Even in the political cauldron of a country that we live in today, I still believe that politics should be kept out of sport. The debate surrounding the playing of the National Anthem before Northern Ireland football internationals has reached new and unprecedented heights in recent weeks, in the wake of Ulster Unionist Party officer and Northern Ireland fan Kenny Donaldson’s call for a new sporting anthem. Whilst the media and politicians have been all too quick to air their views on the contentious and emotive issue, the opinions of those who really matter, the Northern Ireland football community, are in danger of being ignored.

BY JONNY MADILL

God Save the Queen, the National Anthem of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has been played before every international football match at Windsor Park since Northern Ireland’s birth as a footballing nation in 1920. Throughout the history of the Irish Football Association, debate has often arisen over whether a new Northern Ireland specific anthem would be more suitable. Such debate is as rife today as it has ever been.

At the beginning of March, the Newsletter reported that UUP officer Kenny Donaldson was in favour of finding a new anthem to replace the playing of God Save the Queen before Northern Ireland matches. He proposed that the change would create an added sense of identity to Northern Ireland football and that the new sporting anthem would be more representative of all communities and traditions throughout the province. He used the successes in Scotland and Wales of ‘Flower of Scotland’ and ‘Land of My Fathers’ respectively as an example of why it is time for change to be considered.

In a subsequent television interview with UTV, Irish Football Association President Raymond Kennedy failed to rule out the anthem issue being reconsidered, and hinted that the successful Football for All policy might in the future identify it as an area for the Association to review. His discussion of the possibility of local songwriters coming up with suitable alternatives to which the public could choose their favourite suggested that the IFA are as open to change as they have possibly ever been.

This was followed by the three main Unionist parties expressing their opposition to the idea. DUP MLA Ian Paisley Jnr was quoted in the Newsletter as describing the National Anthem as being “something that we should never concede” and that “unionist unity” should oppose any such attempt. UUP  spokesman on sports and culture David McNarry stated that his party was firmly against any such change, and Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister was reported in the Newsletter as accusing the IFA of “bringing politics into football”.

With an imminent election just around the corner, protecting Unionism is high on the agendas of Paisley, Allister, McNarry and co. But to me, and many others I suspect, they are entirely missing the point.

The credibility of God Save the Queen as the National Anthem of the United Kingdom, to which Northern Ireland is part of, is not under review in this debate; there is no question of that. Nor is Northern Ireland’s constitutional status at stake. What is under discussion is the possibility of a new Northern Ireland-specific sporting anthem for the Northern Ireland football team. The Unionist politicians’ interpretation of Donaldson’s proposal for change as an attempt to sabotage the Union is narrow-minded and ironically makes them guilty of exactly what Jim Allister accused the IFA of -  “bringing politics into football”.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP have been predictably just as eager to offer their political slant on the situation. Their politically-based motives for getting rid of God Save the Queen bear no similarities whatsoever to the purely sporting arguments put forward by Kenny Donaldson. They are therefore completely irrelevant.

Donaldson’s comments contained no political undertones whatsoever. He spoke from his heart as a devout Northern Ireland fan and as a man clearly proud of his Northern Irish identity. Maybe some of our elected MLAs should take a leaf out of this man’s book when it comes to leadership.

The damaging impact of outside interferences goes far beyond narrow-minded political agendas. Media intervention which fails in its attempt to portray the fans’ true opinions is precisely not what is required. In a Newsletter article on 15 March which read, “Fans share almost one voice on team song issue”, it was reported that “the clear majority viewpoint” was that God Save the Queen should continue to be played before international games. It was then claimed in an article in the same newspaper a day later that “a clear majority of Northern Ireland supporters are in favour of a specific sporting anthem being introduced, according to an online poll”.

An accurate reflection of supporters’ views cannot be sought by a few interviews on the street, as appeared to have been the case in the first article, or a glance at a poll on a fans’ forum in which only 300 supporters had so far voted, as was the case in the second Newsletter column. Consensus must be sought in the proper fashion. Support or opposition to a new anthem must come from within, not from insular politicians who want nothing other than to enhance their political agendas as election season looms, or from media organisations trying to stir up a debate.

Therefore the fans’ website ‘Our Wee Country’ should be applauded for recently instigating an online poll as a way of assessing the views of the supporters. In April 2008 an identical poll on the site found that less than 66% of those who voted (5% of the site’s population) were in favour of a new anthem. The current poll will be kept running for a period of a month, at the end of which the results will be compared to two years ago to ascertain whether the level of demand for change amongst the fans has increased. The poll administrator stated that if a larger percentage is in favour of change this time around, and provided that a larger proportion of the membership has voted, then the possibility of a Northern Ireland specific sporting anthem to replace God Save the Queen should be discussed.

With only a few days left of the poll’s duration, 76% of voters are in favour of change, albeit with less than 5% of the population having voted. Whilst the site’s scheme shows initiative in the midst of political ping-pong in the media, it is questionable whether the views of 300-400 supporters are sufficient to form a representative view of the entire fan-base. Therefore the IFA must find a way to ascertain an accurate representation of the views of the 14,000 Northern Ireland fans that enter Windsor Park before every home game and the thousands more who, unable to get their hands on a ticket, watch their team play in the comfort of their own homes or in local pubs throughout the province.

There are many committed supporters who are unable to become part of the block-booking scheme due to Windsor Park’s embarrassingly small capacity, myself being one of them. For those who attend as many games as they can, and travel around the world supporting the team in away fixtures, it would seem that contacting the 13,000 or so members of the block booking scheme might be the most feasible method of gaining a consensus amongst the fans. Working alongside the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs must also be a priority for the Association.

It is suggested that there is an inaccurate perception amongst some that the idea of a new anthem is an attempted erosion of our identity, and that it would result in some sort of victory for one side and defeat for the other. Indeed Unionists reading this might fear that their Britishness might in some way be compromised or diminished by such a drastic change. But as a devout Northern Ireland fan, proud of my British identity, I am most definitely warming to the prospect of having our own anthem. God Save the Queen will always be the National Anthem of the United Kingdom, to which I am a part of. But I am beginning to see how the creation of a specific sporting anthem for Northern Ireland football has the potential to enhance our identity and our culture rather than erode it.

I am proud of my Northern Irish identity, and therefore would be open to the idea of a new anthem that encapsulates the culture, identity and togetherness of Northern Ireland.

Only once the fans’ voices have been heard can this debate reach its conclusion. I cannot think of anything worse than the feeling of widespread opposition to the introduction of a new anthem oozing through the air of south Belfast in the hours leading up to a big game at Windsor Park. The impetus for change must come from the supporters themselves, and the IFA must ensure that no-one is alienated provided they use their initiative and actively seek consensus. There are good reasons on both sides of the argument and every true Northern Ireland fan must have a voice.  No change can come without the consent of the fans.

An undoubted sub-plot to the anthem debate is the argument that a Northern Ireland specific anthem might help to prevent the Darron Gibsons and Shane Duffys of the future from switching their allegiance to the Republic. Whilst the eligibility issue might not be one of the principal reasons for change, it is most certainly an underlying factor. Its timing is certainly convenient to say the least. A new anthem that has the potential to make playing for or supporting Northern Ireland a more inclusive experience for Nationalists would surely represent a positive change in many people’s minds.

It is believed that both the IFA and the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs are awaiting the results of the next Football for All report which is expected to either recommend a new anthem or dismiss the idea of change altogether. We wait with anticipation.

The question of what exactly might replace God Save the Queen is an issue for another day. A shake-up of ‘Danny Boy’ or a new anthem written by a distinguished local songwriter like Phil Coulter are legitimate suggestions, but for now the focus should be on assessing the demand for change amongst Northern Ireland’s footballing community.

Keeping the worlds of politics and football separate is an almost impossible task in any part of the world, let alone our own. But let’s hope that for the sake of our country’s football team and for Northern Ireland as a whole, it is not Stormont but the people who really matter who will be allowed to decide if a new sporting anthem is the way forward. The IFA must seek to ensure that the power remains in the hands of those who matter. Let the football community dictate the next stage of this debate and let’s keep politics out of Windsor Park.