Controversy is building surrounding the Republic of Ireland's two Euro 2016 warm-up games in March. The FAI has been given the all-clear to wear special jerseys commemorating the Easter Rising for the games against Switzerland and Slovakia on Good Friday and Easter Tuesday.
But the decision is not going down well in Stormont. DUP MLA Nelson McCausland has been extremely vocal in his opposition to the move, saying that it promotes terrorism:
The uncritical endorsement of the Easter rebellion by the government and others in the Irish Republic, including the FAI, reinforces a republican narrative which has, down through the years, drawn young people into the IRA and other republican terrorist organisations.
Because the commemoration includes an alteration to the Republic of Ireland crest, which is a state logo, it needs political approval to be used in an official capacity. The FAI have confirmed that permission has been granted, and that the jerseys will be used for the March friendlies.
Mr McCausland is deeply upset by the move, but claims that we shouldn't be surprised linking back to the November 2014 video of FAI CEO John Delaney singing a Wolfe Tones song.
