How the fook did Ciara Mageean run Commonwealth Ireland Or Britain?

If you're from Northern Ireland you can choose whether you run for Ireland or GB.

Athletes from Northern Ireland can compete for either Ireland or Great Britain under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998

Magean opted for Ireland but is still from Northern Ireland so is perfectly entitled to represent them if they enter a team in the competition. From an Irish perspective she's representing a region of Ireland.

I don't think the Good Friday Agreement is actually relevant here.

The Commonwealth Games is just that, a Games and not a Championship under IAAF rules and boundaries. All of the 'Nations' that compete do so under the Commonwealth Games Association rules, and their own 'national' rules for selection that they make up as the go along.

Northern Ireland have different rules that they apply to athletes re birth residence etc, than say England or Australia. Under existing rules I think Sonia O'Sullivan could have competed for Australia in the CG in the same year as representing Ireland in the World or European Championships.

Bit like The Island Games, but bigger.

No, it's still relevant.

There was a big issue last year with a group of gymnasts who compete internationally for Ireland but are from Northern Ireland. They initially weren't allowed to compete at the Commonwealth Games because of this.

But there was a hearing and it was declared that the GFA allows athletes who declare as Irish to compete in the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland.

The most complex issue was the rugby at the Olympics as the Irish Rugby Football Union organises a single team covering both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

When there's a Great Britain team (as there is at the Olympic Games) players from Northern Ireland theoretically could have opted to play for Great Britain instead using the Good Friday Agreement.

It could potentially lead to a court case because of the conflict between the Good Friday Agreement and employment law, as the IRFU employs it's international players on central contracts.

Thanks for the info, Ulster. I’ve often wondered about this, as I know that Ireland’s rugby team (currently ranked number one in the world) has players from both the Republic and from Northern Ireland, and that they sing two anthems when they play in Dublin.

I don't agree.

The reason the Irish gymnasts were initially barred from representing Northern Ireland was a ruling by FIG - the international governing body for Gymnastics. There is no such problem with the IAAF, and competing for Northern Ireland in the CG has no impact on IAAF eligibility. The CG is an ad hoc competition, Northern Ireland isn't registered with the IAAF and the Good Friday Agreement isn't mentioned anywhere in the CG Rules for Competition.

The rules can be quite confusing. An English resident with an Irish passport cant run for NI in the CG unless they meet other criteria ie birth. The same person can run for Ireland in IAAF competition just by virtue of having an Irish passport.

The difference is that the Good Friday Agreement only applies to competitions organised by the IAAF, not necessarily to all events run within their rules for competition.

The issue at play here is the Commonwealth Games. The Untied Kingdom sends teams to the Olympics, WCs etc. but does not sent a team to the Commonwealth Games. Its constituent countries, England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do. Also other British entities such as the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey send teams.

My understanding of the situation is an athlete from Northern Ireland can opt to compete for either Ireland or the UK at international events and then are tied to that country unless they apply for a change of affiliation.

However for the Commonwealth Games they can compete for Northern Ireland regardless of their international affiliation.

It's very simple, Northern Ireland doesn't have an International team outside of commonwealths, so athletes have to pledge allegiance to either GB&NI or Ireland but Northern Ireland is still a country and a part of the commonwealth and as a country that is part of the commonwealth, athletes from that country are entitled to compete in the games.

Many people in NI identify as Northern Irish solely but have to choose who to compete in Oly/Worlds/Euros. Others identify as Northern Irish/Irish or Northern Irish/British and others like staunch Nationalists/Republicans would identify as solely Irish and would never want to represent NI or compete in a commonwealth games.

You see the later in Football a lot, Northern Ireland has a UEFA/FIFA recognised national team but many NI players forego NI citizenship and play for the Republic due to their political beliefs

FIFA rules don't allow you to represent more than one country in a competition once you are past youth level. Wouldn't it also be true of the commonwealth games. Once you commit to Ireland you can not longer also represent Northern Ireland and vice versa? George Best couldn't play for Ireland for example.

The only time Northern Ireland compete in (high profile) international track and field is the Commonwealth Games. You can't exclude people from all IAAF international championships, just because they choose to run in that one event.

Simply put, all athletes from Northern Ireland can compete for Northern Ireland when it's an event that they're involved in. They can also commit to competing for either Ireland or GB, depending on their allegiances.

Since Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain, doesn’t competing for Northern Ireland signify allegiance to completing for Great Britain?

No. I don't know if you've noticed but there are some complicated political issues surrounding Northern Ireland.

Besides, Great Britain is just England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is part of the UK but not GB.

^ Exactly why they shouldn't call it 'Team GB'.

Not to get political but the nost important thing to understand about this situation is that Britain starved and murdered millions of Irish just over 150 years ago, ireland finally gained 3/4 independence 100 years ago and now fast forward to modern day they will try their best to steal irelands best athletes by claiming people in Northern Ireland are Brittish. If Mageen runs for Britain it's purely for running reasons. She is irish.

Good job not getting political.

Mageean runs for Ireland. That's the whole point of the thread.

Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain.

Got it. Good point. Didn’t know that.

The commonwealth games mean diddly squat, except for training value or as a dress rehearsal for legitimate competitions.

The Commonwealth itself is on the verge of collapse - it's expected that a number of countries (Caribbean islands first, then NZ, OZ etc...) will leave it to become independent republics without the king as head of state.

At this stage, they're going to accept any athlete interested in participating, regardless of their past allegiances.