Danny Kennedy: SF use of term '˜north of Ireland' is unclear

At Assembly Questions I sought clarification from the Sports Minister regarding the funding criteria in the DCAL Sub-Regional Stadia Programme for Soccer which seemed to offer the prospect of funding being allocated to some football clubs in the Republic of Ireland.

The Sports Minister’s statement of November 30 said that the applicant “must be an IFA affiliated club or non IFA affiliated club with grounds located in the north of Ireland and who host either: NIFL, IFA, UEFA or Football League of Ireland fixtures”.

Furthermore, in the consultation document published on the same date, under the Core Eligibility it stated that the venue “must be located in the North of Ireland”.

If the term Northern Ireland had been used instead of ‘north of Ireland’ then there would be no problem. Clearly only clubs with grounds located in Northern Ireland would be eligible, but the Sinn Fein doctrine of refusing to use the name of Northern Ireland creates the potential for unintended consequences. Under the criteria as currently drawn up, a football club from County Donegal – which is after all very much part of the geographical north of Ireland – would meet the criteria.

Indeed any football club in Counties Cavan or Monaghan and Dundalk FC in nearby Louth would have a very strong case for meeting the relevant criteria of being in the ‘north of Ireland’ and therefore entitled to access funding under the DCAL Sub-regional Stadia Programme for Soccer.

At Assembly Questions the Sports Minister stated that “the use of the term ‘North of Ireland’ in the subregional programme for soccer consultation does not mean that clubs located in the Twenty-six Counties will be eligible to apply for funding under the scheme. To be considered for funding, venues must be located in counties Armagh, Antrim, Derry, Down, Fermanagh or Tyrone”.

This is to be welcomed and is as close as any Sinn Fein figure has come to admitting that in their eyes, the ‘north of Ireland’ is a political and not a geographical term and equates to Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein’s refusal to recognise the reality of Northern Ireland as a legal, political and indeed sporting entity is well-known and long-standing. It is usually little more than a minor irritant for unionists, but when it has the potential to affect the criteria as to how much-needed funding is allocated then it becomes serious.

The north of Ireland is an undefined geographic term with no political or legal standing. It has no place in official departmental consultation documents. Sinn Fein needs to blow the final whistle on this particular game of theirs.

Danny Kennedy MLA, UUP, Newry & Armagh

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