Symbolic step of peace at Irish stadium

England and Ireland face off at Croke Park Saturday, 87 years after Bloody Sunday marked the stadium's place in Irish history.

from the February 23, 2007 edition

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Whatever the political overtones, the game remains a sporting event. Sir Peter Hain, British secretary of state for Northern Ireland, will make his first visit to Croke Park, and it was suggested he might mark the occasion by laying a wreath at the commemorative plaque for the victims of Bloody Sunday.

"The match is hugely symbolic, but these kinds of political gestures can create no-win situations," says Prof. Mike Cronin of Boston College's Centre For Irish Programmes in Dublin. "On one hand you are accused of dragging politics into sport and on the other criticized for taking 87 years to make an apology."

Former Irish international Trevor Ringland believes sport can make statements as succinctly as politics. "Rugby always managed to maintain relationships on this island when others were destroying them," he says, referring to the fact that Ireland's national team and competitions include representatives from both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Mr. Ringland chairs the Belfast-based One Small Step Campaign, which uses intercultural soccer tournaments and other programs to address the lack of reconciliation between those in Northern Ireland who feel their identity is British and those who feel it is Irish.

"We know about the history and the conflict, but we're trying to create a different future in this century," Ringland says. "I like what Abraham Lincoln said: 'I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.' "

Although both teams are composed of professional athletes focused on tactics and fitness, the significance of the occasion won't be lost on them. The English management team has invited former Irish captain Conor O'Shea to address the players and outline the significance of Croke Park prior to the game.

On one side of the ground is a grandstand named after Michael Hogan, a Gaelic footballer shot dead on Bloody Sunday, and on another side is Hill 16, originally built with the rubble from British shelling during the 1916 uprising. "Looking around the new stadium they won't see any architectural links with the past," says Professor Cronin. "Instead, it is more of a symbol of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy."

After the anthems on Saturday, attention will at last turn to sport.

"Whatever divides people about England going to Croke Park, everybody wants to see them beaten," says Ferriter.

Trevor Ringland agrees: "I've got two English brothers-in-law and I constantly remind them that in sport nothing unites the Irish more than the English!"

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