Blair asked if Irish nationalists would support England in World Cup Tony Blair once suggested that nationalists in Northern Ireland could support England in the World Cup after Ireland was knocked out, according to reports on a 2002 meeting.
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.
He did not seem to have an appetite for discussing Northern Ireland, the briefing note says, and while listening would refer answers to Mr Reid – who was “convivial and charming in a slightly desperate kind of way”.
The briefing document states that 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.
On entering the room, Mr Blair is said to have commiserated on Ireland’s defeat and “offered, apparently genuinely, that the SDLP were now supporting England.”.
