Dermot Ahern and the Republic's Foreign Ministry may have grabbed the initial headlines on FIFA's reversal of an earlier decision to require Northern Ireland players to carry UK passports, but the IFA have said that their negotiations with FIFA were responsible for the governing body of world football doing a U-turn and accepting passports issued by the Republic.

Some weeks back FIFA wrote to the IFA declaring that any players turning out for Northern Ireland could be required by FIFA representatives to produce a UK passport to proove their eligibility, despite the obvious flaw in this (that a British passport is not enough to prove eligibility, since players born in England, Wales or Scotland aren't automatically eligible).

Follow up:

Ahern immediately seized the opportunity to play the voice of the oppressed Northern Irish nationalist (apparently the family of one of the players were less than happy that the player in question would be asked to carry 2 passports) and Ahern went on a whinge about this 'violating' the Good Friday Agreement (which is probably of about as much interest to FIFA as my sock drawer). However, the IFA's Jim Boyce has said that, far from contributing to the reversal, FIFA were "very annoyed" by the "political interference" from the Republic's government and that the issue was resolved by "FIFA dealing with football people".

Of course the story couldn't pass without the local politicians making dickheads of themselves too. Ian Paisley Jr was the first I saw.

"It's absolutely none of his business. He should keep his nose out of it and concentrate on affairs within his own jurisdiction. And he should know better than to try and involve politics with sport."
Ian Paisley Jr, DUP MLA (North Antrim)

I've suggested elsewhere that if Paisley Jr wants to keep politics out of sport his time would be better spent by getting a backbone and opposing the government blackmail over the white elephant at the Maze.

Finally, no story like this would be complete without a quote from Sinn Fein (who presumably have no interest in the north of the island of Ireland™ soccer team anyway).

"I am happy that it now appears that Fifa are to recognise the demands of the Good Friday Agreement."
Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein MLA (Mid-Ulster)

Demands of the Good Friday Agreement? Demands? McGuinness seems to be following where Dermot Ahern leads in the self-important bullshit stakes. The Good Friday Agreement entitles Northern Ireland born people to a passport from the Republic - imposing exactly zero 'demands' on FIFA. This is just typical of the tough-sounding, sensationalist, but ultimately meaningless, drivel that the voting public in Northern Ireland seems to lap up - but that's another story.

As a Unionist I'm obviously disappointed that the need exists for FIFA to make the special arrangements for Northern Ireland, but sadly there are people in Northern Ireland begrudged to apply for a UK passport and it's not right to tell them they can't play for their country (that said I think I'd question the commitment of anyone who put their refusal to carry a piece of paper over playing for Northern Ireland anyway, but that's neither here nor there). The fact is that this is not a political issue; it's a sporting one, and as a Northern Ireland football fan I have to welcome the move if it means more players feel comfortable playing for Northern Ireland and it's entirely right that the IFA were at the forefront of fighting this issue.