20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

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20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Rog
on Monday, September 26 2011 @ 08:04 am ACST

I hope this isn't a controversial comment but i would have thought Northern Ireland could have entered their own team seperate to the southerners seeing that they are hosting the event. They are two countries becoming one where as we have one country becoming two (spain/catalunya) or one country becoming three (Wales/England/Scotland).

Any insights into why Denmark have chosen not to come?

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Harley Vague
on Monday, September 26 2011 @ 10:55 am ACST

I can't remember hearing of a Northern Ireland side in other sports though they must exist .It's not that strange because GB plays both as a country and it's member entities , but I do remember a bit of a problem in the past with a Catalan side not being a country and they had to apply through Spain .Really it boils down to who the players want to represent , but would that mean accepting combined sides?

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Rog
on Monday, September 26 2011 @ 11:57 am ACST

Northern Ireland always represent themselves in Football (soccer) but do play combined with the rest of Ireland in Rugby. I guess seeing that the Belfast Redbacks play in the Irish AFL comp, then it makes sense for the to just have one rep team for international tournaments.

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Aaron Richard
on Monday, September 26 2011 @ 12:32 pm ACST

Northern Ireland competes as a stand-alone entity in soccer and the Commonwealth Games. Not in any other sports that I know of though. Olympics they are part of the UK team.

In Aussie Rules, they (by way of their sole club, the Belfast Redbacks) have always been a part of the Ireland national team.

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Aaron Richard
on Monday, September 26 2011 @ 12:37 pm ACST

In addition, the Irish national cricket, hockey and rugby teams also represent the whole of Ireland, ie both the Republic and the North.

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: tomcleary
on Saturday, October 01 2011 @ 08:11 am ACST

Rog, I think it is a great thing that in a lot of sports the island of Ireland is able to come together and is not divided - as is the case for example in soccer. Most players in Ireland (unlike myself) come from a Gaelic football background where all of the counties of Ireland are involved. I still play rugby, which is another great example of how Ireland can come together and play as one island. I don't think the boys from Belfast would be too happy having to play on their own and not having an opportunity to play for Ireland. It would create a political divide that we are trying to move away from in Ireland. If you're interested there are a number of articles about soccer players born in Northern Ireland who are now nominating to play for the republic of Ireland - which has been allowed since the Good Friday agreement. But it does create a political issue in what should be a sporting matter.

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Aaron Richard
on Saturday, October 01 2011 @ 08:25 am ACST

I agree entirely with Tom - and to add to it, there's an important difference between the status of Northern Ireland and the status of Wales and Scotland which a lot of Australians might not understand.

Namely - Wales and Scotland are historic entities with a long tradition of a separate national identity to the English.

Northern Ireland, however, is an entity that essentially springs from the Irish war of independence and civil war in the 1920s, and it's still a sore spot for many Irishmen, both in the north and in the Republic, that the whole of Ireland isn't one political body.

Emphasising the division just reopens the wounds of the violence between loyalists and republicans that has gone on for so long - which is another reason that in almost all sports the whole of Ireland is represented as one team.

Furthermore - saying that the Euro Cup is being hosted by "Northern Ireland" isn't correct. It's being hosted by the ARFLI, which governs footy in the whole of the island of Ireland.

20 teams confirmed for Euro Cup 2011

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Saturday, October 01 2011 @ 12:08 pm ACST

But of course politics is everywhere, even delving into this most posters are kind of suggesting it's good that they play as one, which in itself could be seen as ignoring the wishes of some people.

Which is why I think it's better that we generally steer clear of the issue altogether and I generally just say that the players and Leagues should do what they want, and as far as I know, in this case, AFL GB are happy for Ireland to compete as one, ARFLI is happy with it, and unless I hear otherwise I'd assume the players are mostly happy with it.

---
Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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