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Athletes strive for unity In what is the most welcome sign of developments to achieve unity in Ireland, amateur athletics organizations on both sides of the Border between the partitioned Six and the Twenty-Six Counties are moving to end a split that has existed between them for the last seventy years. At present, Six County athletes compete for the United Kingdom. Talks toward achieving this goal are scheduled to take place between their respective governing bodies in February 2005. Dr. Martin McAleese, the husband of the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has been asked to chair the talks at a venue in Dundalk. Preliminary negotiations have already taken place in Dublin. The split between the sports bodies, which occurred in 1935, was attributed to the political climate of the times. An outstanding exception was the sport of rugby, the Irish international team always including players from both sides of the artificial political Border. If the Dundalk talks are successful, a new umbrella organisation would have to be approved by the U.K. athletics board and by the world governing body, the International Amateur Athletics Federation. Seeing amateur athletes representing Ireland, the whole of Ireland, at international events will be cause for celebration all over the world. Achieving the same aim in professional sports is a desideratum that remains well worth striving for in the pursuit of excellence. It will take a combination of the best players in all Ireland to bring the dream of winning a World Cup closer to reality. Amateur athletes are leading the way. Year end statistics released by FIFA, The Federation of International Football Associations, are revealing. Ireland (Twenty-Six Counties) ranked 12th in the world standings. Northern Ireland (Six Counties) ranked 107th. By combining the football talent in both partitioned parts of the country, it is not unlikely that Ireland could move further up the international table. The table below is the official listing of the top twenty soccer nations in the world.
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