatives both north and south of the border. I have links to both sides of the divide, but wish to identify with neither (because neither of them behaved like paragons of virtue in Northern Ireland's history, despite the propaganga).

Therefore, I'd like to have a flag I can identify with as being solely of my country. It's like Wales being continually pissed off about not being represented in the Union Jack, or England not having an independent parliament of their own - it seems trivial to outsiders, but key to those directly affected.

saladinzero

I'm from Dublin and am more shocked anyone noticed... i.e. someone actually chose to play as NI... :D

projectmayhem

@saladinzero: Yeah, which is a shame, since I don't identify with the UK or the Republic. I support the Northern Ireland football team, but I do not pledge loyality to the monarchy.

I wish Northern Ireland was independant of both Ireland and the UK, but it's never going to happen. The economy can't support it.

PirateThom

Everyone makes mistakes. If I were making a FIFA game, I probably would've made the same mistake, because I don't know a damn thing about the Irish, even if I have a small amount of Irish ancestry!

DukeOfPwn

Hopefully next year the free state team will have God Save the Queen.

PirateThom

I'm a Northern Irish Protestant, and this is nowhere near as bad as the fact that Northern Ireland has not had its own flag since the 1970's.

Sure, the Red Hand of Ulster got appropriated by loyalist groups during the Troubles, but so did the Irish tricolour get appropriated by the IRA and no-one protests its use.

/vents cultural grievances.

saladinzero

@Chadders: That actually clears up a lot. Thanks.

ArgentAngel

@kiigan: Sorry guys, the Gaelic name's a bit of a mouthful for those of us brought up with naught but the King's English ;)

Luke Plunkett

hello? comment?

Jagzthebest

Add this to EA's Czechoslovakia screw up on the Command & Conquer box and you can see why Europe is ignored when it comes to games.

Jagzthebest

i thought half the north Irish would have called in to thank em.

CaptCHAOS

@saladinzero:

Wales is technically part of England according to the Laws in Wales Acts of 1536 (?) or somesuch. Hence the St. George's cross represents Wales in the Union Jack.

Not exactly representative I agree, but the St. George's cross is a Norman emblem, and not really representative of anyone's Anglo-Saxon heritage by the same token.

Chadders

@projectmayhem: Dude we have a better football team than you lol. We beat Spain(European Champions) 3-2, England 2-0 and Sweden 2-1. You couldnt even beat Columbia by more than one goal.

Also I think its fair to say the only people who really care about the state of NI/South are unemployed scumbags. We played a Protestant V Catholic game of football on the last day of school before we left for uni and it was good natured. Thats the way its gonna be from now in 20 years time.

Golem29

Maybe we've got a nationalist working inside EA putting things right :)

In the end, half the people who buy the game in Northern Ireland are going to be absolutely delighted, half... well they wont be very happy campers.

robnubis

@Chadders:
The flag should have orange not gold. It was not lost along the way - the right colours were not used.

nevelator

@PirateThom:

I think we need to make our anthem so the nationalist and unionist fanatics can't bitch about it. Plus it would improve our identity in being a separate nation and allow everyone to take some pride in being "Northern Irish". That way, people won't feel the need to attatch themselves so some 400 year old odd past that they have never seen with their own eyes but feel for some reason they should adhere to it... well hopefully, though the idiot disease is pretty rife in NI.

Radz

I remember going into a Pub in N.Ireland and the entrance had a stadium like turnstyle to get in. The landlord told me it was so no one could run in, spray the place with bullets and then run back out. :/

Seriously big mistake of EA to have done this.

MetalGearMax

@nevelator: Well, hate to get legal, but not enough to stop me doing it... The Constitution of Ireland of 1937 (the document that meant the Republic exists) says in Article 7 "The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange." I believe it would be more historically accurate if it were gold (I never knew why, but smart historians told me so), but legally, it must be orange. I'm a Constitutional Law buff, this is my sort of Kotaku comment discussion!

kennyd1

@MetalGearMax: What about 20 years ago? I live in NI and have all my life, ive also been victim to an attack. And NEVER have i been in a pub with a turnstyle.

I am an Irish Catholic, and proud. I support the NI team and the ROI team. I could not wear a NI top in public because i would be classified as a protestant.

I too believe and wish that NI had their own independant and inclusive flag and anthem, but it will never happen because someone somewhere will never be happy.

Biggots raise boggot children, its a vicious cycle.

weeman_com

@saladinzero: Except of course that Donegal is a large part of ulster and that is in the republic.The mentioning of ulster whilst convieniently forgetting about Donegal always did makes me laugh.

UFO

@UFO: When the majority of people say Ulster, and myself included, they tend to forget about Donegal.

The interesting thing about Donegal not being included in Northern Ireland is that Northern Ireland was initially supposed to include 9 counties, not 6. This was because the Government of Ireland act deliberately cut out the remaining 3 counties of Ulster in an attempt to undermine Northern Ireland as a viable country. That way, it would eventually collapse under the political and economic pressure of the South and leave the Union, solving the Irish "problem" for the British parliament once and for all.

Of course it didn't go as planned, leaving me with that whole nasty period of history to study for my history A Level a few years back ;)

saladinzero

Perhaps Peter Moore, who grew up in the UK and is now EA Sports prez, has an Irish bend in him :)

MinhN

TURKEY FOR WORLD CUP 2010 :) hehe

airmaster360

it would have been better if Fields of Athenry was the song in question

privatejoker75

@Golem29: @Chadders: I won't argue those points... but my point is still valid! I was personally gunning for Germany :p

...At least I have roots in some country with a good football team :D

projectmayhem

@PirateThom: Imagine the riots especially after that Love Ulster parade.

Anto103

It just shows how little they really thought of us here in n.ireland, Its the same when you go abroad most people just think your irish and thats it. They cant understand how its 2 completely different countries. You actually get bored trying to explain to people the different cultures.

Reddevil107

Anybody remeber this:
[kotaku.com] ?
When will EA ever learn ;-)

El-Suave

"dodging pub bombs" humn...to dodge a pub bomb, you'd have to dodge an entire pub right?

Did he mean to say pipe bomb?

Nubius

Its also quite annoying since we have the better football team. :)

Reddevil107

@Luke Plunkett: STOP APOLOGISING :)

you cant apologise for our past, we can only make up for it in N.Ireland! Heck youre kind enough to reuse our city hall in Sales Charts! We love ya Luke!

shaunomacx

Oh dear. MajorMacmuffin informed me of this earlier, quite the mix-up, especially for a big-budget title, EA really shouldn't have let this get through development checks.

Zeouterlimits

@Reddevil107: Its all love. I always get:

"Are you Chinese?"
No
"Are you Japanese?"
No
"Then where are you from?"
Korea
"Oh, from the North or the South?"
/palmface.

US edumacation phailed for the masses. This is why majority of Americans of the X-gen and forward cannot date the Civil War or WWII.

Absolutely douchery move of EA. If it can't be patched in, that is a huge mockery of the nation. Its as if the engineers at World Cup plays the wrong anthem; a la 2006 WC.

PsycheE

Pretty dumb of EA. And NI needs a flag.

hagridore

They can keep it the way it is, as far as I'm concerned. :)

karmaghost

This is not so bad!

Imagine if they played the USA's anthem..

:P

Vanguarde

Just patch it so the players look confused and slightly indignant, then call it a feature.

You could have the announcer apologizing over the loudspeaker during the match, just like in real life.

Tribal

@MetalGearMax:

Pure. Lies.

J.A.

@MetalGearMax: yeah its not like that at all!

shaunomacx