Big boost for Westmeath as Ilunga gets Irish citizenship

Westmeath football has received a massive boost following the state’s decision to hand full citizenship to rising star Israel Ilunga.

The Liberian born teenager is regarded as the county’s most promising young player and is being tracked by Aussie Rules scouts. But Westmeath minor manager Tommy Carr said Ilunga has been playing under a cloud of uncertainty in recent seasons because of genuine deportationfears.

Ilunga, who has lived in Ireland for more than five years, was full-back for Westmeath in last Friday’s Leinster MFC defeat to Offaly.

The tie came just days after he was confirmed as an Irish citizen. Former Dublin manager Carr now expects the powerful defender to feature prominently for the Westmeath U21s before a senior call up.

“This is very important for Westmeath football going forward,” said Carr. “He has been granted citizenship and for Israel himself, it is a big weight off his mind.

“It’s very difficult to commit to a community or a country let alone a GAA team when you’re wondering if you could be gone in a month’s time.

“That fear was absolutely there. You put yourself in that position, when you’re waiting on someone to decide if they’re going to deport you back to Liberia or leave you here.

“I think you’d find that a very difficult situation to be in. So it really is terrific news.”

Ilunga was at the centre of a racism storm last summer. He picked up a red card in the Leinster minor semi-final win over Meath but was allegedly racially abused and the dismissal was overturned.

It cleared him to play in the provincial decider though a subsequent Leinster Council investigation failed to identify any guilty parties. Carr claimed at the time that Ilunga was “extremely upset” by the outcome.

Ilunga was picked out by former Aussie Rules player Tadhg Kennelly to attend AFL trials last winter. Two other black Westmeath players, Boidu Sayeh and Sam Omokuro, played alongside Ilunga in last year’s Leinster minor final and also against Offaly.