A Fianna Fáil Senator says the time has come to consider amalgamating the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland football teams.
It comes after a shock defeat to Luxembourg in Ireland's World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Northern Ireland also suffered defeat in their opening qualifier.
The issue also comes amid increased talk and debate over the question of a united Ireland.
However Senator Robbie Gallagher told Newstalk Breakfast it is not about politics, but sport.
"I've come at this purely as a sports fan - I enjoy sport as many people in Ireland do.
"I think nothing gives people such a lift as when our national teams are doing well."
Citing recent defeats, he suggested Ireland "had our success here under Jack Charlton and less so under Mick McCarthy.
"But that's very much in the past: I think it's got to a stage now where we need to look at pooling our resources.
"We're a small island, we have two teams on that island - one's called Northern Ireland, the other's called the Republic of Ireland - they play wearing a green jersey and they're all representing Irish people.
"So I feel if we are to compete on an international stage... we need to pool our resources - because we're talking here now where we're struggling even to qualify for tournaments.
"Tournaments that were much harder to qualify [for] 15, 20 years ago - we're struggling to qualify, nevermind compete".
