Football fans here have been showing their support for the Irish team ahead of their first match in the 2012 UEFA European Championship.
As many fans are unable to travel to Poland for the group stage of the tournament, a number of them have decided to show their support for the Boys in Green by going the extra mile back home.
Stephen Whelan from Finglas in Dublin has gone to extraordinary lengths to prove he is a dedicated fan. Knowing his wife is at work, he took the opportunity to deck his home out in the Irish colours. He attached a giant tricolour to his roof and painted the window sills and pillars.
Similarly, unemployed painter John Meehan has been putting his painting skills to good use on his house on Clonard Road in Crumlin. Laura Abbey says the house is getting a lot of attention.
People are coming to the front garden taking photographs, people are stopping in the middle of the road, people are causing traffic jams on the road like, but yeah everyone has been great.
Meanwhile, in Limerick a house in Southill has been transformed into a giant tricolour. Not to be outdone, Myles ‘Elvis’ Kavanagh has pulled out all the stops, building his own football pitch in the front garden of his house on Saint Thomas Square in Kilkenny. While the house is festooned with Elvis Presley and Euro 2012 posters, slogans and flags, Myles is determined to keep on decorating.
I have to paint the green white and gold and the roof has to be painted next.
These super-fans are now calling on the rest of the country to support the Irish team.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 June 2012. The reporter is Helen Donohue.
