NORTHERN IRELAND’S DEPUTY First Minister Martin McGuinness attended Windsor Park for the first time in nearly 50 years this week and marked the occasion by expressing his wish to see a single football team represent the island.
The 61-year-old, who contested last year’s presidential election in the Republic, attended the stadium as a guest of Linfield FC and looked on from the crowd as the home side squandered a late lead to draw with Setanta Cup rivals Derry City.
Speaking to Good Morning Ulster, McGuinness described the evening as “a pleasant experience” and “a sign of changing times” before suggesting the island could benefit from the unification of its two national squads:
“It’s wonderful that Peter Robinson and myself are able to give leadership and clearly show that we want to see sport being unified and see community relationships built up though sport… I think we should do everything possible to take the politics out of it.“Talking as a sports fan it is my very strong view that soccer on the island would be much better served it we had an all-Ireland league and one international team.
“But that is a matter for the footballing authorities, that’s only my opinion as a true sports fan.”
In addition to courting political controversy, McGuinness emphasised his support for the Republic of Ireland’s national team. It’s an allegiance he believes consistent with both his republican heritage and official office.
“I think everybody that understands the mindset of the republican community clearly understands that the vast majority of the people give their support to players south of the border,” he said.
“In my perspective you can absolutely give your support to the team that plays south of the border as I do, I was at the last Ireland match just a few days, but also give support to ordinary footballers who come from different parts of our country, who make their own decisions to play for a particular team.”
Neither of the “footballing authorities” in question, the FAI and the IFA, were immediately available for comment at the time of publication.
And so do I. One team playing for Ireland would be a great step forward in stomping out sectarianism in Ireland. Let’s face it, we’re not that religious anymore. Can’t we all get along…
Would be great to see alright, cant see it happening though. Look at the biggoted and angry crowd that the IFA and their supporters are Wouldn’t go anywhere near them at this point
Can’t we all just get along? In that case why not just accept things as they are and let NI get in with their own path?
Religion hadn’t as much to do with it as power. If the settlers and Unionists were mostly all Roman Catholics, then a different thing would have been settled in to discriminate against nationalists.
It’s a joke having 2 half teams, performing poorly. While in Rugby, Cricket etc etc we have a full national team.
Join the teams and play every second home game in Dublin/Belfast and get on with it and damn the begrudgers or the fanatics North or South.
That is true Bilbo, no doubt the Northern Irl. fans are fairly notorious in their bigotry but they have to be brought in to the present as well. Even if it was just to point out to then that shouting “Die fucking Taig” at some of their best players isn’t helping their results card.
The team used to be united. The split came from an alleged Belfast bias and the FAI formed in Dublin.
We do it for Rugby should be the same for Football imho anything that can unite people should be embraced.
I’d imagine that the biggest impediment to an All Ireland Soccer Association is that 2 sets of blazers into 1 sporting organisation does not go.
He impediment is whether Dempsey, the head of the FAI gives up his rack rent salary or the head of the IFA gives up his.
Delaney Ross!
I have alwsys been.of the opinion.that most people who bang on.about NI fans sectarianism know little or nothing about the grass roots game here. Pat Fenlon..known affectionately to.us Shelbourne fanscas “Nutsy” played for Linfield and exp little if any hatred..he was known as “wee Billy Fenlon!” Linfield played Longford Town.at Flancare Pk the night Pope John.Paul.11 died..the playrs wore black.armbands and the fans observed the minutes silence. indeed the setanta competition.has had no trouble originating from.northern fans..there was an.incident when alleged shamrock.rovers fanscwere waiting outside Tolka pk after a game that their team wasnt even playing. the two police services are well on top of hooligan elements so that isdue is a red herring imo
Neil Lennon once told the media off his desire to play for an All Ireland team and look what happened. He retired from international football because off the abuse. When the sides played in the Nations Cup why was there only a few hundred northerners allowed tickets. The few who did get tickets booed our President, booed our anthem. Then theres the thousands off northerners who attend Ibrox every year. The Republic Of Ireland fans are well known as top trouble free supporters. If the northerners can force their own captain to retire because they didn’t like what he said and he was captain off Celtic, I would imagine that the stadium would have to be split into 3 if we had an all ireland team. One side for away fans, one for those from the republic and another for those from the north.
Well said Martin I agree 100 per cent Its a pity you are not president because the muppet that holds the office has nothing to say.
Michael D. a muppet? Maybe a houseelf but not a muppet. However, good sir, since you started the name calling, I am honoured to call you a right eejit.
Is it Idiot you mean back to school for spellings if so. But I think your a stupid idiot you called me sir and I was never knighted
I don’t even… What the… Touché sir, touché. If you’re not knighted you should be. I’ll write the Queen posthaste.
Would be fantastic. Could sing Ireland’s Call to solve the national anthem problem.
Maybe we could sing Jedward’s “Waterline” or is there only room for one shit song.
The likes vs dislikes for Ireland’s call is 1:2!. Guess it’s not an option then. Besides that, although it would be fantastic to merge both teams I can’t see it happening.
It’d be great to see an all-ireland team. At the start we could play all competitive games in Dublin and friendlys in Belfast. We could keep the music from the national anthem but maybe change the lyrics to make it more inclusive to both traditions. Like everthing to do with the north it would have include compromises on both sides.
This is a brilliant idea .
We have an All Ireland Rugby team
so why not Soccer .
I hope it can be made a reality.
We tend not to have the Celtic / rangers crowd at rugby matches though
Because rugby fans generally arent scumbags and there will be no trouble!have you been to a northern ireland football game. Worst experience of my life. On a high level it’s a good idea but it’s not practical. It would lead to trouble, something like England in landsdown road in 95. This will not happen in my lifetime.
@Réada
Are you for real??
Never happen, how many N.I players would get into an All Ireland team ? One two maybe, and how would the ones left out feel if they were playing regularly for N.I ? Just leave it up to the individual player to represent which team he whats to play for .
At least they’ll win a few matches.
Besides – it might actually improve the level of soccer in the north – if the lads are getting a run on the field against quality international teams, and might improve their chances of being picked up by a premiership team – giving them a better career.
You’re thinking short-term, not long term.
Slightly harsh. McLean, Gibson and Duffy to name a few all hail from the North and get in our current squads. Then you have the likes of Johnny Evans, Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird and Chris Brunt to add in. The North have some good up and coming players too.
I wouldn’t want Kyle Lafferty though. Not a nice individual.
Mc clean :p
Billie..what do you know about Kyle Lafferty please? Steven Davis is also one of the best players in.these islands.
Bille, I don’t think that was jrbmc’s point. Yes, there are players like the ones you mention who are from Northern Ireland but play for the current Ireland side. What he’s talking about are players who currently don’t play for Ireland but for Northern Ireland. Most of those Northern ireland players (rather than Ireland players from NI) will be left without a team to play for. In fact, some talented players will feel denied the chance to play at international level at all since even if they’re good enough to play for Ireland, they *don’t want to*– they want to play for Northern Ireland.
@Colm. I know nothing of him off the field nor do I want to as its none of my business. On the pitch I think he’s a nasty player. Puts in bad tackles, throws elbows and is a liability. He is a good player though.
Davis is another good player. Dare I say he’d be a good fit in Trap’s system. Coming into his peak too.
It’s a fair point Peter. Players would lose out. The biggest losers would probably be at underage level.
Not really a good argument. There’s only one player in the starting 11 from Munster and I don’t think there are any from Connacht? If it were an all Ireland team you’d have McClean, Duffy, Evans and a few others from the North close to making the team.
But, Barra, McClean, Duffy and Evans qualify to play for Ireland *already*. There was nothing to stop them going for the Ireland team if they’d wanted to. Remember – what’s on the table isn’t a suggestion to allow players from NI to play for Ireland (they already can) – the suggestion is take away the *option* of playing for Northern Ireland from players who prefer to.
During the qualifiers for euro 2008 the republic could greatly have benefited from the addition of players who at the same time were beating Spain, Sweden and Denmark and beaten England in the previous campaign. Would any one at this time have argued against an on-form David Healy, Aaron Hughes, Steve Davis, Chris Baird getting into that particular squad. They might have even kept Steve Staunton in a job.
Probably never happen but would be nice to see ,,, I’m sure we will get a loud cheer from the pubs in NI in the summer ,,,
Just reading some of the ill informed comments on here shows exactly why there will never be an all Ireland football team anytime soon, it’s not just NI supporters who are sectarian. If i had euro for every time i’ve seen an idiot at an Ireland game (usually wearing a Celtic shirt, I might add) banging on about “Huns this and Orange that, stand up if you hate the Queen/Brits etc etc, then i’d have a nice little bit of money put away for Poland and Ukraine, then there’s the pro IRA chanting. Most of this has nothing to do with football or the game which they are attending. There is an element of people in both NI and the Republic who are always going to use football as an outlet for their own sectarian or bigoted views and you need to look no further than some of the comments on this page to see there are plenty on here whose views most NI supporters from a loyalist or even non committed background would find worrying if not offensive, why is it a problem for “the thousands off northerners who attend Ibrox every year” Pilip O Muiregan? I take it that’s it’s perfectly fine by you for the thousands off Southerners and Northerners who attend Parkhead every year? or is that different? Have you ever been to either ground? Also, many people on here are somehow ignoring the fact that many NI footballers from the nationalist tradition have chosen to play for NI including their new manager. Even amongst many committed RoI supporters there is no desire to see one team. It’s seems as always it’s a section of the ‘ole ole brigade’ and those who don’t normally attend games who are calling for a united Ireland team and as usual it has nothing to do with the actual football and all to with their own politics. Things are fine as they are and since the good friday agreement players have the choice of who they play for as long as they haven’t played a competitive game for either team and both sets of supporters have their team to go and support, so what’s the problem? You’ll also find many NI supporters supporting the Republic in the Euros come the summer, of course i’m not so naive as to say there won’t be some who will be wishing for our demise but then there’s always going to be that element and that applies to both sides i’m afraid.
It shouldn’t be about who’s more sectarian Ed. It should be welcomed with a view to stopping sectarianism. We’re all sharing this island. We’re all sharing this world.
Bang on the money Ed. Unfortunately that’s the way it is, ad I said earlier, football can and is in this case tribal. Reada, that just isn’t the case, just because we share the same island or world as you put it doesn’t automatically mean we have to share the same team. sIts a shame but reality, its not just that black and white, or green and blue or green and orange…
Fair play MArtin. i dont really agree with anything anyone from northern ireland usually does or says in relation to politics or current affairs but on this issue im fully behind it
“I dont really agree with anything anyone from northern ireland usually does or says in relation to politics or current affairs”
That must be one of the most biased, unintelligent comments I’ve read in ages, and is completely off topic. As anyone would realise there is a massive variety of viewpoints on politics and current affairs among the people of our 6 north eastern counties. Saying you don’t agree with any of them says more about you than anything else.
Run a poll Journal.
I and many league of Ireland fans have been.arguing this very idea for years with it has to be said strong support from fans in Irish League and some notable figures in the NI game like David Jeffrey. The FAI broke from IFA in 1922 causing this mess
It’d be nice to see an All-Ireland league. I think it would increase competitiveness which in turn will improve the quality of the players. There are a lot of good young players on this island and we need to give them the best chance possible.
Any one remember the ruby world cup in south africa the black and whites all came togeather under one flag ,,,, forgot about years of hate ,,,,,,, just a thought people
There should indeed be one Ireland soccer team. The bigots and nay-sayers wouldn’t be long about supporting Team Ireland when they are qualifying for major tournaments on a regular basis. The problems about anthems, venues, flags etc are merely cosmetic and easily overcome. The best players would be selected, irrespective of religion or allegiance. To para-phrase Unionists “United we stand. Divided we fall.”
Hmmm. I wonder could we get Phil coulter to write an acceptable anthem. Then a nice green white and orange kit.
Then north and south hugging after scoring a goal?? Sounds utopian.
Wouldn’t this be an exclusionary rather than inclusive idea, though? People who self identify as Irish already have a team they can play for: Ireland. What McGuinness is suggesting isn’t the creation of an all-island team (we already have one) but the removal of the option for those who self-identify as Northern Irish, not Irish.
I think it would be great idea and very inclusive. I would love to hear the roars of the crowd when a loyalist Irishman scored a winning goal for an all-Ireland team. Maybe then we’d drop the divisive sentiment and we might get our United Ireland.
Good point Peter, and Réada I can see you’re point also, but the point Peter makes is that some people wouldn’t consider themselves an Irishman or want to see a United Ireland.
Personally I would love to see it, but it would be hard to make Loyalists want to play for the whole island team, which they might see as “The Republic’s team.”
Seán I don’t accept that it would be hard to get Loyalist footballers to play for an all-Ireland football team. They are professionals and I’m sure don’t care who pays their wages. We’ve got to move forward and get the players playing and scoring goals and their fans will come too. It’s those in FAI and IFA we have to convince.
Reada (apologies, no fadas on my phone), the clubs pay their wages. They get a fee for playing for their country but as far as I know these are donated to charity. Playing for your country is more about pride than money.
Billie. Just discovered that from my son. Red face. Just a girl. :-O They do get bonuses or something tho, don’t they? I’m sure they’d still want to play to raise their profile.
I can tell you how to get fadas on your phone tho if you’re interested. ;)
@Billie
If your on an iPhone then if ya keep your finger on a letter when typing loadsa options appear for it.
Tá sé deadly.
Go raibh míle maith agat. :)
No worries, Réada, it’s a bit of an unknown or not well advertised on how much they get for internationals. To be fair to them, I think they donate the money to charity.
Go raibh míle maith agat Billie. I appreciate that. I love my fada because it’s important for the pronunciation of my name.
#SeachtainNaGaeilge :D
I’d rather have one good team, than two crappy teams like we have. One team could be properly funded, kitted out and supported, like we have in Rugby. As an Ulster Presbyterian living in Republic, Ive never had a problem cheering on my national Rugby team to victory. They bring pride to everyone on this Island, regardless of colour, creed, sex or location.
Out of interest, which football team do you support, if either?
R O I. World Ranking 19. And we’re a crappy team? Your Loyal N Ire are 87 so who’s crappy?
For what it’s worth, I think an All Ireland League would be a great idea. It’s just the idea of doing away with one of the national teams and therefore, essentially, excluding a whole sector of the community from the sport on an international level that I think is unworkable.
Where would they play?
They won’t like leaving Windsor Park to play in the Aviva.
Don’t think it’s a runner. As said above, too many suits involved so they’d never go for it.
Aviva is a much more impressive stadium. Belfast to Dublin is all motorway. It’s only a hop, skip and a jump away.
It should work like that in theory.
Did the two associations not break off originally due to disagreement over where the games would be played?
Build a Marti Bowl i lár na tír
Lmao Jammbie. After all it is #SeachtainnaGaeilge
Why does it have to be either or?
Unlike the fan base in NI for rugby, the soccer team are mostly from a working class back ground.They have not great love for anything irish,their soccer team gives them their identity.Do we really want to see the gawa and the billy boys singing gstq at irish internationals.
The FAI already have a ‘de facto’ all-island team, so I don’t know why politicians feel the need to keep raising this matter as if it’s some sort of pressing issue. I’ve noticed Sinn Féin have been doing so quite a bit of late. I suppose it’s an unconvincing attempt to reconcile Martin’s prospective attendance at a NI game in the near future with Sinn Féin’s republican principles.
Anyhow, a single ‘de jure’ island team wouldn’t actually be viable in accordance with FIFA’s regulations, never mind the significant practical hurdles that would stand in the way. Is there any will for it within the IFA or FAI? NI fans certainly don’t want it; forcing them into something they wouldn’t want wouldn’t stomp out sectarianism. Rather, it would merely heighten tensions and animosity. And they oppose it not because they’re necessarily bitter, bigoted or sectarian, but because they want to cherish their own identity. Supporting their own team is part of that, and that’s perfectly fine. Fair play to them. I’m not sure even I would want to dilute our own identity either. The prospect of us lining out to a new Phil Coulter ditty that we all can “share” isn’t all that appealing… Difference doesn’t necessarily have to be divisive. Difference can be respected and embraced. On the rugby issue, the IRFU’s notion of “compromise” is truly a sham, but rugby’s not really my game so I won’t dwell on it other than acknowledging why northern unionists might feel like they’re getting a bit of a raw deal as regards cultural representation.
When a united Ireland with which people on the island can be happy comes about, that’s when there’ll be a single island team.
2 Associations with 2 different CEO’s. These guys are on a gravy train and their committees. First class travel and good hotels with greats seats for all the friends. It will never change as either one won’t share the spoils. Delaney earns more than Obama.
I’m sure Martin McGuinness wants a lot of things but he can’t have it!
I’m happy suporting ROI; i’m sure our Northern brethren are happy supporting GAWA. So let’s leave it at that for now.
Any person with half a brain knows that progression & forward thinking is key to a successful future as a Country & they would want a United Irish football team as part of that, same as the cricket & Rugby. The problem is most football fans & people involved are uneducated scumbags.
Whoa John, big generalisation here! “The problem is most football fans & people involved are uneducated scumbags” You can back that up can you. I think you are only showing up your own ignorance with this comment. Progression and forward thinking obviously don’t bother your brain cells. Must be the dumbest comment on here so far by a mile!
If it were to happen think we should have My Heart is in Ireland as the anthem. Maybe we could change a few lyrics but anything is better than Ireland’s Call. Danny Boy is another option.
Ask the Sligo Rover’s fans what they think about it !!!!
The indicent you have in mind was done by an individual or at most a very small group of scumbags. Don’t for a second insinuate they are representative of Sligo Rovers fans. Sligo Rovers fans are no different that any other LOI fans.
Below the belt
Im a Sligo rovers fan and Im in favour, why do ask????
Referring to the damage to the Sligo Rovers bus !!!!! NOT having a go at Sligo what so ever !!!
Sorry !!!! Looks like I got that one wrong !!!! Still I cannot see it Happening !!!
It’s a great idea in theory but in practice it could be a different matter. Unlike rugby, football supporters are very different from each other and much more tribal. Some day maybe, but its at least one if not two generations away yet…
Would it be called a Soccer Team or a Football Team?
Football People in the republic just call it football,
Even in the Republic it’s called the Football Association of Ireland, so the merged team could be go under the word football, but with a new overall name so that neither the FAI or IFA could claim the new team
“Football People” in the republic are talking about GAA :P
Great idea! Cannot see it happening though as all the old parasites in suits who get paid loads of tax payers money for hanging around both associations wont want to give up there nothing jobs. Shame as it would be a great step forward in the evolution of Ireland and good for the country as a whole.
Any chance of a poll on issue of an all-ireland team?
The poll is running ATM. 72% in favour.
As ex N Ireland manager Billy Bingham said NO…. Rugby, cricket, ok for there’s no loyalist bigotery. We would have to change our anthem, flags, jerseys, songs. And what about Neil Lennons death threats from loyalists just for been a N.I and Celtic player.
Personally, I would prefer the republic to have one team, and the north to have their own. People get confused already that the island has two countries, and this wouldn’t help. I know the north is vital to our country, but they are also our competitors for investment, and I know it’s a completely different matter.. But still… :P
Hi Sean Which Queen are you talking about and what country
It will never happen. How do they presume a unionist will stand for the Irish team unless the national anthem is changed.
You could scrap national anthems, it wouldn’t change anything.
He can sit if he wants.