FAI in danger of creating a ‘sectarian’ team

But this situation is under threat because the governing body of football in the Republic of Ireland, the FAI, has moved away from the agreed and long established practice of only selecting players born in another jurisdiction if they have a territorial connection to the Republic and have adopted a policy whereby footballers from the nationalist community are encouraged to exclude themselves from Northern Ireland and play for the FAI.

The FAI is using the Belfast Agreement as an excuse for breaking this longstanding policy.

It is sadly ironic that the Agreement - meant to be taken in the whole and designed to promote good relations between North and South and reconciliation between the two communities within Northern Ireland - has been “cherry picked” and is being used as justification for a policy that is having quite the opposite effect.

Northern Ireland supporters have fought a long campaign against sectarianism and it is their desire that the Northern Ireland team should have the support of everyone in Northern Ireland and not be the preserve only of one community.

We believe this desire is more faithful to the spirit of the Belfast Agreement than the policy adopted by the FAI which threatens to make the Northern Ireland team representative only of the unionist community.

1st Maze NISC is proud to support a fully inclusive Northern Ireland team, and believes the FAI must be prevented from dividing our football community on sectarian lines.

We do not want footballing apartheid in Northern Ireland.

Vince Curry

Founding member/spokesman of 1st Maze NISC