There was plenty of praise for Ireland's rugby supporters at the Stade de France last night, following the team's World Cup win over South Africa.
The TV cameras/mics did a good job of picking up the immense noise generated when the fans began to belt out 'Zombie' by the Cranberries, which was played over the stadium speakers.
Having become Munster's new anthem over the last two seasons, it would seem that song has now been adopted as a new anthem for the national side.
Ireland Fans Belt Out Zombie In Paris
Has Zombie ever sounded better. The character shown by this Irish team is inspirational. What a night pic.twitter.com/a2Cdx2kxOY
— Donal Lenihan (@LenihanDonal) September 23, 2023
READ HERE: Deleted Sweary Peter O'Mahony Speech Captures Ireland's Camaraderie
However, many have taken to twitter to criticise the use of the song, which they feel is disrespectful to the people of Northern Ireland and their experiences living through The Troubles.
The lyrics of the song, written by Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, were penned following the Warrington bombings which saw the murder of two young boys by the Provisional IRA.
The words from the chorus, "In your head, in your head, Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie", have been criticised, as they imply that the grievances of nationalists were all in their heads.
Zombie Song Has Plenty Of Critics
What has 'zombie' got to do with Ireland, a song mocking the men and women of Easter week and telling the nationalist people of the 'six counties' it was all in their head....sorry not for me but sums up an element of the Irish rugby support .... https://t.co/M3rIfTGB4O
— Ronan Sheehan (@newryhurler1) September 23, 2023
Yes, the lyrics of ‘Zombie’ are a terrible representation of the Northern Ireland conflict but in fairness to the Cranberries, the depoliticising narrative of ‘two tribes senselessly warring’ is only what was relentlessly pushed on us by state media, schools, etc in the 1990s
— Eoin Daly (@eoinmauricedaly) September 24, 2023
Zombie is the perfect partitionist anthem. It encapsulates the complete lack of understanding or even basic compassion in the south for the lived experience of Northern nationalists.
"But you see, it's not me
It's not my family"— Tadhg (@TadhgHickey) September 23, 2023
READ HERE: South African Media React To Ireland Defeat At Rugby World Cup
Reading the complaints and comments on Twitter, one cannot help but be reminded of the arguments around the singing of The Wolfe Tone's 'Celtic Symphony'.
While there are legitimate arguments from both sides, against the singing of both songs, the majority of supporters do not sing them with a political motive, and rather these are tunes which they enjoy and that add to the atmosphere of game days and at concerts.
The Wolfe Tone's themselves tweeted a video of Irish fans celebrating the rugby team's win last night by singing 'Celtic Symphony'.
One of many Irish pubs celebrating tonight … we’ll done Ireland! pic.twitter.com/DHmNnKcJLA
— The Wolfe Tones 🇮🇪 (@wolfetones) September 23, 2023
The antidote to The Wolfe Tones’s ‘Ra’ songs? The Cranberries’s ‘Zombie’ becoming the unofficial Irish sporting anthem. https://t.co/mvtdWXXMHU
— Kevin Doyle (@KevDoyle_Indo) September 16, 2023
SEE ALSO: Andy Farrell In Awe At Spinetingling Zombie Rendition In Paris
