Or Poland!

But it is now. So all counties should send their best amateurs surely?

They should introduce ‘Tig’ or ‘wall to wall’ as an olympic sport. Everybody knows the rules and its played all around the world at primary school level.

His PR team must have informed him that his recent declaration had a negative impact on brand Rory McIlroy. I have a feeling his PR team will decide who he represents and not Rory. This story didn’t go down too well stateside where he is based and I reckon this is why he is backtracking

If tennis & beach volleyball are in then why not golf?

He can represent Brazil for all I care….

Apparently it’s been an Olympic sport since 1900. Go figure.

As an englishman he should play for Ireland, no question. N.I maybe part of the UK but they are still irish. Don’t forget that Mc Ilroys golf tuition and considerable amateur expenses were paid for by the Golfing Union of Ireland. As a professional he was happy to win money playing for Ireland in the World Cup and Dunhill Cup. If he decides to play for GB more fool him. It would be the worst decision of his life and he will never forget it. Get real MCILROY

Team GB does not include N.I. It is England, Scotland and Wales, and by the next Olympics Scotland may not be part of GB either. And most polls back this up. They look like they will become independent. And good luck to them. If MCILROY wants to play for team GB he should move to england because we do not inclde N.I in our team, unlike Ireland.

From my experience the vast majority of English people wouldn’t give a second thought to him declaring for Ireland. Other than the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail of course. If he is worried about his popular image then he will upset many more people by declaring for Team GB. However, this is all hearsay so let him make up his own mind and get on with it. Bad decision by anybody to give an interview to the Daily Heil.

The full name of “Team GB” is actually “Team GB and Northern Ireland”.

t’s simples….Olympics celebrate amateurs at their best! Professionals shouldn’t be allowed near the Olympics! For example: it’s great to watch the all star US basketball team put on an exhibition but that’s not the way it should be! At least cap the golf like the soccer to U23s! I hope the powers that be will enforce this! Rory’s manager or whoever let him sit an interview with the daily mail should be shot!

He used the GUI so he could get to the top with there support, now he is giving the 2 fingers to them. What a loser. I hope he does not make it to the Olympics in 4 years.

Especially if it takes that long to finish a game.

his uncle was a great gaelic footballer with armagh.

Most sensible post of the whole debate, well said that man.

Well said

I don’t agree! I think it should be more straight forward. He should just choose, simple! If its a tough choice to play for the country you’ve played for all your life, Ireland, then it’s not a tough choice at all cause he’s already made up his mind. I think this highlights a horrible side of his personality and he would get more respect if he just made his allegiance clear, even if it means he’s British. I think most Irish golf and sports fans would now prefer him not to play for Ireland. It’s fine if he wants to play for Britain, but don’t be so disrespectful to Ireland and just have some courage to state your allegiance. He handled this like an idiot

Wright is right, this is a tough one. For all the public knows this could be a contentious issue within his own family. I think Rory has every right to deliberate for as long as he wants and no matter which district he declares for, the guy should not be receiving any less plaudits and congratulations for his remarkable achievements thus far, unless it’s the UK he chooses to play for of course (only joking). Anyone suggesting he should choose now is just trying to feed their own salacious appetite for a slur on the man.

This is a genuine question. Is the GUI not a 32 county organisation and and such receive funding from both north and south sports councils?

This is a genuine question. Is the GUI not a 32 county organisation and and such receive funding from both north and south sports councils?

The GUI is a 32 county body founded in Northern Ireland and funded from both sides of the border
Some of our medal winners in both Olympics & Paralympics got a lot of their funding from the UK taxpayer down the years
Just the way of things

Thanks Justin, I presumed there would be funding from both sides. Hearing a lot of people giving out that he should be loyal to Ireland because of funding, but if its coming from both sides, the argument is redundant.

But he represented Ireland in 2009 and 2011 at the Golf World Cup. And now he is going to switch to represent team GB in 2016. That what annoys me.

The GUI is both a British & Irish body so a golfer from NI who holds both passports can choose which Olympic team he wants to represent

The point is that whether we like it or not part of Ireland is politically in Great Britain & as such in the Olympics can choose who they want to represent

The other tournaments you refer to are run in a different way with Ireland Scotland England & Wakes all able to enter separate teams

I wouldn’t want him representing Ireland as he (in past interviews) called himself British. I’d rather have someone who is proud to call themselves Irish represent us

I’d rather have someone who is proud to call themselves Irish represent us than someone who doesn’t want to be associated with Irish people as he in past interviews declared himself as British

Justin Gillespie, Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain. Great Britain refers to the island of Britain, Grande Bretagne as opposed to Bretagne, Brittany in France. Northern Ireland is however part (for now) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Team GB, as in the moniker used by th UK in recent olympics, is erroneous as it passively omits to mention the participation of Northern Ireland. Disrespetfu, possibly, deliberate maybe, who knowsm

Incredibly ignorant comment. Actually Team GB is officially Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so he is completely entitled to represent his country just like many other great NI athletes over the years – Mary Peters, Wendy Houvenagel for example.

As for the GUI angle, as other commentators have noted this is a 32 county body receiving funding from ireland and the UK, so again he is perfectly entitled to opt for Team GB.

Incredible to see so many people having a hissy fit over someone from NI considering themselves British, since the majority of people who live there feel the same as Rory!

The Olympic movement determines your nationality by the passport you hold. People in NI can hold both hence the problem

Yeah, and the same should go for Scotland and Wales. If you’re gonna give one home nation the right to self identify then it’s only right to afford the same opportunity to others.

During the Olympics there were a few instances of athletes not partaking in the GB national anthem… I cringed at how people were fuming that such disrespect was being shown to the flag. There are plenty of Welsh and Scottish athletes that would love the chance to compete for their country rather than the wider political entity that is GB.

Every home nation have their own independent governing bodies for sports, so there’s no real reason that each should not also have their own Olympic Committee’s and Teams.

Most people in the north who identify themselves as Irish wouldn’t be comfortable with that Peter. I’m Irish, not Northern Irish, and that is my right.

Are you saying that you live in the north of Ireland as opposed to northern Ireland ? What percentage of people would class themselves as northern Irish & not Irish or British ? if any RG.

Nice idea but can’t be done

MartinN I hope you’re not including Ireland (Rep) as one of the “Home” nations.

The problem for Rory is he wants to make everybody happy. No can do on this issue. However as I see it there is a Team GB which comprises England, Scotland & Wales. It’s not Team The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Until that happens every person from the Island of Ireland should declare for Team Ireland ala Rugby.

We all feel a little like Holly Sweeney today,getting dumped by rory.

We didn’t wait around to get screwed first though.

I’m surprised he said he feels more British than Irish. From my experience of Welsh and Scottish people, none of them have ever described themselves as feeling British. Without exception, they all say that they carry a British passport, through necessity, not choice. As far as they’re concerned they’re either Welsh or Scots.

So just because he’s so great at golf he can be disrespectful to the community that nurtured his talent and is beyond reproach? I think some people have become so open-minded and mature about their great neighbours that their brains have fallen out.

that’s very well put …nice one

Well said, personal safety can also be an issue for him and his family. As a northerner living in the south for many years, it’s easy for me be open about my nationality but many of my family just get on with life and walk the tightrope. Personally, don’t mind who he plays for.

I agree. I have no no problem who he declares for…him being from northern Ireland you would assume he would declare for great Britain and Northern Ireland as the team is called, at Rio. But his open letter is a definite back track….he’s a bit of everything to everyone. He says it’s a sensitive issue and yet he acted insensitively, you would think given the experiences Neil Lennon and more recently James McClean had, he would have had a bit of cop on.

Is that really what the team is called?

Yes Fergal it is….

Subtitles?

Shut up you absolute moron!!!

Michael
You are more than entitled to your belief but there is a majority of people in Northern Ireland who disagree wit you as is their right

“Toying with the emotions of a nation” is maybe putting it a bit strong
There are no medals to be won in this affair especially when you see the lamentable ignorance & bile displayed by some people here towards Northern Ireland

“either nation”. I’m not debating whether its right or wrong for people to have an emotive stance on this, but the reality is that people do get very emotive about their so called sports stars. Rory’s advisers, if not himself should be aware that to continue this on the fence stance, is only going to provoke a larger response,if and when he does declare a preference.

That cuts both ways Justin!

Justin Gillespie “lamentable ignorance and bile”, cool your jets there will you, you’re being quite agressive and inconsiderate in a lot of your comments aswell. Just because you don’t agree with people doesn’t give you the high ground and you are not persuading anyone to think differently. This is an emotive issue for many people not as enlightened as yourself so give us all a chance dear to catch up with you.

Clive
You are right & I apologise for getting hot under the collar.
It’s just that when I saw Rory being described as being one step away from being an Orange flag burner and people giving green thumbs that I lost the plot a bit.
I just don’t understand the antipathy shown to Rory who has simply made the same choice that countless others have made in the other direction.
It’s only a game after all but this seems to have struck a raw nerve that I didn’t realise was there

Ok so Justin, agree with you to an extent. However I don’t understand why Rory needs to come out about it at all, especially when D Clarke and GMac can rise above it and not polarize opinion or identity of either community. Have a good day!

I would say that he would be as surprised as I am by the amount & intensity of feeling.
I lived in Belfast for 10 years & saw up close where hot headed talk gets you & I suppose in my naivety thought it was all behind us.
What is most surprising to me is the number of young adults who feel such antipathy towards our neighbours.
Anyway a good day to you as well!!

Best ever ? Nope ! He has a lot of catching up to do on Tiger Nicholas et al !

I take it you meant Nicklaus not Faldo

And I thought Mark Twain was dead.

Ok Mark Twain is not dead.

At last a sensible comment.

Just keep playing great golf Rory and with your fellow “Irish” players inspire the worlds golf tourists to come and visit us here North and South.

He is Irish , just like Darren and Graeme!

They are not Irish. They are British.

This is the problem. RTE insists on seeing him as Irish irrespective of what the lad himself might think

Ya dope why has he represented Ireland all his life then at numerous competitions throughout his underage and amateur years? As he says he feels torn between both and he is born on the island of Ireland so therefore he is Irish if some description

Ya dope why has he represented Ireland all his life then at numerous competitions throughout his underage and amateur years? As he says he feels torn between both and he is born on the island of Ireland so therefore he is Irish of some description!

Because in these competitions Ireland is seen as a 32 county entity
In the Olympics it isn’t and athletes from Northern Ireland can choose

That’s the difficulty isn’t it? Like many born in the 26 counties before 1922, many Northern unionists feel both Irish and British. Seems weird to us, but only because we immediately think of British as meaning English, or at the very least “from the other island”. Our mistake is to equate Britishness and Englishness. These people may have felt British, but not English. In fact many do feel both British and Irish, in the same way as we have no problem feeling both Irish and European. We fail to understand that, and so we fail to get the real bind many of them (including Rory on this occasion) are in with regard to this.

Darren you’re talking sh1te!! Graeme McDowell, though a Protestant, has said he has always felt a proud Irishman. I don’t think anyone could question Darren’s Irishness!! Let Rory play for Team GB. Would rather have someone on the Irish team who really wants to represent their country rather than someone who picks their country due to commercial value.

Hmmm notice how people give you a thumbs down regardless of what you say

And yet your chosen avatar is trying to inflict what you want to be on me….oh, the ironing is delicious!

Troll troll troll.

classy Tara really classy

That’s my opinion James & I’m entitled to it whether you like it or not!!!

Well Tara your opinion is a disgrace. And shows you have no class.

Why?? because you don’t like it…get a life!!!

Meow saucer of milk,table two…..silly comment though…..agree with James here….. If you knew anything about golf you’d know he is the most exciting player in the world right now and still only a kid….no time for burning tricolours I’m sure

Wow that’s about as much ignorance as its possible to get in one sentence! Good work!!!

Tara the Troll

Yes Tara just as I am entitled to think that you are a prat

Look lads just because you don’t agree with what i said doesn’t mean you have to be so rude,i thought that was the whole point of the journal,to voice your opinion…& Don’t call me a troll Michael just for having an opinion,you don’t know me so don’t judge,jesus,whats the point in commenting if your going to be insulted…for what its worth he’s a fine golfer,doesn’t change the fact that i don’t agree with his “always felt more british than irish” comment,it got me back up,deal with it!!!

We are dealing with it by replying to your comment. Free speech, deal with it.
As to being rude, to say that Rory is only one step from burning tricolours, that is not only rude but offensive as well. Just my opinion

I can see that this free speech you talk about is 1 sided…

To say he is a step away from burning the tri colour with is orange mates might be rude or offensive , just voicing our opionions . “get a life” ” deal with it” your words not mine.