What's the craic? Steelers and Vikings fans set for Dublin game

DUBLIN — Aiden Scott will catch up on sleep another time. The opportunity to watch his Steelers play in Ireland is pretty rare.

The college student and his father, Aaron, arrived in Dublin on Saturday ahead of Pittsburgh’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park.

They were decked out in black-and-gold-striped overalls as they made their way through the crowd to get inside for Ireland’s first regular-season NFL game.

“It’s awesome, the energy is great,” Aiden Scott said. “The Steelers fans here seem to outnumber the Vikings fans a whole lot, so that’s awesome.”

The South Dakota natives left from Omaha, Neb., through Texas and arrived in the Irish capital after about 20 hours of travel.

Inside Croke Park, the stadium’s pregame music selection was a steady diet of Irish artists including U2 and “Dirty Old Town,” made popular by the Dubliners, as players stretched two hours ahead of kickoff.

For local fans still learning the game, big-screen videos explained details such as the roles of cornerbacks and that a field goal being worth three points.

Not all Irish eyes smiling

Some Irish have objected to the Irish government’s allocation of up to 9.95 million euros ($11.7 million) to support Sunday’s game.

The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport has projected that the game will attract 30,000 international visitors and generate 64 million euros ($75 million) “in additional economic activity for Ireland with a direct Exchequer return on the State’s investment of nearly two to one,” the culture and sport department said.

A well-known mural in the city center called “Do Not Remove” — addressing a housing crisis — was painted over as part of a series of NFL-themed murals. Artist Neto Vettorello told the Journal.ie that he wasn’t informed ahead of time.