Irish National Team

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 a poor performance in their Division II debut, the team has been relegated to Division III. They have not played in a world championship since placing 4th with 6 points in 2013. With the closure of the Dundalk Ice Dome they no longer meet minimum IIHF standards for participation. The team had 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: 16 March 2004: Reykjavík, Iceland: 8–3  Ireland
 * Largest victory: 8 March 2005: Mexico City, Mexico:  Ireland 23–1
 * Largest defeat: 13 April 2011: Zagreb, Croatia:  22–0  Ireland

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 [Team Ireland are Promoted to Division II of the IIHF World Championships]

2011 IIHF Ice Hockey Division II Group B World Championships Zagreb, Croatia
Game 1. Ireland 0 Bulgaria 6 Game 2. China 5 Ireland 0 Game 3. Romania 22 Ireland 0 Game 4. Ireland 4 Croatia 21 Game 5. Iceland 14 Ireland 0 Final Result: sixth place zero wins, five losses, for 0 points, 4 goals for, 68 goals against [Team Ireland is relegated to the 2009 IIHF World Championship Div III]

2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III World Championships Erzurum, Turkey
Game 1. Luxembourg 7 Ireland 2 Game 2. Ireland 5 Greece 3 Game 3. Ireland 3 Turkey 5 Game 4. Ireland 8, Mongolia 4 Game 5. North Korea 5, Ireland 0 Final Result: fourth place two wins, three loses, for 6 points, 18 goals for, 24 goals against

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Division III Group A World Championships Cape Town, South Africa
Game 1. Greece 3 Ireland 6 Game 2. South Africa 7 Ireland 4 Game 3. Luxembourg 5 Ireland 0 Game 4. Ireland 1 North Korea 2 Game 5. Ireland 7 United Arab Emirates 3 Final Result: fourth place two wins, three loses, for 6 points, 18 goals for, 20 goals against