The days of "God Save the Queen" being sung before Northern Ireland games may be coming to an end.
A bill is to be brought to the House of Commons next week which may see the anthem changed in England to a new song. The bill is the brainchild of Labour MP Toby Perkins who claims the anthem should be used by the United Kingdom only and not individual countries.
Should the vote pass, Northern Ireland may come under considerable pressure to change anthems. At the Commonwealth Games, "Danny Boy" is sung if Northern Ireland win gold.
Irish FA President Jim Shaw told the Belfast Telegraph; "The national anthem debate is one of the most divisive in our history. We’ve been debating it for years. If we keep it, we annoy people and we know if it goes, there will be plenty of angry supporters".
“But it’s not for the Irish FA to decide what the national anthem of Northern Ireland is. That is for the devolved government at Stormont. The Scots and Welsh governments decided to change when they came into power. We didn’t".
“I think it would be very difficult for us to continue using ‘God Save the Queen’ if the English decide they want a new anthem. I think we would be duty bound to follow suit".
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
