It is not nonsense - it's a reality.
You may dislike the fact that there is a place called Northern Ireland, but there is, and it forms part of the United Kingdom.
I fully accept that there are people in Northern Ireland who identify solely as Irish and desire to see Northern Ireland cease to be part of the United Kingdom, and to form part of a 32 County, Ireland.
That's all sorted.
The GFA upholds the right of anyone in Northern Ireland to identify as Irish and/or British.
The constitutional position will change if and when the majority of people in Northern Ireland see fit for change.
That's the deal that I, and the vast majority of nationalists/republicans, have endorsed.
However, that in itself will not "unite" Irish people from differing backgrounds.
What good a territory united, if it's people remain divided?
Not for me to suggest how to bring about a "united" people - but I would suggest that respecting their differing identities might be a useful starting point. It sure beats trying to bomb an identity out of existance.
I have long stated that their will be no "victories" for one side over the other on this island.
Either we all win together, or we continue to be divided forever.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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New blog if anyone's interested - http://loihistory.wordpress.com/
LOI section on balls.ie - http://balls.ie/league-of-ireland/
Originally Posted by gspain
I assume that applies to the breakup of a country eg former Yugoslavia or Soviet Union.
I think Gspain was partly correct.
An example of the effect of the break-up of a country was with Andrei Kanchelskis, who was born in the Ukraine when it was part of the USSR. AFAIK, he wished to continue representing Russia, and was not able to be blocked from this by the new Ukrainian FA, never mind forced to play for them.
Anyhow, I think it was primarily intended to apply to a country which was taken over, or subsumed, by another country. An example would be Hong Kong, where FIFA recognises that although HK is no longer an semi-autonomous British Territory, it is still allowed to keep its own separate team and Associate Membership of the Asian Confederation*.
Anyhow, Merc 67's attempt to relate this particular clause to such precedents is flawed, since the Irish situation is not analogous to either.
It might be so if NI were to cease to be part of the UK, and a "Norn Iron Kanchelskis" were to refuse to play for any new team which replaced it.
Similarly, if e.g. the ROI were invaded from overseas by some foreign power (unlikely, I know), ROI-born citizens could not be compelled to represent the new power.
Some argue that even if born in NI, a player may still have Irish/ROI Nationality, so should be allowed to to represent the FAI.
No-one is suggesting that he have British Identity forced upon him, or be forced to represent NI, which is what this clause deals with.
Rather, some others are arguing that if someone is born within the territory of one Association, then he can not represent another Association unless he has a qualifying connection with it (parent/grandparent/residency).
This latter was what FIFA appeared to be saying when faced with the situation of e.g. Qatar giving Passports and Nationality (and huge amounts of dosh) to talented young Brazilians and claiming them to play for the Qatar side.
* - Hmmm, a British territory ceasing to be, yet keeping its international team... There's an interesting idea![]()
i didnt compare the situation to the precedent you claim, so you cannot say i attempted to relate to them.
this situation is about your fa wanting to compel everyone from that jurisdiction to play for the ni team. that IS forcing them to play for ni.
its not an immediate postwar situation as you mentioned, but it is similar.
Somehow, I don't imagine Fergus Slattery was too far away from the fun, or Johnny Moloney, for that matter. Perhaps they, like Messrs. McBride, McKinney, Milliken, Kennedy and Gibson, were "closet Brits" as well...
(Imagine that, eh, five Ulstermen, two Leinstermen and no Munstermen in a Lions Squad. Must have been the influence of that other West Brit, Coach Syd Millar...)
I'm not so sure it's about anybody forcing anyone to do anything.
There is obviously confusion about FIFA eligibility rules.
The IFA and FAI will sit down, discuss it, get guidance from FIFA, and agree to move forward.
Anyone who does not want to play for Northern Ireland is no asset to Northern Ireland.
Nobody is "forced" to play for Northern Ireland.
Any player is perfectly capable of saying to the IFA to "shove it up yer arse" -whether FIFA rules permit them to then play for another Association is what is up for debate.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
In 1974, they were simply known as "The British Lions". This was a throwback to their origins, when the whole of Ireland was an integral part of the United Kingdom.
As for McBride, no-one calls him Willie Mc - he's usually known as "Willie John" (it's an Ulster thing), or Bill, to his mates.
Anyhow, if you were to repeat to him some of the things you've posted here, I don't know whether he'd employ a British fist or an Irish one, but you won't be posting anything from anywhere for a very long time!![]()
Yep, but they weren't captain!
Was only having a joke anyway. Pretty crappy behaviour all round. Soccer players would be slaughtered for that type of behaviour these days. Different times I suppose but I always think rugby players can pass off loutish behaviour much easier than soccer players.
Last edited by Not Brazil; 27/10/2006 at 3:45 PM.
The Englishmen came over in the year 2005
But little did they know that we'd planned a wee surprise
Sir David scored the winner, and Windsor Park went wild
And this is what we sang...
don't you think it would be astonishing if they would presently ignore possible young players from up the road in NI, especially when at least some of them would be amenable to an approach?
Players such as Gibson & Wilson have stated that they have grown up supporting Ireland (as do a large proportion of the population in the North), and while I agree, it would be hard to produce concrete evidence of their reasoning for opting to play for Ireland, I think you may well find that as Irish citizens, who support their national team, it was probably a pretty easy choice for them, and no more difficult a choice than that of a young Dublin or Cork lad.
I think the whole issue has been blurred for far to long and the sooner UEFA confirm the qualification issue and young players from the North are aware of the situation regarding their international choices , it will fail to be a talking point.
It is however important for the FAI to put structures in place to cater for young players form Belfast, Derry, Lurgan etc. who wish to represent Ireland at international level and an extension of the current development and training programmes etc..into the 6 Northern counties would put in place the necessary provision for these young players to develop without them having to use the IFA structures at youth level, as has been the case in the past
To be replaced by what? Other paraphanalia of unionism. You already admit you object to the tricolour for the same reasons.
Why should nationalists accept this when inclusivity could be acheived by having two athems and two flags? Simple enough I would have thought. Or is it that you can stomach nationalists playing for you but can't stomach their nationalism?
I mean, I'm hardly someone that has time for British nationalism but even I have to admit that the playing of just the Soldier's Song at Irish rugby matches is not inclusive.
Sorry mate, but this is a discussion about what 'country' one wants to play for, and therefore politics. You're trying to muddy the waters with some cack about being British and Irish at the same time, while being hostile to the democratic wishes of the majority of all the people that live in Ireland. If you had dual - nationality, I'd accept your protests about being Irish and British, although dual nationality doesn't mean you can use one nationality to subjugate the other. However, you admit you don't, so you're just plain British to me.
British identity doesn't need to go away. I'm not for telling anyone what country's passport they should hold, so cop on and grow up. In fact it's the British government that will stop you getting a British passport, not the Irish.
As stated above, I have no objection to you being British, having British citizenship etc. Despite your pathetic harking back to the 'Brits Out' of 1921, 'Brits Out' means British power being removed. With the exception of a brief pogrom in Bandon, there has never been any attempt to force unionists out of the 26 counties. If you look at the last census, the British make up the biggest minority in the 26C.
You certainly do. I do not wish to interfere in who runs Britain. I don't support the annexing of any part of British territory by a foreign country (unless it doesn't belong to them). I don't support the break up of Britain (e.g. Scottish independence). You can have a German Lady as your ruler as far as I care (J*s*s, imagine 7 years of Th*tch). Your stance - if you still insist on calling yourself Irish - however is more like the Oswald Moseleys and William Joyces who would have welcomed the Nazis.
No they play under the British anthem instead.
It already is.
BTW kanchelskis represents ukraine, did so at the world cup and AFAIK continues to do so.
he is on record as saying that the only badge he will kiss is the national crest so i can't see how he'd want to stay on with russia but if he did it was for other reasons
Unless we're talking about another Andrei Kanchelskis, I beg to differ:
Andrei Kanchelskis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Abbreviated by EG]
Full name Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis
Date of birth January 23, 1969
Place of birth Kirovograd, USSR (Ukraine)
Position Midfielder
Current club FC Krylya Sovetov Samara
National team**
? USSR/Russia 23 (3)/36 (5)
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 2006.
Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis (Russian: Aндрей Канчельскис, born January 23, 1969 in Kirovograd) is a Ukrainian football midfielder who claimed Russian citizenship after the fall of the Soviet Union. He currently plays for FC Krylya Sovetov Samara in Russia. He is a dynamic goal scoring winger with great pace.
Although Kanchelskis was born in Ukraine and his heritage is Lithuanian, he chose to represent Russia. He was capped 23 times for the Soviet Union national team, scoring three goals, and 36 times for Russia, scoring five goals. After leading a player boycott against head coach Pavel Sadyrin and therefore missing the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the only senior major international tournaments Kanchelskis played in were Euro 92 and Euro 96.
as an aside, which may or may not cut this thread short
how can one be 'proud' of a state that was 'created' by a few lads in 1920 with a rubber and a pencil and was redrawn on numerous occasions to cut out the fellas who now want to play for the 'other' part of the island? it's always baffled me how ppl say theyre proud of the north as a state. perhaps the people, yes, but a gerrymandered, manufactured, undemocratic abstract existence as it is.... i dont get it![]()
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