Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“The response of Sinn Fein, through Raymond McCartney, and from nationalism generally, in defending the scandal of the poaching of young Northern Ireland footballers by the Republic, highlights their hypocrisy over the treatment of local sportsmen.
“McCartney relies on the dual nationality option in the Belfast Agreement to justify the situation but repudiates the same right for young boxers and others when it comes to their right to represent either Northern Ireland or the UK.
“For years Kate Hoey MP, I and others have been campaigning against the travesty that in NI boxers must be affiliated to the Irish Boxing Association and accordingly cannot box under British colours but only under the Irish Tricolour. The failure of Sport NI to recognise and support a NI Boxing Federation – which Sinn Fein voted against in the Assembly – denies local boxers, and athletes in other sports, their British identity.
“As ever with Sinn Fein it is only one way traffic under the Belfast Agreement. If its ethos allows NI footballers to opt to play football for Ireland, why are NI boxers denied the right to box for UK national teams?
“It is time Sports NI and HMG stood up for local sportsmen and guaranteed parity of esteem across the sector.”