Sport, Politics and Society in Northern Ireland -
Changing Times, New Developments

Alan Bairner

Issue 359, vol.90, Autumn 2001

The first major influence to initiate any shift in this status quo has been socio-economic: new wealth. There are now more middle-class Northern Ireland Catholics - and they play rugby (and came to Dublin when Ulster won the European Cup in January, 1991).

Also, new wealth in Northern Ireland supplied the entrepreneurship to construct Belfast's world-class Odyssey Arena - home to the Belfast Giants' ice-hockey team. The Giants attract 7,000-strong audiences; but these are devotees of what might be called "consumer sport" - it is without roots in local communities.

It is to the politically-riven world of soccer that we must turn, if we are to discern any trickle-down effects of The Good Friday Agreement and of community reconciliation.
To a large extent, soccer is still stalemated. A club like Derry City enters the Eircom National League to play its games - with the North's Irish League drawing mostly on loyalist involvement. At the level of international soccer, Northern nationalists mainly support the Irish Republic's national side - with loyalists following the Northern Ireland team.

One particularly fraught incident - and the way it was handled - can serve as a barometer of change...Neil Lennon, a Catholic, was a leading member of the Northern Ireland team. Then in quick succession he not only changed his allegiance at club level - to join Glasgow's (pro-"Catholic") Celtic - but went on record as advocating an all-Ireland national team. At his next international match, he was booed by a section of the crowd every time he touched the ball. For the succeeding international match, however, pre-emptive steps were taken by The Football Association Of Ireland : personal details were gathered from all ticket-purchasers, for follow-up if they were identified misbehaving by closed-circuit television; and red cards were distributed to fans to brandish at anybody who booed. The trouble did not recur - and Lennon got cheers instead.

...This is an example of sports officials not allowing casual tribalism to run its course, but taking a proactive stance to ensure a positive community-relations outcome.

Alan Bairner is Professor of Sports' Studies at the University of Ulster.