A FINE GAEL politician insists that if Ireland internationals refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19, they should be booted out of the squad.
Senator Micheál Carrigy says he would support a decision to leave out unvaccinated players as they are putting other players at risk.
His comments come in the wake of Ireland forward Callum Robinson's revelation that he's chosen not to get vaccinated, despite having contracted the virus twice.
Robinson stressed that getting vaccinated is a "personal choice" and that forcing people into taking it isn't right.
"It's your choice and your body," the 26-year-old said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Speaking to the Irish Sun, Senator Carrigy said he would support Stephen Kenny if the Ireland boss decided to axe unvaccinated players from his squad - despite the fact that Kenny himself previously admitted that doing so would be a "radical" step.
"It’s about the bigger picture," Sen Carrigy said.
"We need to send out the positives to our youth. It's not just affecting the youth it’s affecting the team.
"If people want to represent their country and be successful it’s important that they’re vaccinated and that they’re not putting any other members of the team or the whole set-up at risk and jeopardising potential results.
"I think it’s very disappointing that someone representing us on the international stage would be so vocal, I think they should consider their own international future."
Micheál CarrigyCarrigy went on to suggest that if everybody felt like Robinson, Ireland would not be in a position to reopen on October 22.
"There’s a lot of anti-vaccine messages on social media and we look up to sports people, in particular people who are representing our country internationally," he said.
"We look to them, we admire them and they’re representing our country and I just don’t think it sends out the right signal. Especially a high profile athlete, representing the country, refusing to take it, for no medical reason only that they don’t want to.
Dublin , Ireland - 7 September 2021; Callum Robinson of Republic of Ireland during the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying group A match between Republic of Ireland and Serbia at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"If more people had this attitude we’d have a lower vaccination level, we wouldn’t be reopening our economy."
The FAI released a statement saying that they were encouraging all Ireland players to get vaccinated against the virus, but respected the fact that each player has a personal choice on the matter.
