Have you got any Irish in you?

Have you got any Irish in you?

By Aidan Fitzmaurice

Irish eyes will not be smiling this summer when UEFA EURO 2004™ kicks off without the presence of the Republic of Ireland who failed to qualify for the tournament. So the Irish are exploring all avenues in a bid to find new players to give them a better chance of reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals.

New rules
Manager Brian Kerr and the Football Association of Ireland are looking to take advantage of a change in FIFA's rules on international eligibility which could allow some players to change allegiance and play for another country having already played international football at underage level for someone else.

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interesting quote from Brian Kerr:
"We've talked about setting up a base in America to investigate players over there."

Wouldn't it be better if 2nd and 3rd generation Irishmen went on the record and said 'I'd rather play for Ireland than the country of my birth'.

People like Nolan, no disrespect to him would rather play for England but would take Ireland as an avenue into international soccer, better contracts etc.

Setting up a camp in America smacks of desperation and reiterates the 'plastic paddy' tag we had when Charlton was in charge.

No what we should be aiming for. I know we've a fair amount of 'foreigners' playing for us at the minute, but I can't say I like having it this way. We should stick to having Irish born players only.

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Originally posted by brendy_éire
No what we should be aiming for. I know we've a fair amount of 'foreigners' playing for us at the minute, but I can't say I like having it this way. We should stick to having Irish born players only.

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That's a bit extreme, what about players like Paul McGrath and David O'Leary who were born in England but raised in Ireland and also players who were born in England with both of their parents Irish born and who consider themselves Irish. Anyway there'd be too many Jackeens in the side if we stuck to Irish born only.:D

There's hardly a european nation out there now that doesn't have "foreigners" playing for them.

Brendy eire - you are a bit of an eejit. Irish born only? I don't know where you were born but by your location that would technically rule you out of ROI side.

I agree I don't want people like Nolan either. However the real 2g would rather represent Ireland than anyone else and surely thats the real test.

American camps:(

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Originally posted by davey
Brendy eire - you are a bit of an eejit. Irish born only? I don't know where you were born but by your location that would technically rule you out of ROI side.

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Born in Derry, hence Irish born.

Aye, I'm aware that there's been many great players who have played for us and have come from England. But don't ye agree that some of the players who play/have played for Ireland have only done so because they can't get on the England team. Was it Clinton Morrison who, when Amhrán na bhFiann was being played, said something like "I hope ours isn't as crap as this"? No harm to him, he's a decent player and all, but he didn't have a clue what he was at really.
Maybe an idea would be that they have to have been raised in Ireland to play, or maybe sit some kind of test. I'm not entirely comfortable with people representing my country who don't know the first thing about it.

I think players should only have one chance to choose which country they want to play for. They should all have to sign something at a young age stating the country of their choice (as long as they qualify on the parentage rule too). Players like Nolan and Macken are 99% English and want to play for Ireland to further their career. Macken wants to play for Ireland to test himself at that level. I mean, come on.

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Originally posted by brendy_éire
No what we should be aiming for. I know we've a fair amount of 'foreigners' playing for us at the minute, but I can't say I like having it this way. We should stick to having Irish born players only.

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Would this mean you class people born in the north as foreigners? Since their are two recognised footballing bodies on the island of Ireland. Your view would mean to play for the Republic of Ireland you have to be born in the 26 counties. :o

I really dont think we can afford to be too choosy with who we play and dont play. We all would love to have a team all born in Ireland but we also want a team that would be competitive. I dont think at the moment an all "Irish" team would be competitive. If Brian can find people in america who are willing to play for us then why not but only if they are better than what we have. With regards to Nolan and Macken Nolan looks a great prospect and if he decides to play for us its a good thing as he would at least be as good if not better than what we currently have in our squad.

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Originally posted by brendy_éire
No what we should be aiming for. I know we've a fair amount of 'foreigners' playing for us at the minute, but I can't say I like having it this way. We should stick to having Irish born players only.

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Does that go for fan's also who are not born in Ireland:confused:,
guess i'll have to take up thrashing people's city's and wearing a burbury baseball cap if that's the case, :eek:

Discussed many times before and I think the general agreement was that players should be forced to choose their international preference before say 17,18,thereby eliminating decisions being made as a result of career success or in our case a lack of it.

Implementing the idea of 'Player born here only' would be a criminal.Deny players like Kilbane,Delap,Breen just because their parents had to migrate for work?The repatriation of the same peoples money kept this country afloat in our darkest years...

Pretty much every other team in the world has players from foreign countries, we simply have to do it to compete. If someone is good enough, willing and able to play for uis I've no problem so long as they give 100% when wearing the green.

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Originally posted by Declan_Michael

Setting up a camp in America smacks of desperation and reiterates the 'plastic paddy' tag we had when Charlton was in charge.

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Think of what else we had when Charlton was in charge though :D

Seriously though-if you were raised as Irish then you should be able to play or Ireland.
I grew up in England but was brought up Irish and know the national anthem+all about our country.
I regard myself (As well as most other people regarding me) as Irish.
Despite this I can play for Ireland, England, Burma, India and possibly Iran on heritage! (If I were any good at :ball:)
If you respect the country and won't change once your playing for Ireland and you were raised in an Irish family really you should be able to play.
Lennon should be allowed to play for the Republic. Can people in the North choose who they play for and which passport they have?

Bit off topic but the other day I was wearing ma Cork Hurling shirt in town with my fleece open (you could see the O2 on the Red). A man came up to me and said in a totally English accent "Hey mate do you know how we did". I thought "wow someone else from Cork" until he continued "against Blackburn" hehe. Showuld have seen the look on his face when I took my fleece off and said "actualyl I'm not an Arsenal fan".

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Originally posted by Beavis
[B

Implementing the idea of 'Player born here only' would be a criminal.Deny players like Kilbane,Delap,Breen just because their parents had to migrate for work?The repatriation of the same peoples money kept this country afloat in our darkest years... [/B]

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Spot on, and yes something in region of 1.5 billion was put into the Irish economy between the early 50's and early 70's by the Irish community in brit-tan, still as has been said to meself and some of my homie's in the past when on Ireland trip's. ''how come yer not at wembley''. That one alway's crack's me up. :p .
As has been said on other post's we're not the only country to have player's who have not been born in the country so what's the problem:D .

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Originally posted by liam88
Can people in the North choose who they play for and which passport they have?

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Aye and aye. But the IFA often gets them at U21 level, then they don't change.

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Originally posted by liam88
Think of what else we had when Charlton was in charge though :D

Seriously though-if you were raised as Irish then you should be able to play or Ireland.
I grew up in England but was brought up Irish and know the national anthem+all about our country.
I regard myself (As well as most other people regarding me) as Irish.
Despite this I can play for Ireland, England, Burma, India and possibly Iran on heritage! (If I were any good at :ball:)
If you respect the country and won't change once your playing for Ireland and you were raised in an Irish family really you should be able to play.
Lennon should be allowed to play for the Republic. Can people in the North choose who they play for and which passport they have?

Bit off topic but the other day I was wearing ma Cork Hurling shirt in town with my fleece open (you could see the O2 on the Red). A man came up to me and said in a totally English accent "Hey mate do you know how we did". I thought "wow someone else from Cork" until he continued "against Blackburn" hehe. Showuld have seen the look on his face when I took my fleece off and said "actualyl I'm not an Arsenal fan".

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Liam, I grew up in England too! I consider 2nd generationers as good as the Irish born when it comes to nationality. By my original comment I meant incouraging people who don't care for Irealnd but just see it as I way of getting into international football. Certain Irish internationals past and present have not helped us with our 'plastic paddy' tag and the media have previously lapped it up. By going on the record as saying Ireland are setting up a poaching camp in America just sounds embarassing.

:D I agree

I have no problem with 2nd or 3rd gen Irish playing for us once we are the first choice. The idea however of going to players to talk them into playing for us is ridiculous. If there are players in the USA or any other country for that matter that are qualified to play for us let them come to us. If they feel Irish they will want to play for us, if not they will play for someone else and good luck to them. At least they will be choosing the place for which they have the greatest affinity and not just making a career move. I know that there are plenty of players who have played for the Irish team in the past, and some that are playing for us now, that would have chosen ingurlund over ourselves but thay does not mean that I've to like it. I know that once these players have decided to play for us that they give their all, I just wish that they didn't make it so obvious that we're the second choice.

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Can people in the North choose who they play for and which passport they have?

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Absolutly. Can get one in the Post Office within 14 days, part of the Good Friday Agreement.

When the price of a British one goes up next year an Irish one should be cheaper so there will be a big uptake next year.