Ireland national men's ice hockey team

Team Ireland 	Team Ireland
 	
League 	Division II IIHF World Championships
Founded 	1996
History 	Team IrelandEstablished 1996
Arena 	Dundalk Ice Dome
Capacity 	1,200
City 	Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland
President 	Mr. William Fay
General Secretary	Mr. Dean Kelly
Head coach 	Mr. James Tibbets
Assistant Coach 	Mr. Kenneth Redmond
Physio 	Mr. Robert Schistad
Equipment Manager	Mr. John Crowley
General Manager 	Mr. Anthony Griffin
Irish men's national ice hockey team is the National Squad run by the Irish Ice Hockey Association. The team gained promotion to Division II of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2007, but after being pointless in their Division II debut, the team has been relegated to Division III. The team has members from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has a working relationship with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League and new Irish clubs, Flyers Ice Hockey Club and Dundalk Bulls.
==History==
The Republic of Ireland was accepted into the International Ice Hockey Federation in May 1996 after a nomination by Great Britain and a second by Canada. They have not had a long history of international competition, with the Ireland senior team first competing in 2004.
*First match: March 16, 2004: Reykjavík, Iceland: 8-3 Ireland
*Largest victory: March 8, 2005: Mexico City, Mexico: Ireland 23-1 
*Largest defeat: April 11, 2008: Miercurea Ciuc, Romania: 21-1 Ireland
==IIHF World Ranking==
In the IIHF World Ranking, Ireland is ranked 41st out of 49 as of September 2010.
==International Competition==
(statistics, standings, and results taken from the IIHF IIHF Tournament Page)
===2004 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Reykjavík, Iceland===
Game 1. Ireland 3 Mexico 8 
Game 2. Armenia 1 Ireland 15
Game 3. Ireland 1 Iceland 7
Game 4. Turkey 7 Ireland 4
Final Result: Fourth Place, One Win, Three Losses for 2 points, 23 Goals For, 23 Goals Against
===2005 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Mexico City, Mexico===
Game 1. Ireland 23 Armenia 1
Game 2. Luxembourg 8 Ireland 4
Game 3. Ireland 4 South Africa 5
Game 4. Mexico 6 Ireland 1
Final Result: Fourth Place, One Win, Three Losses for 2 points, 32 Goals For, 20 Goals Against
===2006 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Reykjavík, Iceland===
Game 1. Ireland 0 Armenia 6
Game 2. Iceland 8 Ireland 0
Game 3. Turkey 2 Ireland 2
Game 4. Ireland 3 Luxembourg 1
Final Result: Fourth Place, One Win, Two Losses, One Tie for 3 points, 5 Goals For, 17 Goals Against
===2007 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Dundalk, Ireland===
Game 1. Ireland 11 Mongolia 0
Game 2. Ireland 2 New Zealand 4
Game 3. Ireland 3 South Africa 1
Game 4. Ireland 4 Luxembourg 3 [OT)
Final Result: Second Place Two Wins, One Overtime Win, One Loss for 8 points, 20 Goals For, 8 Goals Against [Team Ireland are Promoted to Division II of the IIHF World Championships]
===2008 IIHF Ice Hockey Division II World Championships Miercurea Ciuc, Romania===
Game 1. Ireland 1 Serbia 13
Game 2. Ireland 4 Bulgaria 7
Game 3. Ireland 1 Belgium 9
Game 4. Ireland 1 Romania 21
Game 5. Ireland 1 Israel 7
Final Result: Sixth Place Zero Wins, Five Losses for 0 points, 8 Goals For, 57 Goals Against [Team Ireland is relegated to the 2009 IIHF World Championship Div III]
===2009 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Dunedin, New Zealand===
Game 1. Ireland 3 Greece 7
Game 2. Ireland 3 Luxembourg 8
Game 3. Ireland 5 Mongolia 0(Forfeit)
Game 4. Ireland 1 Turkey 7
Game 5. Ireland 0 New Zealand 9
Final Result: Fifth Place One Win, Four Losses for 3 points, 12 Goals For, 31 Goals Against
===2010 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III Group A World Championships Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg===
Game 1. Ireland 6 Luxembourg 4
Game 2. Greece 1 Ireland 3
Game 3. UA Emirates 2 Ireland 8
Final Result: First Place Three Wins, Zero Losses for 9 points, 17 Goals For, 7 Goals Against
==Notable Personnel==
* Jim Tibbets - Head Coach (former General Manager of the French national ice hockey team)
* Scott Fusco - Assistant Coach (Harvard Crimson hockey player, class of '86, American national men's hockey team 1984 Olympic Member)
==Ireland Roster==
(roster taken from the IIHF IIHF Tournament Page)
*Head coach: James Tibbets
Pos.	No.	Player 	Team
GK 	1 	Adam Pepper 	Dundalk Bulls
GK 	25 	Scott Bickerstaff 	Belfast Junior Giants
D 	3 	Patrick McCabe 	Flyers IHC
D 	6 	Timothy Ross O'Driscoll	Rhode Island Storm
D 	12 	David Gibson 	Belfast Junior Giants
D 	13 	Dean Kelley 	Flyers IHC
D 	16 	Robert Leckey 	Belfast Junior Giants
F 	4 	Stephen Cooper 	Flyers IHC
F 	7 	Ross Bickerstaff 	Belfast Junior Giants
F 	8 	Barry Higgins 	Flyers IHC
F 	9 	Stephen Balmer 	Hawks
F 	10 	Adam Jackson-Wyatt 	Vaughan Rangers
F 	11 	Philip Darcy 	Flyers IHC
F 	15 	Adam McCaul 	Partille HK
F 	17 	Mark Reynolds 	Belfast Junior Giants
F 	18 	Andrew Guest 	Toronto Aeros Under 21 AAA
F 	21 	Christopher Adams 	Dublin Wolves
F 	22 	Mark Morrison 	Belfast Giants
F 	23 	Stephen Adams 	Hawks
F 	24 	Gareth Roberts 	Belfast Junior Giants
==Future==
Early in 2007 Team Ireland moved their headquarters to the Dundalk Ice Dome. It is envisaged that the Ice Dome will become a centre of excellence for ice hockey in the Republic of Ireland and it was here that Team Ireland took silver in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships Division III and gained promotion to Division II.
==References==
*IIHF tournament page
*IIHA Website News
==External links==
* Irish Ice Hockey Association Homepage
* International Ice Hockey Federation Homepage
* Belfast Giants Homepage
* Dundalk Bulls
* Belfast City Bruins
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Category:National teams