asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will express his disapproval of the reported tour to South Africa of a rugby team composed of players from Britain and Ireland in which there are six Irish players reportedly included; if he will arrange a meeting with the Irish players involved to make his views known to them; and if he will urge them not to participate in such a tour.
Written Answers. - South Africa Rugby Tour.
531.
I have seen reports that some Irish rugby players have been or are to be invited to participate in an invitation team to visit South Africa in July.
The views of the Government on sporting contacts with South Africa with specific reference to rugby football were made very clear during the controversy surrounding the IRFU tour in South Africa last year. It remains the Government's view that sporting contacts of this kind serve only to support the apartheid system; a system that denies fundamental human rights to the vast majority of South Africans on the basis of their skin colour. The Olympic Principle of NonDiscrimination in Sport cannot be satisfactorily observed in a situation in which the organisation of many sports in South Africa, including rugby football, continues to be largely determined by the organisation of society on the racially segregated lines of the apartheid system.
The Government do not believe that participation by Irish players in the reported tour would be in the interests of justice in South Africa, of Ireland's international reputation, or of Irish sport.
They hope that Irish players will not participate in the tour and that any players invited to take part will consider carefully their decision in the light of the Government's policy on sporting contacts with South Africa and in the light of the clear public concern expressed on the issue last year.