IE LMOD 683
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Item
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Twentieth Century
A black and white photograph of the Irish team on the pitch. Captioned above 'Ireland v. Hungary Budapest, 18th May, 1939. Result - Ireland 2, Hungary 2.' with a list of player underneath the picture.
At first glance it looks as if the Irish soccer team is giving a fascist salute in this picture, which was taken in Budapest. In 1939, Hungary was ruled by a right-wing dictator, and was close to Germany and Italy. But Hungary was not fascist, and while it did have a fascist movement, it was a threat to the ruling regime, and was actually banned in 1939. Some members of that movement, the Arrow Cross, did use a closed-fist salute (the classic fascist salute was open-handed) but the truth is probably more innocuous. Three cheers for Hungary?
LMOD