Ireland's cricketers were hailed as sporting heroes here on Tuesday after they sent Test side Bangladesh crashing out of the World Twenty20 in Nottingham on Monday.
For the growing number of cricket fans in the Irish Republic it was confirmation of the form their side had demonstrated at the World Cup in the Caribbean two years ago.
With its international successes, cricket in Ireland is getting a profile that it has not had for more than a century.
And the Irish Times said "there could be no argument that Ireland had again deserved their victory on the big stage".
"Inspired Ireland reach Super Eights" headlined the newspaper.
"O'Brien brothers bash Bangladesh" said the Irish Independent which toasted the brothers Niall and Kevin O'Brien after they blasted Ireland into the last eight of the World Twenty20 "with a stunning six-wicket victory".
"In many ways the match followed Ireland's famous World Cup win against Pakistan two years ago," the newspaper said.
"Ireland have now beaten Bangladesh in both the 50- and 20-over versions of the World Cup, and the growing clamour for the national team to be given full Test status will be deafening should they perform well against India."
Though the Irish Cricket Union is an all-Ireland body, Northern Ireland has been the stronghold for the game on the island.
But during the so-called Celtic Tiger economic boom and before the country lurched into recession the Republic, historically known for emigration, attracted immigrants from traditional cricket-playing nations.
Ireland is now home to players from countries like New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, India and Pakistan.
The game is very much a minority sport in the Republic with attitudes only changing in recent years following the Northern Ireland peace process and the cricketing immigrants boosting the game.
In the past, playing cricket had a political dimension. It was known as a "garrison" sport because it was associated with British army barracks around the country during colonisation.
It was brought to Ireland by the English and initially thrived when it also spread through landed estates.
The progress of the game was then hammered by two developments -- "land wars" of the late 1800s against mainly Protestant British landlords and the 1884 founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to nurture the native games of hurling and Gaelic football.
In the 1890s the GAA brought in a ban on their players taking part in "foreign games" like cricket, hockey, rugby and soccer. The ban was not rescinded until 1971.
Source: AFP Global Edition
