IT WAS Ray Houghton. That was where it started.

It is important, of course, to put this in perspective. But it begins with Ray Houghton — more specifically, with the first goal he ever scored for the Republic of Ireland.

This is 1988. The summer of 1988. Not 2026.

A different Ireland and a different England. A different idea of Ireland, and a different idea of Irishness...

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