O’CONNOR WELCOMES ONE IRELAND TEAM AT WORLD CUP
12/05/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
WILLIAM O’CONNOR insists he would have no problem seeing Ireland and Northern Ireland unite as one team at the World Cup.
The Magpie defended Mickey Mansell after the Tyrone thrower switched allegiance from Northern Ireland to Ireland ahead of next month’s event in Frankfurt.
Mansell will now partner O’Connor after both he and Brendan Dolan changed nationality status earlier this year.
The switches pushed Keane Barry out of the qualification spots through the PDC Order of Merit.
But O’Connor insists players should be free to choose who they represent and would happily welcome Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney into an all-Ireland team.
He told Oche180: “Mickey has always been Irish. As far as I know, he changed his flag four or five years ago, it wasn’t just this year, Brendan (Dolan) done it this year.
“In Ireland, under the Good Friday Agreement, you can be seen as Irish, British, whatever you want.
“Mickey has always gone under the banner of Irish even though he played for Northern Ireland down the line.
“I have no issue with anybody wanting to play for Ireland.
“The way I see it is, it’s the island of Ireland and if Daryl (Gurney) and Josh (Rock) want to represent the whole of Ireland then the best of luck to them.
“I want the two best players to represent the whole of Ireland, that’s the way it is.”
Mansell previously represented Northern Ireland at four consecutive World Cups between 2012 and 2015, reaching the semi-finals once.
Meanwhile, O’Connor reached the quarter-finals of the tournament alongside Barry in 2025 before suffering an 8-5 defeat to Northern Ireland.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
