Fear and loathing on the football trail

DESPITE the recent bombing in Tel Aviv, plans are proceeding for Ireland’s World Cup game in Israel to go ahead as scheduled.

Which is only as it should be. Like every other team in their qualifying group, the Israelis are entitled to play their home games on their own turf. Only where the security of players or fans on both sides is deemed to be seriously at risk should the game be deferred or moved. And, while even one bomb blast is one too many, the belief seems to be for now that a period of relative calm has taken hold at least in so far as one can ever be sure of anything in such a politically sensitive and volatile place.

Irish football has been here before, of course, and in a situation much closer to home. Back in 1993, there was quite a vigorous debate about whether the World Cup qualifier between the Republic and Northern Ireland should take place in Windsor Park. The football and police authorities in the north insisted the match should go ahead but south of the border there were anxious voices in the media and elsewhere arguing that the game should be moved. Their fears were understandable: the terrible weeks leading up to the game had seen the Shankhill bombing and the Greysteel attack, and the first IRA ceasefire was still 10 months away.