Tony Blair once suggested that nationalists in Northern Ireland may support England in the World Cup after Ireland was knocked out, according to reports on a 2002 meeting.
The former prime minister and architect of the Belfast Agreement was said to have been “crestfallen” after the gaffe, which is detailed in newly unsealed documents from the Irish Government.
Ireland were knocked out in the second round of the World Cup, jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea, following a penalty shootout with Spain on June 16th.
The next day, Mr Blair attended a meeting with SDLP leader Mark Durkan and Northern Ireland secretary of State John Reid to discuss policing and a recent Criminal Justice Bill.
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Other SDLP representatives at the meeting relayed to Irish officials that Mr Blair appeared disengaged and tired.
The briefing document states he was undoubtedly somewhat distracted by the “Black Rod affair”, which involved a row with the press over claims that No 10 tried to push for a more prominent role for the prime minister in the Queen Mother’s lying-in-state and funeral.
He did not seem to have an appetite for discussing Northern Ireland and would refer answers to Mr Reid – who was “convivial and charming in a slightly desperate kind of way”.
On entering the room, Mr Blair is said to have commiserated on Ireland’s defeat and “offered, apparently genuinely, that the SLDP were now supporting England”.
The revelation, revealed in a footnote, continues: “Blair was a bit crestfallen to hear Durkan express himself in a very non-committal manner on the matter of England’s likely fortunes.”
Earlier, Irish officials feared that American police would be unable to distinguish between “boisterous but well-behaved Irish fans and continental-style soccer hooligans” at the World Cup in 1994.
Some 20,000 Irish fans were expected to travel from Ireland for USA 1994 and Irish officials pondered whether the “best fans in the world” could be used to promote Ireland in the United States.
Confidential documents show consultants strongly recommended against using the tournament “as a vehicle for the promotion of Ireland”.
Many officials in the Department of the Taoiseach feared that such the World Cup to promote Ireland could backfire if there was even a small number of incidents involving Irish fans.
The government also decided not to use the tournament to promote Ireland because it was felt that Americans lacked a keen interest in football and the World Cup would not get much coverage on US television.
Instead, they advised the government that State agencies should target specific events such as the “corporate entertainment of carefully chosen executives”.
One note from an Irish diplomat in the Washington embassy told officials in the Department of the Taoiseach that the consultants saw “very little likelihood of a commercial return for the substantial sums which would be required in such a campaign”.
The Irish government was concerned that a high number of Irish soccer fans travelling to the World Cup in America in 1994 being refused visas by the US embassy could create a major political headache for them.
In advance of the tournament, the tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs, Dick Spring, urged the American embassy in Dublin to show as much flexibility as possible in granting holiday visas to fans who wanted to travel.
He told the US assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, Mary Ryan, at a meeting in Dublin in December 1993 that the average refusal rate of holiday visas of 4 per cent could results in some 800 Irish soccer fans not being able to attend.
While the US authorities wanted to be as lenient as possible, Ms Ryan said it was unlikely they would be able to do anything to reduce the rate of refusals.
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