THE IRFU HAS responded to an incident which preceded the Women’s Six Nations clash between Ireland and England, where flyers displaying the words ‘I Give A Fuck’ were distributed to supporters at Musgrave Park.

The IRFU feel that the language used on the poster was not appropriate given the number of children who attended the game. The governing body also believe that the protest was not conducted in an appropriate manner.

A woman was seen handing out the material to supporters in the stadium before the game, and was stopped by security. She then threw some of the posters into the crowd before she was escorted to a seat. The incident follows a challenging period for women’s rugby in Ireland as the team has been subjected to major criticism during a winless run in the Six Nations. There was also a report published by The Telegraph containing a raft of allegations of misogyny and mistreatment in the IRFU towards the women’s game.

A spokesperson for the IRFU told told the media after Ireland’s 48-0 defeat to England that everyone has the right to protest. However, they believe this demonstration was not carried out appropriately. 

“We’re aware of the protest and there’s no issue with anyone ever protesting. Part of the issue was, one, there’s anti-littering policy in the stadium, two, foul and abusive language and it obviously wasn’t appropriate given the demographic of the audience with children, three, the manner in which it was distributed in that it [the flyers] was thrown twice.

“We knew this was happening and that’s fine. We saw something online that this was an attempt to try and block [it]. Everyone has the right to protest. We mightn’t agree with it but, of course, everyone has the right to protest. The manner in which it was done wasn’t appropriate in an environment such as this. The other issue was, and we don’t know the exact legalities, but there are broadcasting implications if foul or abusive language is filmed. There are potential fines then as well.

“Security have a tough enough job and in fairness, it wasn’t a case where she was kicked out of the stadium or anything like that. She stayed and watched the match. I just think there are more appropriate ways of expressing your views.”

When asked if posters were removed from people before they came in, the spokesperson replied: “It’s around the foul and abusive language: that’s the issue. When it was thrown, you don’t know how offensive it might be to somebody, or if you could hurt somebody by catching them in the eye. Anything could have happened and it was just the manner in which it was done.”

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Written by Sinead Farrell and posted on the42.ie