Nationalist west Belfast was a ghost town yesterday afternoon. Life went on as normal over on the loyalist side of the peace wall in west Belfast but even up the Shankill, there was some sympathy for the Republic's penalty shoot-out defeat.
They are pretty faithful church-goers in Northern Ireland but Masses scheduled for the noon to lunchtime period were poorly attended. Priests in the different city parishes kept their sermons to the point, so that they too could have a chance to join in some of the agony, ecstasy and finally agony.
From early morning, the Rock Bar on the Falls Road was thronged with nervous customers wearing the green of Ireland. From kick-off to the terrible denouement, the crowd roared on Mick McCarthy's team.
Outside on the Falls there was virtually no traffic, but plenty of green, white and orange flags which signalled not only political allegiance but sporting loyalties as well. After Mendieta shot his penalty past Shay Given, there were five seconds of total, depressed silence. Nevertheless "everybody felt terrific pride in the Irish team", according to doorman Malachy Mead. "After all Spain were favourites but we gave them a smashing game."
Over in the Rex Bar on the Shankill,there was just a normal Sunday afternoon crowd in to view the proceedings, said one of the barmen.
There were certainly no displays of the Republic's jerseys or flags but generally speaking, the crowd enjoyed the exciting game and there was not as much anti-Ireland feeling as one might expect.
There were mixed views about the result with some of the customers hoping for an Irish victory, others rooting for the Spaniards.
They queued from 7 a.m. outside the Botanic Inn in south Belfast even though the doors did not open until four hours later. About 1,100 people crowded in to view the match on several screens.
"You could cut the tension with a knife during the last half hour and the penalty shoot- out," manager Gerry Webb said, but even when Spain sealed Ireland's fate, there was no sourness.
