SCOTS, a prominent SNP type famously once said, are '90 minute patriots'. For a lot of us Ulster chaps the run-up to football's Euro 2016 has thrown up a dilemma: which of the Irelands should we muster up a few hour's fervour for?
The Euros are the first time the North and Republic compete in the same major finals. Preferences are expected.
As entrenched in historic and cultural dynamics as Ireland is, this goes beyond which side of the border you were born and involves a fair old distillation of identity, aspiration and centuries-old fissures.
In choosing a team its worth debunking some of the well-intended hyperbole and notions of emerging Northern Irishness thrown up in the countdown to the Euros.
One popular narrative hails a peacetime Ulster reflected in a harmonious team from both communities. Yet the spine of 1982's famous World Cup side were of a Catholic background and even at The Troubles' height there seemed more affection towards the Northern Ireland team from the Nationalist population than now.
Secondly, the 2011 census identified a fifth of the population who saw themselves as neither British nor Irish but 'Northern Irish only'. Yet if such fluidity isn't reflected in voting patterns selecting a football team is probably no more sophisticated.
Of course past animosities don't have the same intensity but support for Northern Ireland amongst Nationalists is still a niche pursuit.
On-the-field matters matter too. The toxic intensity of the 1993 World Cup Qualifier between both sides, immediately after a brutal and bloody month by Northern Ireland's grim standards, remains a stake in the ground in fan relations, while ironically the Good Friday Agreement, the Peace Process cornerstone, has had antagonising effect on football. Opening up the option of dual citizenship has fuelled almost 20 years of bitter talent-poaching rows as some Northern lads opt for the Republic, some argue, creating an all-Ireland team in all but name.
The wider cackhanded debate over flags and symbols in the North meanwhile encroaches into football. To stand or not to stand for the team's anthem, God Save The Queen, is enough to deter potential players, and indeed spectators, gracing Windsor Park.
(I can think of few things as twee yet unambiguously political, indeed exclusivist, as the Northern Ireland fans' unofficial motto 'Our Wee Country'.)
Conversely, a disinterest bordering on loathing of most things 'Nordy' permeates much of Southern society. Just this week the Irish Times described Northern-born players in the Republic's squad as 'foreign'.
Me? I'm Northern to the hilt, an Antrim man. I loved the 1982 and 1986 sides. Both my boys have been sporting Northern Ireland strips this last few weeks and only a common humanity links me with the man on the Kerry omnibus.
Yet I've carried an Irish passport and the Republic has a more emotional allure. Both national managers, Martin and Michael O'Neill, from just 13 miles apart in my old stomping ground, are smashing chaps but the former is a hero. This counts.
The historic involvement of both teams, I had assumed, would leave me spoilt for choice. Instead I've a sense of belonging to both yet neither, a bit of a charlatan and a little unloved whoever I chose.
Still, I could be a Scotland fan.
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