Skip to content

Notre Dame sorry for 'don't wear green in NI' advice

Getty Images Seven members of the Notre Dame Hockey Team celebrate in their white tops and navy shorts. They have on gold helmets as they celebrate on the ice.Getty Images
Notre Dame's ice hockey team deleted the guidance posted on its X account

A US university's ice hockey team has apologised after advising fans travelling to Belfast not to wear green clothes or anything with "our Irish symbolism" as it could be seen as offensive.

The ice hockey team of the University of Notre Dame, whose sports teams are nicknamed the Fighting Irish, deleted a tweet advising fans on what to wear in Northern Ireland.

They are due to take part in a four-team tournament with three other US university teams in Belfast at the end of November.

The ice hockey team posted on X that the guidelines "were not properly reviewed and should not have been posted".

University of Notre Dame Hockey Team A bavy and white banner that reads 'Know Before You Go' it has a blue banner and white font. Below that is a list of items for 'What NOT to wear' These are: Green, Shmarocks, Ireland Flag, Leprechaun, ''Fighting Irish'' and ''Irish.'' These are listed in navy font with a white banner.University of Notre Dame Hockey Team

In the original post on the Notre Dame Hockey account on X, the team offered guidelines and "a reminder to avoid our Irish symbolism, that may be deemed offensive to some, while out around town".

In an accompanying graphic, the team advised fans not to wear green clothes or anything with shamrocks, leprechauns or the Irish flag.

It also said fans should not wear any clothes with the terms 'Fighting Irish' or 'Irish'.

University of Notre Dame Hockey Team A young adult male, sits on white becnhes with his arms around the seats next to him. He has on black glasses and a navy hoodie. On the hoodie is the gold badge for the University of Notre Dame Hockey Team. The picture deomnstrates what fans can wear. Three seperate navy boxes read 'navy and gold' 'monogram' and 'notre dame hockey,' each box has a gold tick beside it. A photo of Belfast city hall sits in the backround.University of Notre Dame Hockey Team

Notre Dame merchandise commonly features those terms, as well as a leprechaun, which is a mascot of their sports teams.

Later on Tuesday, the X account said it had issued the guidelines "out of an abundance of caution".

"Our game in Belfast is meant to bring people together and build bridges through sport, we apologize to fans and to the people of Northern Ireland for any confusion or offense."

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Notre Dame is one of the United States' best known universities and has a long association with Ireland.

The Catholic institution was founded by French-born priest Edward Sorin, who arrived on the site of the future university with eight other priests, some of whom were from Ireland.

Notre Dame teams have often travelled to play games on the island. Its American football team took on Navy in front of more than 50,000 people in Dublin last year.

Their ice hockey team will face Boston University, Harvard and Merrimack College in the Friendship Four tournament in Belfast next week.