Keith Gillespie now favours All Ireland soccer team!

[T Fearon]

Of the current Northern squad,Evans,Davis,Mc Auley and Brunt would be assured of places in an All Ireland squad and at least two of these,Evans and Davis would be in the team.

[NetNitrate]

It's like the old joke, originally about two restaurants, about the Yank who came to Ireland and asked which soccer team should he go to see play, the North or the South, to which some wag replied: "which ever one you watch, you'll be wishing you went to see the other one."

[red hander]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

[red hander]

Of the current Northern squad,Evans,Davis,Mc Auley and Brunt would be assured of places in an All Ireland squad and at least two of these,Evans and Davis would be in the team.

Davis can't even get into the Southampton team on a regular basis and has suffered a desperate loss of form in the last 2 years.

[michaelg]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

[johnneycool]

Of the current Northern squad,Evans,Davis,Mc Auley and Brunt would be assured of places in an All Ireland squad and at least two of these,Evans and Davis would be in the team.

Davis can't even get into the Southampton team on a regular basis and has suffered a desperate loss of form in the last 2 years.

He'd still be better than Paul Greene all the same.

[LeoMc]

An All-Ireland team would still be 5h1te. Why deprive the fans, north and south,  of their only pleasure - watching the other one get beat.

[balladmaker]

Great idea, they'd all be able to enjoy the match flights with James McClean, listening to The Wolfe Tones :-)

http://m.u.tv/sport/McClean-in-Twitter-row-over-IRA-song/ba955dd2-db27-4f87-b712-6bb425341dcd

[Shamrock Shore]

TBH if you have a ROI/NI/Wales and Scotland soccer team it still wouldn't be worth two shites.

[red hander]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

ese players are somehow traitors
Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

I know footballers do have a reputation for being thick, but is it not equally naïve to not credit young players from the six counties proud of their Irish nationality with having a brain to make their own choice over who they play for, rather than blaming it on some bizarre conspiracy theory that allows OWCers to think they are being sinned against and these players are somehow traitors to their 'country'. Let's not forget, when McClean was by far and away the best player in the League of Ireland he was completely ignored by OWC while many a clown from the Irish League were given caps... And we all know why, don't we? By all means support your team and good luck to you, but don't be so naïve about why young Irish men from the six counties choose to play for THEIR country

[red hander]

Of the current Northern squad,Evans,Davis,Mc Auley and Brunt would be assured of places in an All Ireland squad and at least two of these,Evans and Davis would be in the team.

Davis can't even get into the Southampton team on a regular basis and has suffered a desperate loss of form in the last 2 years.

He'd still be better than Paul Greene all the same.

Johnny, I'm better than Paul Greene, and I'm shite. And don't get me started on McShane

[michaelg]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

ese players are somehow traitors
Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

I know footballers do have a reputation for being thick, but is it not equally naïve to not credit young players from the six counties proud of their Irish nationality with having a brain to make their own choice over who they play for, rather than blaming it on some bizarre conspiracy theory that allows OWCers to think they are being sinned against and these players are somehow traitors to their 'country'. Let's not forget, when McClean was by far and away the best player in the League of Ireland he was completely ignored by OWC while many a clown from the Irish League were given caps... And we all know why, don't we? By all means support your team and good luck to you, but don't be so naïve about why young Irish men from the six counties choose to play for THEIR country

Of course I fully appreciate how young nationalists would want to play for ROI.  I would just prefer it, howver, if they decided to do this before being developed by NI's Youth Development system and depriving another young player of representative honours.  The way your man Wilson went about things was fine.
I do, however, think young players should be left to make their decision without external influence, particularly if they have hitherto had no problem previously representing NI at under age level.  To suggest that young players are not being pressurised is wrong.  For example, do you genuinely believe that nobody from the FAI had been in Shane Ferguson's ear when he was deciding which way to jump?

[red hander]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

ese players are somehow traitors
Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

I know footballers do have a reputation for being thick, but is it not equally naïve to not credit young players from the six counties proud of their Irish nationality with having a brain to make their own choice over who they play for, rather than blaming it on some bizarre conspiracy theory that allows OWCers to think they are being sinned against and these players are somehow traitors to their 'country'. Let's not forget, when McClean was by far and away the best player in the League of Ireland he was completely ignored by OWC while many a clown from the Irish League were given caps... And we all know why, don't we? By all means support your team and good luck to you, but don't be so naïve about why young Irish men from the six counties choose to play for THEIR country

Of course I fully appreciate how young nationalists would want to play for ROI.  I would just prefer it, howver, if they decided to do this before being developed by NI's Youth Development system and depriving another young player of representative honours.  The way your man Wilson went about things was fine.
I do, however, think young players should be left to make their decision without external influence, particularly if they have hitherto had no problem previously representing NI at under age level.  To suggest that young players are not being pressurised is wrong.  For example, do you genuinely believe that nobody from the FAI had been in Shane Ferguson's ear when he was deciding which way to jump?

In an ideal world I'd prefer them to go up through the FAI's structures, but you and I know the uproar and sectarian abuse from OWCers if the FAI had, in the past, attempted to establish such structures in the six counties ... which is just another example of the way young Irish players from the six counties were discriminated against in the statelet. In many ways these young lads had little choice but take the IFA route. Bottom line, I assume they were picked by the IFA at under age level because they were better than those round them. The like of McClean was still better than those round him (north and south) when he played for Derry City, yet he wasn't picked for the senior team while other eejits from the Irish League were, for purely sectarian reasons imo. McCourt and McGinn weren't exactly regular choices either for a long time when they were clearly better than some of the tubes given caps while playing at a similar level. As for Shane Ferguson, he made his choice, good luck to him, but he has, like the rest of us, got 2 ears, and I'm sure the IFA were in the other one, but at the end of the day it's down to the individual. To my knowledge young Ferguson hasn't been subject to the abuse from Ireland fans for his decision that OWC has heaped on McClean and Darron Gibson

[michaelg]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

ese players are somehow traitors
Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

I know footballers do have a reputation for being thick, but is it not equally naïve to not credit young players from the six counties proud of their Irish nationality with having a brain to make their own choice over who they play for, rather than blaming it on some bizarre conspiracy theory that allows OWCers to think they are being sinned against and these players are somehow traitors to their 'country'. Let's not forget, when McClean was by far and away the best player in the League of Ireland he was completely ignored by OWC while many a clown from the Irish League were given caps... And we all know why, don't we? By all means support your team and good luck to you, but don't be so naïve about why young Irish men from the six counties choose to play for THEIR country

Of course I fully appreciate how young nationalists would want to play for ROI.  I would just prefer it, howver, if they decided to do this before being developed by NI's Youth Development system and depriving another young player of representative honours.  The way your man Wilson went about things was fine.
I do, however, think young players should be left to make their decision without external influence, particularly if they have hitherto had no problem previously representing NI at under age level.  To suggest that young players are not being pressurised is wrong.  For example, do you genuinely believe that nobody from the FAI had been in Shane Ferguson's ear when he was deciding which way to jump?

In an ideal world I'd prefer them to go up through the FAI's structures, but you and I know the uproar and sectarian abuse from OWCers if the FAI had, in the past, attempted to establish such structures in the six counties ... which is just another example of the way young Irish players from the six counties were discriminated against in the statelet. In many ways these young lads had little choice but take the IFA route. Bottom line, I assume they were picked by the IFA at under age level because they were better than those round them. The like of McClean was still better than those round him (north and south) when he played for Derry City, yet he wasn't picked for the senior team while other eejits from the Irish League were, for purely sectarian reasons imo. McCourt and McGinn weren't exactly regular choices either for a long time when they were clearly better than some of the tubes given caps while playing at a similar level. As for Shane Ferguson, he made his choice, good luck to him, but he has, like the rest of us, got 2 ears, and I'm sure the IFA were in the other one, but at the end of the day it's down to the individual. To my knowledge young Ferguson hasn't been subject to the abuse from Ireland fans for his decision that OWC has heaped on McClean and Darron Gibson

So just to clarify, are you saying that selection is only based on sectarian grounds at full international level and that this is not the case at under age level?
If you had ever watched or taken any notice of Northern Irish football, you would know that selection is made on merit, with equal numbers of protestant and catholic players generally selected. 
With regards McClean, I'm not sure that many Irish League players were selected ahead of him when he was plying his trade in the LOI.  Colin Coates springs to mind, although he plays in a completely different position. 
As for McCourt and McGinn not being regulars for a while, this is because both were not playing regularly at club level (McCourt for Celtic and McGinn for Celtic and when at Brentford on loan). 
As for the IFA being in Ferguson's ear, is that not fair enough given that he come through the IFA system and is from Derry?  As for not getting stick from ROI fans, it's a completely different situation as he never represented them and then changed his mind and played for a different team.

[rodney trotter]

There is a de facto all ireland team in soccer at the minute, no need to change and bring troublemakers on board.

There is not a de facto all Ireland team - It would be fairer to say that there is a team made up of Irish born players from a nationalist background.  To date, to the best of my knowledge, approaches have not been made to young up and coming Northern Irish players from a protestant / unionist background.

There is a de facto all-Ireland team because players from the six counties who consider themselves Irish, a right guaranteed to them under the GFA you voted for, now feel confident enough to express their nationality after 70 years of having that identity discriminated against. Despite this they still have to deal with abuse from OWC heads for abandoning their, ahem, 'country', a 'country' that treated their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as third class citizens in their own land. Your post also suggests the players we are referring to were somehow approached and had their heads somehow turned, but similar 'approaches' have not been made to players of a unionist/protestant background, which suggests some sort of sectarian agenda by the FAI... Bizarre. Come back to me when the Republic's captain is booed by his own fans because of his religion and has to give up his international career due to death threats

ese players are somehow traitors
Has it not been reported that young nationalist players are being approached?  To believe otherwise, is naive in my opinion.

I know footballers do have a reputation for being thick, but is it not equally naïve to not credit young players from the six counties proud of their Irish nationality with having a brain to make their own choice over who they play for, rather than blaming it on some bizarre conspiracy theory that allows OWCers to think they are being sinned against and these players are somehow traitors to their 'country'. Let's not forget, when McClean was by far and away the best player in the League of Ireland he was completely ignored by OWC while many a clown from the Irish League were given caps... And we all know why, don't we? By all means support your team and good luck to you, but don't be so naïve about why young Irish men from the six counties choose to play for THEIR country

Of course I fully appreciate how young nationalists would want to play for ROI.  I would just prefer it, howver, if they decided to do this before being developed by NI's Youth Development system and depriving another young player of representative honours.  The way your man Wilson went about things was fine.
I do, however, think young players should be left to make their decision without external influence, particularly if they have hitherto had no problem previously representing NI at under age level.  To suggest that young players are not being pressurised is wrong.  For example, do you genuinely believe that nobody from the FAI had been in Shane Ferguson's ear when he was deciding which way to jump?

In an ideal world I'd prefer them to go up through the FAI's structures, but you and I know the uproar and sectarian abuse from OWCers if the FAI had, in the past, attempted to establish such structures in the six counties ... which is just another example of the way young Irish players from the six counties were discriminated against in the statelet. In many ways these young lads had little choice but take the IFA route. Bottom line, I assume they were picked by the IFA at under age level because they were better than those round them. The like of McClean was still better than those round him (north and south) when he played for Derry City, yet he wasn't picked for the senior team while other eejits from the Irish League were, for purely sectarian reasons imo. McCourt and McGinn weren't exactly regular choices either for a long time when they were clearly better than some of the tubes given caps while playing at a similar level. As for Shane Ferguson, he made his choice, good luck to him, but he has, like the rest of us, got 2 ears, and I'm sure the IFA were in the other one, but at the end of the day it's down to the individual. To my knowledge young Ferguson hasn't been subject to the abuse from Ireland fans for his decision that OWC has heaped on McClean and Darron Gibson

So just to clarify, are you saying that selection is only based on sectarian grounds at full international level and that this is not the case at under age level?
If you had ever watched or taken any notice of Northern Irish football, you would know that selection is made on merit, with equal numbers of protestant and catholic players generally selected. 
With regards McClean, I'm not sure that many Irish League players were selected ahead of him when he was plying his trade in the LOI.  Colin Coates springs to mind, although he plays in a completely different position. 
As for McCourt and McGinn not being regulars for a while, this is because both were not playing regularly at club level (McCourt for Celtic and McGinn for Celtic and when at Brentford on loan). 
As for the IFA being in Ferguson's ear, is that not fair enough given that he come through the IFA system and is from Derry?  As for not getting stick from ROI fans, it's a completely different situation as he never represented them and then changed his mind and play for a different team.

Not from the North, but when Paddy McCourt was playing LOI with Derry City, Nigel Wortington constantly overlooked him. He was the best player in the League at the time by a Country Mile. Niall McGinn was also in very good form with Derry and was never selected until his move to Celtic.

Worthington clearly overlooked players from LOI, a league which is a better standard then the Irish League.

It was a good move by the IFA to appoint Michael O Neill for the sake of Northern Ireland football, as he doesn't have any agenda's with LOI having already managed in it and might help sway players from the Nationalist backgrond to play with Norn Iron.