ABSTRACT
Much has been written about life and sport in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, such discourse has rarely strayed from the issue of identity politics and all aspects of society appear, even in an era of peace, to reflect some degree of partisanship, including within the realm of association football. In the Republic of Ireland, the emphasis has increasingly been on the growing multiculturalism of that state and at present there exists a real challenge to all aspects of civic society to do more to integrate ‘new arrivals’ into Irish life in a more convincing manner than has been the case to date. And so, this is essentially what this article intends to examine – the role football authorities in Ireland can and do play in utlising the game as a means of integrating ethnic minorities into everyday life. There are examples of impactful work already taking place in this regard – notably on the part of the Irish Football Association’s (IFA’s) innovative World United programme, whilst there also remains shortcomings around the approach adopted both by the IFA and the Football Association of Ireland and these are critically engaged with throughout this article. Finally, in the spirit of finding a constructive way forward, the somewhat recalcitrant and authoritarian approach to granting eligibility to some of the very best young footballers on the island, including those living in the Republic of Ireland’s designated refugee centre north of Dublin, is afforded due recognition.
