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Originally Posted by
TheOneWhoKnocks
Well let's just put it this way. Wilson, McClean and Gibson were all born on this island, hold Irish passports, self-identify as Irish and are entitled to play for Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland due to the Good Friday Agreement. That's a bit different to the likes of Cox, Green and Pilkington being born in England, holding English passports, self-identifying as English, only getting Irish passports after they decide they want to play International football and playing for Ireland, frankly, because they aren't good enough to play for their own country. That's what I meant when I said "humanitarian" i.e. Good Friday Agreement.
The Good Friday Agreement has nout to do with it. Here's a
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Contrary to popular misconception, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 has nothing to do with the application of FIFA’s statutes on Irish nationality. The Good Friday Agreement was a constitutional document agreed between the British and Irish governments after backing from the majority of the electorate in Northern Ireland that, amongst numerous other things, acknowledged and bilaterally endorsed, as an undisputed right of law, the will of members of Northern Ireland’s nationalist community to identify as Irish. It is frustrating to see it continually bandied about in discussions surrounding player eligibility, however, especially when the eligibility of Northern Ireland-born Irish nationals to play for the Republic of Ireland is being attributed to its terms. It is mentioned here in order to discount this misguided belief.
Players born in Northern Ireland have been lining out for FAI teams under FIFA rules identical in effect to those in place today before the Good Friday Agreement. Ger Crossley, Gerard Doherty, Mark McKeever and Tony Shields, for example, were all born in Northern Ireland and, qualifying via their birthright to Irish nationality, played for FAI teams between 1995 and 1998. Crossley was even selected in a senior squad by then-manager Mick McCarthy for a friendly game against Mexico in 1998, although he did not actually play. It would have been difficult for the FAI to turn such players away given they were Irish nationals, after all. Countless others have played for Irish teams between the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and the saga involving Darron Gibson that seemed to implant the issue of player eligibility in the minds of Northern Ireland football supporters.
By virtue of articles 2 and 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann and sections 6 and 7 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, Irish nationality has been available from birth to those born in Northern Ireland who have wished to have it recognised long before 1998; what the Good Friday Agreement did was provide a confirmation of the now-undisputed nature of this with bilateral endorsement, and whilst this might have changed mindsets and cleared up any misgivings in what might have previously been an area of diplomatic dispute, it had no effect on the application of FIFA regulations governing Irish nationality. The fact that Northern Ireland-born players represented FAI teams in the mid-1990s, years before the Good Friday Agreement’s signing, should demonstrate this.
Arguably, had the Good Friday Agreement not been signed and a perception of Ireland’s extra-territorial nationality law as irredentist remained within the psyche of the unionist community in Northern Ireland, it might have posed a greater dilemma for a FIFA unwilling to involve itself in an argument of such an overt political nature over conflicting constitutional arrangements between two states, although they certainly gave no indication of this at the FIFA Players’ Status Committee held in Zurich in 1994 when they affirmed that they “cannot interfere with the decisions taken by any country in the question of granting passports”. If anything, what the Good Friday Agreement did was expunge any possible ambiguity as to the effect of Irish nationality law in Northern Ireland along with the validity of any potential complaint about it from the IFA, but that is all it might have done in relation to this matter.
Anyway, that's besides the main point. Who are you to tell someone of Irish heritage that they have no right to discover, acknowledge and realise the Irish aspect of their identity, even if they
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Ideally, it would be changed to parentage rather than grandparentage; or alternatively players should come up through youth teams. If we became a worse team for it, I could accept that - I doubt we would.
Without wanting to sound like De Valera, for most people who consider themselves lucky enough, familial bond and influence in our society remains generally strong between grandparent and grandchild; I don't see any reason to curtail the existing eligibility principle by a generation if the reality is that many people still generally cherish a familial connection that goes one level beyond their parents. Your proposal would rule the likes of McGeady and McCarthy out. And, our future goalie, Stutts' wee lad!