When a national sport gets sleazy.
The week's news at a glance.
Ireland
Declan Lynch
Irish Independent
Gaelic football was once a hallowed Irish tradition, said Declan Lynch in the Dublin Irish Independent. The game, a native Irish version of soccer that dates back to the 19th century, is still Ireland’s most popular spectator sport. But the fan base has become sullied. Last week, many who attended the Dublin vs. Meath match “were speaking darkly of fans openly snorting lines of cocaine in the toilets.” A more un-Irish activity could hardly be imagined. First of all, cocaine is expensive, and Gaelic football has always been a game for the people. Worse, several of the snorters allegedly sported mustaches—and they weren’t even foreigners. It’s a bit of comfort that “the traditional ways have not been entirely abandoned,” since the “coke fiends were also said to be drinking savagely.” Still, back in your father’s day, fans could be depended upon to brawl in the stands fueled by nothing but beer and whiskey. It’s a sad time for Ireland when “the buzz of a big match is not enough in itself to excite” us.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published