Olé Olé... Will Leahy introduces his new RTÉ Radio One documentary about the legendary Italia '90 football anthem voted the 27th-best Irish song of all time... Listen to Put 'Em Under Pressure above.
You would think by now that there is nothing fresh to write about Italia '90. Books, TV series, and even a movie (The Van) have tried to capture the unique pandemonium that broke out here for those incredible few weeks.
It turns out, however, that there was one remaining story to be told.
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Listen: Will Leahy talks to Ray D'Arcy
I was watching various social media videos of Taylor Swift in the Aviva, with the crowd singing the usual chant of Olé Olé, which is customary at most events where Irish people are trying to fill a quiet gap in proceedings. It got me thinking that most people attending these concerts weren't even born in 1990.
I thought it would be a useful exercise to find out how the song came into being. Little did I know that its background was highly complex and made for a fairly compelling tale. The subject matter makes up the new radio documentary Olé – The Story of "Put 'Em Under Pressure.
I thought it would be a useful exercise to find out how the song came into being. Little did I know that its background was highly complex and made for a fairly compelling tale. The subject matter makes up the new radio documentary Olé – The Story of "Put ‘Em Under Pressure.
I knew the basic facts—Larry Mullen of U2 produced it, the team sang the song, and Horslips were involved somewhere or another. Most of my knowledge came from watching the video on Beat Box back in the day.
My producing partner, JJ Hartigan, and I started the research where most projects start—we Googled 'Put 'Em Under Pressure'. Nothing. Zip. Nada. The odd newspaper article was online, but there was very little detail beyond what we already knew.
So, I looked at the back of the sleeve of the record itself, which gave a list of credits. One by one, I emailed the various names, and each of them generously gave of their time. Of course, Larry Mullen Jr. was the key name, and I reached out to his representatives, who, thankfully, made some positive noises.
We uncovered several stories that hadn’t been in the public domain. For instance, we were not aware that the song was brought about by the players looking to earn an extra few quid. 1990 was pre-Premier League and pre-Bosman ruling, which meant the top players at Man Utd and Liverpool were only on about £5,000 per week. Most players in those days were up for the odd nixer.
It also transpires that the team does not sing on the song. That’s the same song that is credited to… the Irish team.
Who actually does sing the song is one of my favourite stories, and you’ll have to listen to the documentary to find out!
The record went on to sell 100,000 copies and was number one for 13 weeks. In 2024, the Irish Independent named it the 27th-best Irish song of all time. They ranked it ahead of Linger and Fairytale of New York.
It’s just one of those things that is uniquely Irish—like The Rose of Tralee and mispronouncing the word "Chicago." I suspect we will still be singing it at sporting events and concerts for another 35 years.
Olé – The Story of Put ‘Em Under Pressure, St. Patrick’s Day at 2:15 pm on RTÉ Radio One - listen back via the RTÉ Radio App
