Eligibility rules 'not particularly fair' - O'Neill

Michael O'Neill has included Arsenal's Ceadach O'Neill in his squad for the Nations League after the teenager was subject to an approach from the Republic of Ireland [Getty Images] Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said what upsets him the most regarding rules over international eligibility is the pressure put on young players to make an irreversible choice. Any player born in Northern Ireland is also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland, but Fifa rules state that an application to transfer international allegiance can only be made once. The situation has again been in the spotlight with regards to Arsenal teenager Ceadach O'Neill who has won two senior caps for Northern Ireland and on Tuesday was included in the squad for a Nations League quadruple-header, but has also been subject to an approach from the Republic of Ireland. At present, the player would be required to undertake a Fifa transfer of international allegiance should he wish to play for the Republic of Ireland at any level, but if he makes an appearance in the upcoming Nations League quadruple header, would have to wait until he is 21 to do so. Should he reach four caps, he would be unable to transfer at any stage. "My focus is on the player, and I have a duty of care to the player as his international manager, as we have as an association as well," said Michael O'Neill. "He's been in our pathway since he's been a young boy. He's been part of our academy. He's obviously had an approach from another association, which happens. "The thing that upsets me the most in this is that putting a young player in a position to make an international transfer before he's been a professional for even two years is, I think, not the right thing. It's not something that any association should be doing." O'Neill and Graham retain places in NI squad Arsenal have 'big hopes' for O'Neill - Arteta Under the Good Friday Agreement - the 1998 peace accord that followed the conflict colloquially known as The Troubles - those born in Northern Ireland can hold both British and Irish passports. A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in 2010 means players born anywhere on the island of Ireland are able to represent the Republic of Ireland regardless of whether they fulfil any other measure of eligibility, namely being born in the territory, having a biological mother, father, grandmother or grandfather born in the territory, or having lived there for an uninterrupted period of five years. Players born in the Republic of Ireland, however, cannot represent Northern Ireland unless they are otherwise eligible. "We exploit eligibility, the same as every other country does, down to the grandparent rule, but this is a rule which is obviously unique between ourselves and the FAI [Football Association of Ireland]," said O'Neill. "I think everyone recognises it's not particularly fair, but as I say, our focus is to make sure our pathway for our young players is as good as possible and that's a pathway for boys from any part of the community." In May, FAI director of football John Martin said the organisation should at "the bare minimum" be sounding out eligible players. "We know there are kids out there who want to play for Ireland who haven't been approached in the past," said Martin. "That's not right. It's making sure we have a presence and we understand all the players available to us, and that they are being monitored and tracked." When asked whether the narrative around young players in or around his squad is tiresome to him, O'Neill said: "It would have been in the past, it's not tiresome now. "We have people who comment on this and talk about nationality and talk about identity and talk about all these different things, which are part of being born in Northern Ireland and growing up in Northern Ireland. "But I think what we're missing now is that we're putting young players in a situation where they have to make a decision which is irreversible." 'We haven't created this situation' Ceadach O'Neill appeared for the Arsenal senior team during pre-season [Getty Images] During O'Neill's time as manager, Tottenham Hotspur's Jamie Donley and Gillingham's Ronan Hale have made international transfers to Northern Ireland from England and the Republic of Ireland respectively. "We've done two international transfers in my time. Jamie Donley, who is now a senior international, and Ronan Hale, who was 25 at the time when we asked him to make that decision," added O'Neill. "I think there's a point in a player's career where you've just got to let him play and develop, enjoy his football without creating a situation like this. "We haven't created this situation. Ceadach's been in our system all along and he's in our squad now." While James McClean and Shane Duffy are the two most prominent examples of players who made the switch from Northern Ireland at underage level and went on to have long international careers for the Republic of Ireland, O'Neill believes others would have won considerably more caps for his side. "I think if you look at it from our point of view, there's not many players that have been a success who have gone from Northern Ireland," he said. "I can think of two, James McClean and Shane Duffy, who had international careers where they got over 50 caps. Otherwise, most of the other players who have gone that route have not played consistently or not had, I think, possibly the international career they could have had if they stayed here. "It is a decision for the player to make, ultimately, and we have to respect that, but as I've said all along, I think there's two sides to this. There is obviously who you feel you should play for, but there's also the situation around a football decision where you can have longevity in your international career."