17 November, 1993

Ray Houghton (Republic of Ireland midfielder): "We were quite upbeat about the actual game. We knew a win guaranteed us qualification, and with a draw there was a chance of us going through. We'd already played Northern Ireland in the group stage and we'd beaten them. We were fairly confident going into it, but it was really intimidating.



"I remember going to the game and we had armed police in front of us. We had guards on the bus. It was the first time I'd experienced that going to a game, where the security was so high. We weren't going into it with any joy. It wasn't like, 'oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to this!' It was a case of getting in there, getting the job done, and getting out."

Gary Spain (Republic of Ireland fan): "I'm from Limerick but at the time I was living and working in Galway. I drove up from there. There was four of us who were pretty good friends, one of whom has since passed away, and we were supposed to be going. One of the lads, his father begged him not to go so he didn't. Then another fella pulled out. So it was Tim and myself. We tried to sell the other two tickets and we couldn't sell them.

"They were £10 each. We couldn't find anyone down south who wanted to go. In the end I did find two guys I didn't know and haven't met since. I ended up driving all of us up from Galway on the day of the game.

"I was 27. I took two half days from work. I left at lunchtime on the Wednesday, stayed overnight and drove back on the Thursday morning. That was purely so we would be driving in daylight. I'd been across the border plenty of times but it had become very tense after the Shankill Road bombing. The tension totally changed. I really didn't want to be driving at night up there."

Ger Canning (RTÉ Sport reporter): "Derry played Donegal the day after the Shankill bombing in Belfast and the atmosphere was extremely tense. British army helicopters were overhead throughout the match, as people feared a reprisal. I was glad to get away from Casement Park that afternoon. It was a very unpleasant experience.

"Next month I travelled by train with Stephen Alkin and the late Tadhg De Brún to Belfast. There was an eerie tension in the city and real sense of fear. We stayed in the Irish team hotel outside Belfast overnight.

"I remember we tried to kill time before the game by playing snooker in a hall in Antrim Town. We were the only ones in the venue and had been taken there by our TV technical expert who had driven to Belfast in his Dublin registered car. I think we began to feel a little vulnerable with just one exit from the building and a worry that some lunatic gunman might spot the car, amid the tension that was gripping the city. It was too easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."