As a nation that uses its diaspora to its advantage regarding the selection pool for our football teams, the subject of singing or not singing our national anthem has been a talking point down through the years.
Many grumble that the current team don't have enough singers when it comes to the camera close-ups that run by the starting lineup before an international match, but it's totally their choice.
While we'd had guys like Kevin Kilbane who made it a point to learn every word of Amhran na bhFiann despite not having a word of Gaelige, you'll find guys who don't find it important, or simply can't manage to get to grips with the words. You'll also get guys who were born and raised on this island that just don't like to sing, it means different things to different people.
Clinton Morrison found himself in an awkward position in that regard, we have recently learned. After sitting down for a highly enjoyable lie-detector test for Slash Football, the former Birmingham City and Crystal Palace striker was directly asked if he knew any words to the Irish national anthem.
After admitting that he did not, he revealed that he didn't want to upset people by not knowing it, so he realised that his position at the end of the lineup meant that the camera would only be on him for the first line of the anthem, so he learned that off to make it seem like he was singing the whole thing.
I know the beginning, Sinne Fianna Fáil, and that's all I know, and that's what I used to do.
I'd stand at the front, because I know the cameras would come on at the front, and then it would go across. It's good innit?
It's clever, you've got to give him that, although we can't help but feel bad for Killer having memorised it all.
Update: Kevin has since revealed that Morrison actually pressured him into proving that he knew the words! Incredible...
That boy @morrisonclinton made me sing it in full one night in the hotel room to prove I knew the words ? https://t.co/cfBaNtxisl
— Kevin Kilbane (@kdkilbane77) May 26, 2017
Interestingly, Morrison also gave his views on Saipan, also while under the pressure of a lie-detector test. He admitted that while he loved Roy Keane and the team badly could have used him, he was in the wrong in that situation.
He also revealed that he didn't think he was good enough to play for England, as the strikers they had at the time such as Michael Owen meant it was too difficult for him to get into the fold, but he felt that he could have made a big impact for Ireland had he been given playing time at the 2002 World Cup.
Yes, definitely.
I'm confident now, but back then I was even more confident, I was an arrogant so and so, so I thought I was better than everyone.
It was an interesting and fun interview, as they tend to be with someone like Clinton, and it's got us thinking what sort of answers we'd get if we had a lie detector on hand for our interviews going forward...
