Phil Coulter has said that he would be willing to write a new anthem for the Northern Ireland football team if he is asked to do so by the IFA.
If there is going to be any change to the anthem played by the NI football team, it should be done as part of a wider project covering all sports including GAA and rugby.
This would involve all sporting organisations signing up to a pledge that the only anthem they will use for NI or county teams is the new agreed one. The issue of rugby anthems in Dublin also needs to be resolved.
We cannot have the IFA making a change to the legitimate (sporting) anthem of the country without others also signing up to a process of reform.
A similar argument can be made regarding flags. The NI Red Hand of Ulster flag is the official flag of the NI football team and for example the NI Commonwealth team. If any flag change is proposed, it would need to be embraced by all NI sports. I would suggest that this would be more of a challenge for the politically minded GAA than the IFA.
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