Declan Rice has been forced into making the above apology over comments he made about the IRA on social media as a very young man
We understand the Irish ‘troubles’ of the past are a deeply sensitive subject – even now – as Rice discovered today when somebody dug up what is believed to be an old social media quote from 2015 which would have made him about 16.
He was a member of the Irish youth set up but has now issued a statement apologising for what appears to be a pro IRA stance claiming he was naive and that his words were not meant to be a political opinion.
In the post he said: “Up the RA – wait til we draw England.”
Quite what mileage there is in this for anybody is not clear but the new England international was quick to make an Instagram apology in which he says his attempts to show support for my team mates could be negatively.
ClaretandHugh says: It’s difficult to understand why any comment made by any of us as teenagers should be thrown back at us. We all become different people and it’s easy to see how a 15 or 16 year old could be drawn into making such a remark when trying to impress his young international team-mates. He wouldn’t have understood how volatile the political situation had been at the time of the troubles back in the 60s and 70s and the way they still burns in the hearts of many. Declan, however, is learning very early how to handle the price of success which can often be cruel as is the case here. In the social media era responses to people can be savage and in the above statement Declan has hit the right note.Whatever any of us feel about his international decision – and we understand it has caused great upset among many – most Hammers will be surely wishing him every success as England step out against the Czech Republic tomorrow night.
He may have been young but he was old enough to understand what he was saying. It tells us something about him and his personality.
Tells me he was desperate for the friendship of his contempories at a very young age – nothing else.
Really. What does it tell us?
What a wolly, I lost a lot of respect for him.
I still wake up in a cold sweat when I remember some of the things I said & did when I was 15/16. I am just glad that was a time when nothing much went on record. I agree with Hugh on this that we become different people ( thank goodness). The adults you really don’t want to be around are the ones who did bad things as kids & just carried on doing them.
I am not sure what it does tell us about him Innocuous – that he sometimes said or did stupid things when he was a kid? Join the human race…
Makes you wonder who planted these sick thoughts in the mind of a 16 year old and that he identified with people who have such an anti English attitude. For those of us of an age to remember the Irish terrorists and their atrocities I’m saddened to say this has taken some of the gloss off our golden boy. Time will heal though.
I wouldn’t say it’s anti English it’s more pro Irish the statement.
Yeah he’s certainly become a different person????
Deserted a country he proudly represented to go to another one…..
The Fifa rules allowed him to make a choice. He did so – it And it has happened many times: https://www.thesportster.com/soccer/top-15-soccer-players-to-play-for-more-than-one-country/