Support the motion Oppose the motion
That this Ard Fheis supports a campaign for an all-Ireland
international soccer team. Sport is another representation of
politics and international sport has developed along with the
evolution of the nation-state and struggles for national
self-determination. In Catalonia and Euskadi campaigns are underway
for national selections in all sports. In Ireland soccer is the only
significant international sport in which the partition of Ireland is
represented. As this sport has immense popularity, it has been used
to enhance the legitimacy of the Six-County statelet.
Aspects of this campaign should include:
1. Challenging the IFA publicly about the on-going harassment of
nationalist teenagers in the Six Counties designed to pressurise them
into playing for `Northern Ireland';
2. Lobbying young nationalists with advanced soccer talent not to
participate in any way with the team termed ``Northern Ireland''. They
should instead obtain an Irish passport and be available for
selection by the FAI;
3. Lobbying the FAI both publicly and privately to form an
all-Ireland soccer team in terms of both title and participation;
4. Support should be sought from other political parties, clubs and
Celtic groups to help lobby for an all-Ireland team.
Cumann Orr/McCracken, Antrim
