What is the situation with players from the 6 counties wanting to play for the ROI?

Bottle_of_Smoke

Was just reading some old threads and doing a bit of googling.

After the Darren Gibson case it seemed to be ruled that a player from the north needed a parent/grandparent from the south or live in the south for two years. That's what wikipedia still says.

However, one article(the most recent) I googled mentioned Sepp Blatter saying anyone on the Island can play for the ROI so long as they haven't played for anyone else previously.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland-footballers-can-play-for-republic-says-fifa-chief-14209213.html?startindex=100

Can anyone confirm?

I can understand the IFA being pissed that they develop the players and then they lose them to the Republic team, however I think it must be sickening for someone from a nationalist background having to play for NI given they don't feel they belong to a UK team and the hostility Northern Ireland fans have for Catholics/Nationalists (booing of Martin O'Neill/death threats for Neil Lennon)

I think a fair solution would be for players in Northern Ireland being allowed to choose which team they want to play for and the FAI contribute toward some funding to the IFA as compensation for potential players that choose to play for the ROI

Kess73

I wonder how well the news would be received if a player born in the South wanted to play for Northern Ireland.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Kess73 wrote: »

I wonder how well the news would be received if a player born in the South wanted to play for Northern Ireland.

I don't think its beyond impossible as most people think. My friend's a Protestant from Donegal and he would support Northern Ireland when they're playing.

Its certainly more unlikely, but I think the option should definitely be there

mikemac

Kess73 wrote: »

I wonder how well the news would be received if a player born in the South wanted to play for Northern Ireland.

Certainly could happen and probably will happen some day.
I'm thinking of communities in Monaghan. For sure, a player from there may well opt to play for Northern Ireland

leninbenjamin

it the past it had been suggested by FIFA that because of the unique situation up there, if they were born on the Island and entitled to an irish passport they could choose, although it was never fully written into the rules.

However, after the IFA kicked up so much fuss over Gibson they closed that loophole effectively and now Irish citizens in NI are subject to the same rules I believe as anywhere else.

that's my interpretation of the events anyway...

briany

It's really an interesting situation. Some northern fans are very unhappy about certain players wanting to play for the republic even though they were born and bred in Northern Ireland but the simple fact is, if these players are catholic and come from a nationalist community then they probably won't identify with a team that plays "God Save the Queen" as it's national anthem and vice versa. On the Our Wee Country forum this is an absolutely huge gripe with the Republic of Ireland team unfortunately.

fh041205

Does it work the opposite direction too? I'm not sure that it does. I was under the impression that citizens of N.Ireland could declare for either nation but that shouldn't necessarily extend to citizens of the republic. Obviously the big deal with Gibson was that he had already played underage level with NI and that should have excluded him. I don't think he would have been allowed had it been the opposite way round.

The fact remains that people still see NI as 'occupied counties' and sugggesting Catholics=republic and Protestant=NI is pretty scandalous nevermind ignorant.

briany

There is the argument that only players born in the ROI or with recent ancestral should be allowed to play for the team but of course it's not as simple as that. I would be all for players from both sides of the community divide playing for Northern Ireland but that's still going to be an issue for some time to come and I think it comes back to having an anthem and flag that is representitive of the whole community there or at least it's certainly a big part of it. If you ask me people from nationalist communities in Northern Ireland should be allowed to declare for RoI if that is the country they feel they identify with regardless of direct ancestry and (in a perfect world, this next bit I don't think will ever happen) players from unionist communities in Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal or Indeed any other part of the republic should be allowed to play for NI if that is with whom they feel they identify.

Just let's have no flip flopping where players play for the under 15s of one and then the under 16s of another, that's just wrong.

Bottle_of_Smoke

fh041205 wrote: »

Does it work the opposite direction too? I'm not sure that it does. I was under the impression that citizens of N.Ireland could declare for either nation but that shouldn't necessarily extend to citizens of the republic. Obviously the big deal with Gibson was that he had already played underage level with NI and that should have excluded him. I don't think he would have been allowed had it been the opposite way round.

The fact remains that people still see NI as 'occupied counties' and sugggesting Catholics=republic and Protestant=NI is pretty scandalous nevermind ignorant.

Who said that? The fact is that people from the Catholic/Nationalist community in NI have gotten a hard time from NI supporters. Why should they play for them?