thejollyrodger
17/04/2005, 11:42 AM
March 24, 2005
Irish unity is best way forward
By Tony Cascarino
WHEN someone as celebrated as George Best calls for the integration of the Northern Ireland and Ireland teams, you have to listen. And I think that he is right. Certainly, no one I knew in the Republic team would have had a problem with it. In all my years as an Ireland player, I did not hear any anti-Northern Ireland sentiments from anyone.
I remember once talking to Niall Quinn about why the Irish national teams had not joined together. Even though I played 88 times for Ireland, I suspected that, because I was not born in the country, my understanding would not be as deep as a native’s, so I asked for his opinion. But he didn’t know why, either. “It just hasn’t happened,” he said.
We used to play Northern Ireland regularly. The atmosphere surrounding the fixtures would depend on the level of political tension at the time. We played at Windsor Park in a World Cup qualifier in 1993, drawing 1-1, and the coach journey to the stadium left as deep an impression on me as the match. Sitting next to us as we drove through Belfast was a protective posse of armed soldiers in plain clothes.
We got off the bus and people were telling us: “Don’t go down this road, don’t go down that one, it’s not safe to walk down there.” I found it incredibly sad. The mood in the ground was always very hostile. It was a more aggressively pro-British crowd than you’d get in London. But the political situation now is less turbulent and you can see progress is being made. The Setanta Cup, the first all-Ireland competition for 25 years, is taking place and proving a success. Derry are based in Northern Ireland but play in the (Irish) Eircom League — perhaps one day there will be an all-Ireland division. Ireland’s rugby and boxing teams are drawn from both sides of the border.
Irish football’s history is complex and involves a power struggle between ruling bodies, but it was as late as the 1950s when Fifa ruled that both national associations must pick teams from within their boundaries and no longer could both call themselves simply “Ireland”.
Practical problems exist, both religious — sectarianism is not going to go away — and sporting. Where would the games be played? It would only be right to alternate — one match in Belfast, then one in Dublin. Uniting would hand the team a competitive advantage, though if the sides were joined tomorrow, how many Northern Ireland players would get into the squad? Even going back two decades, there would be few. Norman Whiteside, definitely; Alan McDonald, Keith Gillespie —perhaps.
That might cause resentment in Belfast, but if the teams are ever to be joined, it is vital that the squad is selected on merit, not to try to keep everyone happy. Things go in cycles, so no doubt in the future a better crop of players will emerge from the North. Uniting the football teams is a natural progression because I do believe Ireland itself will be reunited one day. There would be difficulties in the aftermath, as there were in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, but I believe the long-term benefits would be worth it.
When footballers take a political stance, there is the danger that they will be used as pawns. And there are risks: one of my former team-mates was spotted campaigning for a political party in the 1980s and received a death threat as a result. No wonder most footballers try to leave the politics to the politicians.
Not that I am naive. I recognise that as soon as you pull on your country’s shirt you are a symbol for that nation, and people will use that as a way of promoting contrasts and rivalries. But I also know that sport is a healing force and something as apparently trivial as football can make a profound and positive difference if we are brave enough to give it a chance.
COMBINED FORCES
ALL-IRELAND (possible; 4-4-2): S Given (Newcastle United) — S Carr (Newcastle United), R Dunne (Manchester City), K Cunningham (Birmingham City), A Hughes* (Newcastle United) — A Reid (Tottenham Hotspur), Roy Keane (Manchester United), K Kilbane (Everton), D Duff (Chelsea) — D Healy* (Leeds United), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur). Substitutes: M Hughes* (Crystal Palace), K Gillespie* (Leicester City), Maik Taylor* (Birmingham City), J O’Shea (Manchester United), A O’Brien (Newcastle United), C Morrison (Birmingham City), S Finnan (Liverpool), M Holland (Charlton Athletic).
* denotes Northern Ireland player
Seems like Cas is in favour of the whole process as well
Irish unity is best way forward
By Tony Cascarino
WHEN someone as celebrated as George Best calls for the integration of the Northern Ireland and Ireland teams, you have to listen. And I think that he is right. Certainly, no one I knew in the Republic team would have had a problem with it. In all my years as an Ireland player, I did not hear any anti-Northern Ireland sentiments from anyone.
I remember once talking to Niall Quinn about why the Irish national teams had not joined together. Even though I played 88 times for Ireland, I suspected that, because I was not born in the country, my understanding would not be as deep as a native’s, so I asked for his opinion. But he didn’t know why, either. “It just hasn’t happened,” he said.
We used to play Northern Ireland regularly. The atmosphere surrounding the fixtures would depend on the level of political tension at the time. We played at Windsor Park in a World Cup qualifier in 1993, drawing 1-1, and the coach journey to the stadium left as deep an impression on me as the match. Sitting next to us as we drove through Belfast was a protective posse of armed soldiers in plain clothes.
We got off the bus and people were telling us: “Don’t go down this road, don’t go down that one, it’s not safe to walk down there.” I found it incredibly sad. The mood in the ground was always very hostile. It was a more aggressively pro-British crowd than you’d get in London. But the political situation now is less turbulent and you can see progress is being made. The Setanta Cup, the first all-Ireland competition for 25 years, is taking place and proving a success. Derry are based in Northern Ireland but play in the (Irish) Eircom League — perhaps one day there will be an all-Ireland division. Ireland’s rugby and boxing teams are drawn from both sides of the border.
Irish football’s history is complex and involves a power struggle between ruling bodies, but it was as late as the 1950s when Fifa ruled that both national associations must pick teams from within their boundaries and no longer could both call themselves simply “Ireland”.
Practical problems exist, both religious — sectarianism is not going to go away — and sporting. Where would the games be played? It would only be right to alternate — one match in Belfast, then one in Dublin. Uniting would hand the team a competitive advantage, though if the sides were joined tomorrow, how many Northern Ireland players would get into the squad? Even going back two decades, there would be few. Norman Whiteside, definitely; Alan McDonald, Keith Gillespie —perhaps.
That might cause resentment in Belfast, but if the teams are ever to be joined, it is vital that the squad is selected on merit, not to try to keep everyone happy. Things go in cycles, so no doubt in the future a better crop of players will emerge from the North. Uniting the football teams is a natural progression because I do believe Ireland itself will be reunited one day. There would be difficulties in the aftermath, as there were in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, but I believe the long-term benefits would be worth it.
When footballers take a political stance, there is the danger that they will be used as pawns. And there are risks: one of my former team-mates was spotted campaigning for a political party in the 1980s and received a death threat as a result. No wonder most footballers try to leave the politics to the politicians.
Not that I am naive. I recognise that as soon as you pull on your country’s shirt you are a symbol for that nation, and people will use that as a way of promoting contrasts and rivalries. But I also know that sport is a healing force and something as apparently trivial as football can make a profound and positive difference if we are brave enough to give it a chance.
COMBINED FORCES
ALL-IRELAND (possible; 4-4-2): S Given (Newcastle United) — S Carr (Newcastle United), R Dunne (Manchester City), K Cunningham (Birmingham City), A Hughes* (Newcastle United) — A Reid (Tottenham Hotspur), Roy Keane (Manchester United), K Kilbane (Everton), D Duff (Chelsea) — D Healy* (Leeds United), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur). Substitutes: M Hughes* (Crystal Palace), K Gillespie* (Leicester City), Maik Taylor* (Birmingham City), J O’Shea (Manchester United), A O’Brien (Newcastle United), C Morrison (Birmingham City), S Finnan (Liverpool), M Holland (Charlton Athletic).
* denotes Northern Ireland player
Seems like Cas is in favour of the whole process as well