EURO 2012: Come On You Boys In Green! - The Ultimate "Ireland" EP

In a "special" piece, Si's Insights presents five songs any Ireland fan should listen to prior to the big match

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THE HAND OF HENRY - TODD SWEENEY

"(To the tune of "La Marsellaise"...) Henry, you are a cheat! You used your hands, and not your feet! You broke the heart of our land with the stroke of your hand! Henry, you are a cheat!"

Written and performed by Derry man Martin Sweeney, this highly amusing and catchy number relieves the pain of Ireland's unjust elimination from World Cup 2010, and leaves fans thinking of a more optimistic future...

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PUT 'EM UNDER PRESSURE - OFFICIAL ITALIA '90 SONG

"We've qualified for the World Cup... Go and compete!"

Full of iconic chanting and equally iconic words of wisdom from Big Jack Charlton, this is the song to beat. Watch the video and tell me the celebrations don't fill you with warmth and excitement - even if the football could have been more attractive!

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HERE COME THE GOOD TIMES - OFFICIAL WORLD CUP 2002 SONG

"It's been a long time since the USA, we've come this far, now we're gonna go all the way..."

Great title, and the video is worth watching for the football highlights alone, but, in my view, these are probably the blandest music and lyrics used to send any Ireland team on their way. The presence of Roy Keane, not to mention the song's slightly less upbeat nature, unintentionally foreshadow the Saipan incident.

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THE ROCKY ROAD TO POLAND - OFFICIAL EURO 2012 SONG

"Get behind the team, hear the Irish scream, C'mon you boys in green, Ireland's bouncing back again..."

Ah, now this is more like it! Once you bring Damien Dempsey, The Dubliners and the immortal chant of "You'll Never Beat The Irish!" into play, you know you're on to a winner. Not the easiest song to sing along to, mind, but it's still a corker.

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IRELAND, IRELAND - THE DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD

I like Amhrán na bhFiann as much as anybody, but Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh's own Irish National Anthem remains a remarkable alternative. So why shouldn't we sing along to it ourselves?

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for your National Anthem:

(Lyrics courtesy of The Irish Times.)

Ireland, Ireland, damp sod of earth
Lost on the surf of the North Atlantic.
Ireland, Ireland, mountains and mist,
Vodka and chips, it’s so romantic.

Joyce and Heaney, Beckett and Wilde,
Bill O’Herlihy, Dunphy and Giles,
Evans, Hewson, Mullen and Clayton,
Westlife and Jedward, the pride of our nation!

Ireland, Ireland, once we were poor,
Then we were wealthy; now we are poor again.
Cows and horses, donkeys and sheep,
Munster and Leinster, Connacht and ******.

Chinese, Polish, Africans too,
Doing the jobs we don’t want to do.
An Irish stew, a nation of nations,
Working for peanuts in petrol stations.

Ireland, Ireland, you are the best
Place to the west of Wales and Scotland.
Sometimes it’s heaven, sometimes it’s hell,
But I’d rather be Irish than anything else!