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All-Ireland team would be a winner

Friday, 25 July 2008

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I must admit that I found James Part's comments regarding an all-Ireland football team quite hilarious (Write Back, July 21).

He describes the idea as ‘anti-unionist' and, while that may be true, the only way to have a true ‘unionist' side would be to have one team for the United Kingdom. A Northern Ireland side is just as ‘anti-unionist'.

He says that a Northern Ireland rugby team couldn't compete with Australia or New Zealand. They wouldn't even be able to compete with Italy!

The fact is that many of these institutions such as rugby and cricket and so on, that are all-Ireland, were founded in the pre-partition era and football is the only major sport with two Irish sides.

And there was the ludicrous statement that it would be ‘selling our soul for beating a few more teams'. Why would you be selling your soul? Most Ulster rugby fans are unionists and have no problem supporting one Irish side, so have they sold their souls? Fair enough Northern Ireland beat Spain, Sweden etc, but they haven't qualified for a major tournament in 22 years and I personally would love to see a Robbie Keane and David Healy partnership, despite his shenanigans, or Davis and Brunt playing in midfield alongside McGeady and Duff.

Don't blow your own trumpet about Northern Ireland fans either. It was only recently that they booed Neil Lennon for playing for Celtic and have booed Craig Bellamy and John Hartson for playing for Celtic when Northern Ireland played Wales. Just you wait and see the reaction that Artur Boruc gets for blessing himself in front of the kop at Windsor when Poland play Northern Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers.

Northern Ireland have done nothing really to convince Catholics, such as myself, to support them and I feel an all-Ireland team would be good for both communities, north and south of the border.

Angry Irish Sports Fan

Belfast

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