“Support for an all-Ireland soccer team is growing. We are stronger and more successful together.”
Sinn Féin have proposed the idea of United Ireland soccer team that would see players from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland national teams playing together on the same side.
In a short video published on their Facebook page, Sinn Féin used examples such as the GAA, the Irish rugby team and past Irish Olympic teams in an attempt to illustrate that “Irish sports teams are stronger and better when they are all-Ireland teams”.
The Republican Party are due to launch a document on Irish unity in Belfast and Dublin on Monday morning and before that, they are attempting to promote an all-Ireland soccer team, an idea that has been raised often in the past.
“Irish sports teams are stronger and better when they are all-Ireland teams,” a Sinn Féin spokesperson said.
“Look at the success of our rugby teams and golfers. As an all-Ireland organisation the GAA is unmatched by any other sports organisation.
“Support for an all-Ireland soccer team is growing. We are stronger and more successful together.”
A team made up of players from Ireland and Northern Ireland did play together in 1973, when a ‘Shamrock Rovers XI,’ including the likes of Pat Jennings, John Giles and Martin O’Neill, were defeated 4-3 by Brazil in Lansdowne Road.
