Here at Counselling Connections this week we’ve been enjoying a bit of a sporting diversion from our normal discussions. We were very struck by events over the weekend at the Rugby World Cup. And it’s not so much the on-field happenings that have grabbed our attention. Rather, it’s the performance, for that is the right word, off the field of the Ireland supporters that has caused us to sit up and take notice. There was exuberance and joy in how the crowd performed during the last game which was all the more noteworthy because of their sheer numbers bearing in mind the distance they are from home. The amount of people supporting the team seemed phenomenal and you wondered where they all came from.

Players and team management were quick to acknowledge the support in interviews after the game and it got quite a bit of attention at home. The answer to the question ‘where did they all come from?’ seems to be Ireland. And the reason often offered for their sheer numbers so far away from home is that they had to leave here for economic reasons. For many that is no doubt the case. Others may be there on holiday or for no other reason than that favoured Irish pursuit ‘the craic’. Whatever the reason for their being there something about their demeanour and their enjoyment seems to be rippling back home.

In our line of work there is much talk about mirrors. We wonder what we see when we look at ourselves in a mirror. If a child looks at a parent and if they see a smile they will in all likelihood feel good about themselves. We can see a little of our own self in the reactions of loved ones to us. So what do we see when television pictures are beamed into our homes from the far corner of the world showing our own people behaving with such pride and exuberance. What do we see when we consider that the reason for their happiness is nothing more or less than their Irishness itself? It challenges us that they can behave in such a way when the consensus at home is that their country has let them down causing them to have to leave.

We’ve referred to the ‘performance’ of the crowd. It seems that there is a tacit understanding among followers of Ireland teams of whatever code that the way they behave is as important as the team. Sure, the team’s performance is important and it would all end if they lost and had to come home but the reactions of the crowd express something fundamental about us and they know it .The feeling is that something is building. The response of the team to their supporters and the growing bond between them is giving us at home reason to pause and think. Perhaps we had all fallen too much into a kind of national depression where the discourse has become relentlessly negative. Maybe we can learn from watching our compatriots at the Rugby World Cup and celebrate what we have and see if a little enthusiasm can lift the public spirit.

There seems to be something peculiarly Irish about this. There seems to be something about how our team’s supporters go about their business that attracts others. People see something attractive and joyful and they want to be a part of it. In this regard we would suggest that there is a prize available to us here which may actually be more valuable than winning the Word Cup itself. If the team and supporters can hang in there for another couple of weeks and allow this feeling grow our hope is that it will cause us all at home to look inside ourselves. We hope that besides the doom and gloom we will find reasons to feel good and even to celebrate. And we hope that this in turn will have a positive effect which will permeate from the sporting arena to the social and economic life of the country.

Counselling Connections, Dundalk,Ireland.