Fifa today abandoned their requirement for Northern Ireland footballers to carry UK passports when playing international matches abroad.
Soccer's governing body had been lobbied in recent months by Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, and Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern, to reverse their stance that all Northern international players to use British passports.
"We pointed out [to Fifa] that under the Good Friday Agreement players and citizens from Northern Ireland were entitled to have either a British or Irish passport", Mr Ahern said earlier today.
A statement on the Irish Football Association website said: "The Irish Football Association is pleased to announce that following regular and ongoing dialogue with Fifa a solution has been reached which will allow players holding an Irish Passport to continue to represent Northern Ireland.
"This will negate the need in future for those with Irish Passports to require a British one for administrative purposes in order to represent Northern Ireland and to satisfy match commissioners."
Mr Hain praised the decision to relax the regulations and said people had the right to choose which passport they held.
He said: "I am delighted by this news, which is clearly a victory for common sense and for all football fans in Northern Ireland.
"It is a great achievement for the Irish Football Association to have persuaded Fifa to this pragmatic outcome.
"The right of people in Northern Ireland to choose to identify themselves as Irish, British or both, is fundamental to the Belfast Agreement."
Sinn Fein Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness said: "When this issue first became an obvious problem I made representations to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin seeking that they intervene with Fifa to see the ridiculous ruling regarding British passports was overturned in recognition of the unique constitutional position regarding the six counties.
"I am happy that it now appears that Fifa are to recognise the demands of the Good Friday Agreement, which is after all an international treaty, in relation to citizenship in the six counties and the right for people to hold Irish passports and citizenship."
Additional reporting PA