Originally Posted by
Jolly Red Giant
Ireland, just like every other country, apply FIFA and UEFA rules - Townsend's grandmother was born in Kerry - Cascarino's grandfather was born in Mayo (the reason why Cascarino's heritage has been questioned is because his mother was adopted by his grandfather - legally he is Cascarino's grandfather).
Three of Jack Grealish's grandparents were Irish born and he played gaelic football for years before he signed with Villa. Rice's grandparents were from Cork and he played at every level for Ireland from U-16 up to three full senior games. The primary reason why both of these players switched to England was financial and prompted by their agents. Both, but particularly Rice, have been trying to bury their affiliation to Ireland in the past. I have no problem with either playing for England - they are English born and are perfectly entitled to opt for England.
Given that British colonial rule in Ireland contributed to the economic underdevelopment of the country for centuries, it is hardly a surprise that there is a huge Irish diaspora (40 million in the USA and an estimated 16million in Britain) have Irish first or second generation ancestry). Furthermore, the Irish diaspora tend to have a very strong affiliation with Ireland. That is the reason why English born players declare for Ireland.
In contrast - the English team have picked individuals who have zero connection with England. The best example is that backbone of the English attack for 12 years - John Barnes. He was born in Jamaica - his father was a Jamaican international (actually captained Jamaica) Barnes had zero connection with England until he moved there when he was twelve because his father was appointed as a diplomat in the Jamaican High Commission in London.
Of the current English squad - Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica and has zero connection with England - his mother was an athlete who was a member of the Jamaican athletic team.
This kind of stuff is very common - particularly among imperial countries -
Holland - Edgar Davids, Regi Blinker, Aaron Winter, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were all born in Suirname.
The French team that won the World Cup in 1998 had the following - Vieira (Senegal) - Desailly (Ghana) - Thuram (Guadeloupe) - Karembeu (New Caledonia) - Trezuget (Argentina - technically born in France while his mother was visiting the country - his first language is Spanish) - Lama (born in France but as a baby moved and grew up in Guiana where his family were from) - on top of that - Zidane, Henry, Djorkaeff, Boghossian, and Diomede were from first generation immigrant families and Lizarazu identified as Basque rather than French.
Of the French team that won the World Cup in 2018 - only 3 of the 23 squad were entirely French - Florian Thauvin, Raphael Varane and Benjamin Pavard. Umtiti (Cameroon) - Thomas Lemar (Guadeloupe) - Areola (born in France - his mother arrived from the Phillipines only a few days before his birth). The rest of the squad were from first generational immigrant families - e.g. Pogba's parents are from Guinea and his two older brothers are Guinean internationals.
Ah now - I hope this isn't the type of history taught in England.
Sectarian conflict in Ireland developed as a weapon for British imperialism to impose its rule in Ireland - specifically it was used as a mechanism to sow division between Catholics and Protestants during the United Irishmen's movement in the late eighteenth century - and again to drive a sectarian wedge between Catholic and Protestant workers during the Irish revolution a hundred years ago with the intent of cutting across the growing support for socialist revolution in Ireland at the time. The whipping up of sectarian conflict was and is a common tactic of British imperialism - pitting Hindu against Moslem against Sikh in India - Sinhala against Tamil in Sri Lanka - Christian against Moslem in Nigeria etc.
The problem for British imperialism is that the sectarian divisions created by the British elites in Ireland spilled over into Britain and have occasionally raised their head in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stockport etc. And they are currently playing a very dangerous game in the North pitting Catholic against Protestant over Brexit - something that could ultimately see the re-emergence of sectarian violence in the North of Ireland.
