Sport NI has given its full backing for local gymnasts Eamon Montgomery, Ewan McAteer and Rhys McClenaghan and the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland, in their efforts to allow the athletes to represent Northern Ireland at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Chief Executive Antoinette McKeown said, “Northern Ireland is a place of complex identities, and the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement sought to balance these delicate relationships by affording people the greatest possible choice to be British, Irish, Northern Irish, and any or all of the above. In the past decade Sport NI has worked with partners to ensure sport shows equal flexibility to accommodate and afford our local athletes the widest possible opportunity to compete.
“At international level, most competitions see our local athletes choose to compete for either Team Great Britain, or Team Ireland. The Commonwealth Games is a welcome opportunity for Northern Ireland athletes, whatever their community background or political opinion, to represent their region, and we have a proud history of them doing so. The ruling by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) does not respect the unique circumstances or complexity of identity within Northern Ireland, and we fully support the Commonwealth Games NI in its efforts to have this decision overturned.
“We will also be using our relationships with colleagues in Great Britain to ensure the wider sporting community recognises this decision serves the interests of no-one.”