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The Republic of Ireland team may be honoured in Belfast before Euro 2016

A motion by the SDLP is to go before Belfast City Council  that may see the Republic of Irel...



The Republic of Ireland team m...
Soccer

The Republic of Ireland team may be honoured in Belfast before Euro 2016

A motion by the SDLP is to go before Belfast City Council  that may see the Republic of Ireland team honoured at a reception in Belfast City Hall with their Northern Ireland counterparts before Euro 2016.

Next summer's Championship is the first time both teams have qualified for the same major tournament. Northern Ireland will play in their first European Championship after they topped Group F in qualification. They were the sixth team to qualify for the tournament.  

The Belfast Telegraph have reported that the motion may be defeated by Unionist members on the Council. Ulster Unionist Councillor Jim Rodgers has said that if the event goes ahead, the English and Welsh teams will have to be invited too. "If this is the road we are going down, then we must invite the English and Welsh teams as well. Sadly, we can't include Scotland as they didn't qualify. But it should be celebrating the success of the British Isles teams."

Both sides have managers that were born in Northern Ireland and were brought up within 50 miles of each other. Michael O'Neill was born in Portadown, while Martin O'Neill is from Kilrea in County Derry.

Declan Boyle from the SDLP put forward the motion. He hopes it will show a united community in Belfast. "The Republic has Northern Ireland players in its ranks. We should be celebrating all this. Everybody talks about shared space, well having a joint reception for both teams would show that Belfast City Hall is open to everybody. It would be a great advertisement to the world."

A decision may be made on the idea as early as next week. 

What do you think, would you support the idea of having a joint reception?

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