Taoiseach favours 'growing football on all-island basis'

Updated / Tuesday, 10 Nov 2026 20:47

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he would like to see the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Irish Football Association (IFA) work together to create opportunities to develop football on an all-island basis.

He was speaking at Tallaght Stadium ahead of an event celebrating the life and impact of Oscar Traynor, a former Fianna Fáil TD and minister who later served as president of the FAI.

Unlike GAA or rugby, football on the island of Ireland has been split between two separate governing bodies since 1921.

Asked whether he would be in favour of an all-island international team, the Taoiseach said he favored exploring any initiatives that help develop football across the island.

He said he thought the evolution of how soccer developed across the island predated partition.

"Soccer was very working class, strongly supported by working class communities," he said.

"Belfast would have been probably the industrial capital at that particular time, and so you would have had a significant Unionist and Loyalist participation in soccer and in the IFA, so in many ways, the divide almost predated independence, or it became a natural occurrence with the Football Association of Ireland being established."

Martin added: "I think Derry's (FAI Cup) win last week does remind us of the degree to which competition can enhance the standard of football and enhance teams, give opportunities to players on both sides of the border.

"I'd like to see opportunities to grow football on an all-island basis, but to do it in an agreed way through work between the two associations, whilst they retain their traditions and their various competitions."

Asked would he support the re-established of a cross-border championship following the ending of the Setanta Sports Cup, Mr Martin suggested there was potential.

He also noted he attended the last Setanta Cup final in Dundalk in 2014.

"I think there is potential for us to explore competitions or some development of football on an all-island basis, and the Shore Island Unit stands ready to support any initiatives of that kind," he added.

Irish soccer had been governed by the Belfast-based IFA until 1921, when the Leinster Football Association seceded from the national body in protest at the decision to schedule an Irish Cup semi-final between Shelbourne and Glenavon for Belfast rather than Dublin.

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