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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > Don’t wrap the green flag around golfer Rory McIlroy -- Let Rory play under the Union Jack if that’s what he wants

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Don’t wrap the green flag around golfer Rory McIlroy -- Let Rory play under the Union Jack if that’s what he wants

Posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 08:14 AM

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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the seventh hole during the third round of the PGA golf tournament in Carmel, Ind (Photo: AP)

Let’s not wrap the green flag around Rory McIlroy like many pundits want to do.

The lad would prefer to play for Britain and not Ireland, that much is clear.

Why not let him and just accept his preferences.

When Northern Ireland players like Darren Gibson opt out of Northern Ireland’s soccer team and declare for the Republic no one in the south appears to complain.

What goes around comes around.

Sure, Rory McIlroy is a Catholic but according to the latest opinion poll, about 30 percent of Catholics would vote against a united Ireland if the vote came tomorrow.

So Rory is one of those 30 percent, middle class Catholics in the main, who since the peace process has done well in Northern Ireland.

Good luck to them and to Rory I say. The notion of being both British and Irish has a long history in Ireland.

Look at Daniel Day Lewis as just one example.

So why should the reverse not be extended to Catholics who want to be British first as Rory clearly does?

Here in America we are aware of all kinds of dual identity. Most Americans are something else, whether it is Irish, Italian, Hispanic, or whatever.

Truth is we slice and dice identity at will.

Rory has played under the tricolor at the World Cup of golf so why should he not play under the Union Jack at the Olympics?

The magnificent thing about sport is that it knows no boundaries. I cheered my heart out for Scot Andy Murray because he deserved a grand slam win at the US Open and he thankfully got one after years of frustration.

It mattered not a whit to me whether he spoke with an Irish, American, or Scottish accent.

It will be the same for most sports followers when Rory McIlroy tees off in the majors or the Olympics. Sportsmen are not politicians; they should not be even indulging in that arena.

McIlroy is Irish and British and the best in the world – enough said.

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johhnyb | Sep 12, 2012, 09:37 AM EDT

Hi Ray Gordon, You sound like a man who hasn't travelled much. Johnny

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DrTrelawney | Sep 12, 2012, 09:31 AM EDT

Groan! He's not playing for England. He's playing for Great Britain. It's really not such a complicated distinction. Moreover, I lived in England for 15 years and not once did I encounter evidence that they despised the Irish. I do, however, encounter endless evidence that Americans of Irish descent hate the English. ("Arrogant, obnoxious") The time for your racist twaddle has passed, Ray.

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RichardP | Sep 12, 2012, 09:27 AM EDT

@EmeraldJoe - you are wrong about the Irish Olympic team, it represents the whole of Ireland but athletes from the north have the choice to declare for Ireland or for GB & NI (a tad ironic for nordies that Team GB specifically omits 'Northern Ireland' from their name). On another note (not directed at EmeraldJoe) I am becoming a little angry with all the references to religion here too. Why is a 'Catholic' declaring for GB and why it's ok for a 'Protestant' to do so/ Since when has ones Irish citizenship or background become so inextricably linked to religion other than in the North? There are many non-Catholics in the Republic and they are every bit as Irish as any Catholic but the rag of a publication seems to foster the notion that Irish and Catholicism are synonymous. Quite honestly I'd distance myself from any connection with the Catholic Church after its shameful carry on. The British were quite open in their oppression and made no pretense about their disdain for the Irish in days gone by; the Catholic Church has cloaked its oppression and abuse in a mantle of respectability, Christianity and salvation - self-righteous to the end. I am proud to be Irish but ashamed of the narrow-minded, bigoted people who seen only green and the pope as they way to be Irish.

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mixplix | Sep 12, 2012, 09:26 AM EDT

My Grampa was born in County Cork but someone in our family did a family tree and there's nothing but stumps.

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GraydonWilson | Sep 12, 2012, 09:25 AM EDT

Let him take the Butcher's Apron.

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Ray1Gordon | Sep 12, 2012, 09:24 AM EDT

Rory McIlroy playing for England is a slap in the face to every Irish Catholic that was murdered by England's criminal soldiers and by Protestant Paras financed and armed by England. The arrogant, obnoxious English despise and trash the Irish every chance that they get. McIlroy is making a huge mistake and should be ashamed of himself. Ray Gordon Venice, Florida

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EmeraldJoe | Sep 12, 2012, 07:57 AM EDT

Oh, and a couple of other points. Middle-class Catholics were doing well in NI long before the "peace process". The author is right - people from NI are Irish and British. What's the problem?

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EmeraldJoe | Sep 12, 2012, 07:55 AM EDT

Guys, the Irish Olympic team, although going under the name "Ireland" actually represents only the Republic of Ireland. Rory is from Northern Ireland, which is represented by the UK team (going under the name "Team GB".

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Fightin69th | Sep 12, 2012, 07:36 AM EDT

Paul McCartney will soon be coming out with the hit "Give Rory back to the Irish"

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