A Belfast punk legend whose protest songs brought together a generation born into different sectarian camps has praised the Northern Ireland team for creating a new “alternative Ulster” far beyond the political divisions threatening powersharing in the region.

Stiff Little Fingers’ front man Jake Burns celebrated qualification for the European Championship in France on Thursday night, describing the 3-1 win over Greece as “a piece of Northern Irish history we can all be proud of”.

SLF’s lead singer, who used to wear the international side’s colours on stage, told the Guardian the 3-1 win over Greece reminded him of Northern Ireland’s glory days from the 1980s when Billy Bingham’s squad qualified for two World Cups in a row.

Steven Davis and Josh Magennis fire Northern Ireland to Euro 2016 Read more

“It absolutely feels like those days with the squad punching way above their weight again. I remember the night we beat Spain at the World Cup [in 1982]. I was watching the game from my sick bed. I had the flu while we were in the middle of recording the Now Then album and was under strict manager instructions to stay warm and get rid of it.

“But our manager was also my flat-mate and after the game he came into my room and just said: ‘Pub?’ So off we both went. I’ll be on my own tonight celebrating but it will be no less sweet for all that,”.

The co-writer of punk anthems such as Suspect Device and Wasted Life said he would love to pen a new song for this Northern Ireland team.

“Apparently, Norman Whiteside put us forward for the ’82 song but we ended up with that awful ‘I’m yer man’ shite!” Burns added.

Dee Wilson, originally from East Belfast and, like Burns, one of the original Ulster punk generation, echoed Burns’s view that Michael O’Neill’s team – comprised of players from both sides of the community as it was in 1982 and 1986 – are a model for others to follow.

“I have this real sense of pride that is just unexplainable. It’s just a pity the success of our national team couldn’t bring the two sides off the field closer together,” Wilson said.

There may be discord and despondency at the Stormont Parliament at present with the unionist and nationalist parties deeply divided, and power sharing in danger of collapse. However, at a pub with the same name on the Belmont Road there was euphoria among the fans.

Inside the Stormont Inn, Kris Samson, also a fan of Irish League team Glentoran, said: “This was a great result, something we can all get behind and be proud of. We haven’t gone away you know!”

Peter Robinson, who recently stepped down as Northern Ireland’s first minister, took his mind temporarily off political tensions at the other Stormont by celebrating the win against Greece.

“Tremendous result and achievement. Huge congratulations to Michael O’Neill and team. Great night for Northern Ireland,” he tweeted.

Even the prime minister shared Robinson’s joy with praise. David Cameron wrote on Twitter: “Huge congratulations to Northern Ireland on qualifying for the European Championship for the first time.”

Later the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness joined Robinson in praising the expertise of two O’Neills in Belfast and Dublin. “Incredible night for Irish football !!!Congrats Martin & Michael O’Neill & both teams,” McGuinness tweeted.

Not everyone in Belfast expressed the same satisfaction as the fans pouring out of Windsor Park or those packed into the pubs and clubs watching the game on television screens in various parts of the city.

A majority of young and old Irish republicans in the north prefer to support the Republic of Ireland and were delighted that Martin O’Neill’s side in Dublin had defeated the World Cup holders Germany 1-0.

Hugh Quinn, from Belfast and a fan of the Republic and Celtic, said: “It means nothing to me but if they took away God Save the Queen it might mean something and I was waiting on the Republic of Ireland result. For me and most nationalists Windsor Park is still a no-go zone.”

Among the many banners hung around Windsor Park was a flag with the slogan “Spirit of ’82” painted on it alongside a cartoon of a flat-capped archetypal soccer fan with a green and white scarf wrapped around his neck. One fan who remembers the spirit of ’82 more than most is Tony Matthews who was Northern Ireland’s translator during the tournament when Bingham’s team defeated their Spanish hosts.

The triumph over Greece and qualification for France next summer reminded Matthews of those heady days in the summer of 1982 when Gerry Armstrong, Pat Jennings, Sammy McIlroy and their team-mates reached the second group stage of the World Cup.

Matthews said: “Billy Bingham told me in the coach as soon as the team arrived in Valencia airport that ‘those who meet us are seduced by us. These lads are down to earth but have tremendous drive and spirit’. Bertie Peacock then chimed in and said: ‘The drive and spirit are great, you have to be able to play and these lads can also play. Wait and see.’ And I did.

“I got the same sense of something special tonight and the feeling that they’ll do great in France. Billy Bingham also said in Spain: ‘We can go to the bullring and we killed the bull.’ So let’s hope they [O’Neill’s team] can do a French equivalent.”

At the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 another Northern Irish band inspired by such as Jake Burns and Stiff Little Fingers joined U2’s Bono on stage in Belfast to urge youth voters to back the peace accord in a referendum.

Ash alongside Bono played to an audience in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall under the banner: “Make Your Own History”. In just over eight months’ time the present generation of Northern Ireland football players can come out of the shadows of Spain ’82 and Mexico ’86 and make their own history in France.